Northern Colorado Poker Wiki

Omaha Hi-Lo Rules

Omaha Hi-Lo can be a little confusing to new players. Each player receives 4 cards. The most difficult part of this game is that you must use two cards from your hand, and you can only use two cards from your hand. Therefore, your final 5 card hand must be composed of two cards from your hand and three cards from the board.

Many pots in this game will be split, as there is a winner for the "Hi" hand (same ranking as Texas hold-em) and for the "Lo" hand if there is one. A qualifying Lo hand must be made up of 5 different cards with a value of 8 or less. If there are not 3 different cards with a value of 8 or less on the board, a Lo hand is not possible, because you must use 3 cards from the board in your hand. Straights and flushes do not count against you for the low hand, only the values of the cards matter. The best Lo hand you can have is A-2-3-4-5. If there is no Lo hand, the Hi hand wins the entire pot.

The game plays just like Hold'em. The cards are dealt, there is a round of betting, a three-card flop, a round of betting, the turn, betting, the river, and a final round of betting. In Omaha, the cards speak: whoever is still involved in the hand at the end turns up their cards and determine who has the best Hi hand and the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) Lo hand.