Omaha High Low (Hi/Low) Poker

Omaha Hi Lo is pretty much two games in one. Also known as Omaha 8 or better, it follows the same procedure (same betting rounds, blinds, flop, etc.) as a regular Omaha poker game except the difference here is the outcome. The pot can be won by one player or can be split by two players. The first winner, as in regular Omaha poker is the player who has the highest five card poker hand made up of exactly two hole cards and 3 community cards, the Hi hand. This is where it gets tricky. Another player, or in some cases the same player, can claim half the pot if they have the best Lo hand. The Lo hand is a hand made up of 5 cards (2 hole cards and 3 community cards) that are all of different value and are all 8 or lower in rank (8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A –which is counted as Hi and Low in this game) In order to be eligible to win the Lo half of the game you must have a hand that fits this criteria. In some cases there will be no player who qualifies for the Lo hand and in this instance the player with the best Hi hand will win the entire pot. The winner of the Lo hand is the person with the lowest hand possible. Since all cards must be of different value the lowest hand possible would be 5, 4, 3, 2, A. The next would be 6, 4, 3, 2, A. A trick to finding out who has the lowest hand is to read the numbers (highest to lowest as one number, for example, 54321 or 75321. The lowest number is the winner. It is also possible for the same player to win both the Hi and Lo hands.

To sum up:

• Omaha Hi Lo is also known as Omaha 8 or simply 8 or Better.
• Follows the same procedures as Omaha Poker in terms of dealing, betting, community cards, etc.
• This is a split pot game, where two players can claim half the pot, first half to the player with the highest five card poker hand and the second half to the player with the lowest hand.
• To qualify for the Lo hand your hand must contain 5 cards that are of different value and are 8 or lower, for example, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 or A, 3, 4, 6, 7.
• The Ace is considered Hi and Lo in this game
• If no player qualifies for the Lo hand then the whole pot goes to the Hi hand winner.
• The same player can possibly win both the Hi and Lo pots.

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