So you’ve mastered the basics. You understand the nature of the game, starting hand qualities, the importance of position, how high and low possibilities affect your pot odds, why a dry A2 is not the second coming…etc. The $64,000 question is: how far will this take you and how do you improve?

  1. What Is Pot Limit Omaha Hi/lo
  2. Free Omaha Hi Lo

It's called a dangler. For example, if you have three strong cards and a 7, the 7 is a dangler. Hands that have a dangler should generally be avoided. Starting hands that have three-of-a-kind are actually no good in Omaha since you can only use two of your cards. Pot-limit Omaha ( frequently shortened to PLO) is popular in Europe, online, and in high-stakes 'mixed games' played in some American casinos. This variant is more often played high only, but can also be played high-low. To a still greater degree than in Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, PLO is a game of drawing, when drawing, to the nut hand. If you want to add another challenge, try an Omaha Hi/Lo game. Here each pot is split into two, and a player can win half by having the highest poker hand (like normal) while the other half is available to the player with the lowest qualifying hand, which is made from the lowest five ranked cards from 1 to 8 (where an ace is 1). 5, 4, 3, 2, ace would be the lowest ( and winning hand), while 8.

The first answer will depend to a large degree on your game selection. Some $5/$10 games are a lot easier to beat than some $2/$4 games. The basic trait of good omaha games is looseness. (Be sure not to confuse looseness with short-handed aggression!) In general, the loosest games will be the easiest to beat. But with increasing knowledge on how to play the game, the game seems to play tighter. What is your edge beyond basic play? What separates merely “good” players from excellent players and experts? Something clearly makes a difference. Fortunately, most of these “special” qualities can be understood and developed to a high degree. I will address two that often separate men from the boys, so to speak.

The Pivotal Factor

The less leaks you have, the more you will make. In a game where players have roughly equal playing abilities, psychology becomes the pivotal factor. This does not merely apply to “big bet poker” (pot limit and no limit). Sure, it is faster to tilt your bankroll away in a no limit game, but experiences of many testify that it is just as easy in a limit game. Curiously, even very successful high limit players have huge leaks here. Chip Reese, long acknowledged as one of the best all-around players in the world, said in an interview: “I can give you names of guys who are up-and-coming superstars, who are supposed to be great players. I see them when they play in the big games and things go bad; you can’t believe how they play. They break down…” (Gambling Wizards, 62-63). Not that hard to believe, really. Watch some of the “superstars” eliminated early on in the World Series. How many throw a tantrum? How many are prone to negative self-defeating reactions that cripple their game? Most players do not realize that the maxim “we have met the enemy and it is us” amply applies to them. By reacting in destructive and disruptive ways, you are not only damaging the quality of your play, you are making your opponents feel better! Keep saying “I just cannot win in this game” and soon everyone will really believe it, including you. Make an honest assessment of how you fare in this category. You can be your own best friend if you want to. Most people do not and their marginal earning rate reflects that. Plug the biggest common leak and you’ll be more than on the way!

What Is Pot Limit Omaha Hi/lo

There’s a Pattern to their Madness

If you post one “poker truth” next to your computer to read every day, this is it. Ed Miller said it and he said it well: “every cent of your long-term profit playing poker comes from exploiting your opponents’ errors and predictable tendencies” (Small Stakes Hold’em, 16). The same is equally true of omaha, if not more so. The tendencies of many omaha players can be easily observed, understood, and used against them. Where are the errors? What should you look for? Which area of play should you analyze and dissect?

One of the most rewarding and distinguishing area of study is the “science of raising”. Some players will raise preflop with any dry A2. Others with raise with an A2XX and at least some counterfeit protection. Others will raise only with an A2 that has some counterfeit protection as well as a suited ace. You want to understand the meaning of your opponents’ actions. The raise of a rock is very different from the raise of a maniac. By observing tendencies, you can make some very educated guesses about the possible holdings. You will get better with practice. Some players will become very “obvious” to you with time. I would in fact suggest that once you select your competition and do your “spying”, you should stick to it! Why double your effort and re-do your homework? If you find players whose play is fairly transparent to you, why look for anybody else? If you have a very good idea about what the raises mean on each turn, how your opponent thinks and what he is capable of, your edge increases dramatically.

Some players feel that poker education is improving the quality of play and makes the games less profitable. The truth is, if you know that your opponent is playing a good, basic game, you know more about their play because their actions at the table are meaningful. They have a pattern.

Your Best Friend

No, I am not talking about dogs (although having a pet can really take loads off!). I am referring to Poker Tracker Omaha. Use it. Let it run on your favorite tables and collect all the data. Sit back, relax, or go to sleep. I routinely keep my omaha software on during the night. In the morning, I check on the players I am interested in. Some of their stats are more familiar to me than my own phone number. I know how often and in which situations they raise, how well they understand the quality of their hand, when they tilt and how to spot it, how aggressive they are…etc. You do not need to collect the data via the “caveman” manual method of watching the table. Your computer can do that for you. How easy is that? Put some distance between you and your competition.

When You Cannot Beat that @#$ing Limit

One final tip that is extremely useful. Suppose you cannot beat a certain limit. Here’s something that helps. Collect a mass of detailed data on the players who can! You will likely see that they do certain things (“small things”) differently than you. With Poker Tracker Omaha, winning ceased to be a secret. You become successful by studying success! What’s stopping you?

Happy playing!

For questions regarding this article or to leave comments, please visit the ITH Forums.

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Owing to its frequently large pots, Omaha Hi/Lo (also called ‘Omaha High Low’, ‘Omaha H/L’, ‘Omaha/8’ or ‘Omaha 8-or-better’) has become a hugely popular game around the world. Each player in an Omaha Hi/Lo game is dealt four private cards (‘hole cards’) that belong only to that player. Five community cards are dealt face-up on the ‘board’. All players use exactly two cards from their four hole cards in conjunction with exactly three cards from the board to make the best five-card poker hand possible. The pot is divided between the best hand for high and the best hand for low – hence the name, Omaha Hi/Lo. You may use different combinations of two cards from your hand to make your high hand and your low hand, but in each hand you must use precisely two from your hand and three from the board – no more, no less. Visit the poker hands page to view the rankings of hands in Omaha Hi/Lo.

Omaha Hi/Lo is played with an ‘8-or-better’ qualifier, which means that a low hand must consist of five different cards – ranked eight or below – to be eligible to win the low portion of the pot. Low hands in Omaha Hi/Lo are determined in exactly the same way they’re determined in 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot.

Omaha Hi/Lo uses the ‘Ace to Five’ or ‘California’ system for ranking low hands. Straights and flushes do not count against a hand, and Aces are always low in reading the low hand, so the best possible hand is a ‘wheel’: 5, 4, 3, 2, A. To help understand the ranks of low hands, the following sample qualifying low hands (not a complete list) are ranked from least powerful (#1, will rarely win the low half of the pot) to most powerful (#10, the nuts):

  1. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4
  2. 8, 7, 6, 5, 3
  3. 8, 6, 4, 2, A
  4. 8, 4, 3, 2, A
  5. 7, 6, 5, 4, 2
  6. 7, 6, 5, 2, A
  7. 7, 5, 4, 3, 2
  8. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
  9. 6, 4, 3, 2, A
  10. 5, 4, 3, 2, A


Note that a low hand is always ranked from its highest card downwards. So for example, hand #9 is known as a ‘Six-low’ because its highest card is a Six. Hand #5 is a ‘Seven-low’, and Hand #1 is an ‘Eight-low’. In poker slang, you distinguish between close low hands by going further down the ranks, so hand #9 would be called a ‘Six-Four low’, which beats hand #8, a ‘Six-Five low’.

Also remember that straights and flushes do not count against your low hand, so making a qualifying low that is also a straight or a flush is a very powerful hand, that could win both the high and low halves of the pot. That’s called a ‘scoop’.

Types of Omaha Hi/Lo Games

Omaha Hi/Lo can be played in the following formats:

  • Limit Omaha Hi/Lo – Specific betting limit applied in each game and on each round of betting.
  • Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo – Bets are limited to the amount of chips in the pot.
  • No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo – A player can bet all of the chips he has available.
  • Mixed Omaha Hi/Lo – The game alternates between rounds of Limit and Pot-Limit. The blinds are increased when the game switches from Pot-Limit to Limit, to ensure that the stake levels are consistent.

Rules for Playing Omaha Hi/Lo

In Omaha Hi/Lo, a marker called ‘the button’ or ‘the dealer button’ indicates which player is the nominal dealer for the current game. Before the game begins, the player immediately clockwise from the button posts the ‘small blind’, the first forced bet. The player immediately clockwise from the small blind posts the ‘big blind’, which is typically twice the size of the small blind, but the blinds can vary depending on the stakes and betting structure being played.

In Limit games, the big blind is the same as the small bet, and the small blind is typically half the size of the big blind but may be larger depending on the stakes. For example, in a $2/$4 Limit game the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2. In a $15/$30 Limit game, the small blind is $10 and the big blind is $15.

In Pot Limit and No Limit games, the games are referred to by the size of their blinds (for example, a $1/$2 Omaha Hi/Lo game has a small blind of $1 and a big blind of $2).

Now, each player receives their four hole cards. Betting action proceeds clockwise around the table, starting with the player ‘under the gun’ (immediately clockwise from the big blind).

Pre-Flop

After seeing his or her hole cards, each player now has the option to play his or her hand by calling or raising the big blind. The action begins to the left of the big blind, which is considered a ‘live’ bet on this round. That player has the option to fold, call or raise. For example, if the big blind was $2, it would cost $2 to call, or at least $4 to raise. Action then proceeds clockwise around the table.

Note: The betting structure varies with different variations of the game. Explanations of the betting action in Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, and Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo can be found below.

Free Omaha Hi Lo

Betting continues on each betting round until all active players (who have not folded) have placed equal bets in the pot.

The Flop

After the first round of betting is complete, the ‘flop’ is dealt face-up on the board. The flop is the first three community cards available to all active players. Betting begins with the active player immediately clockwise from the button. Another round of betting ensues. In Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, all bets and raises on the flop are in increments of the small bet (for example, $2 in a $2/$4 game).

The Turn

When betting action is completed for the flop round, the ‘turn’ is dealt face-up on the board. The turn is the fourth community card in an Omaha Hi/Lo game. Play begins with the active player immediately clockwise from the button. Another round of betting ensues. In Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, bets and raises on the turn are in increments of the big bet (for example, $4 in a $2/$4 game).

The River

When betting action is completed for the turn round, the ‘river’ is dealt face-up on the board. The river is the fifth and final community card in an Omaha Hi/Lo game. Betting begins with the active player immediately clockwise from the button. A final betting round ensues.

The Showdown

If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete, the last person to bet or raise shows their cards, unless there was no bet on the final round in which case the player immediately clockwise from the button shows their cards first. The player with the best five-card hand for high wins half the pot, and the player with the best five-card hand for low wins the other half. Remember, in all Omaha games, players must use two (and only two) of their four hole cards in combination with exactly three cards from the board. In the event of identical hands, the high and low shares of the pot will be equally divided between the players with the best hands. In the event that no hand qualifies for low (i.e. is an ‘eight low’ or better), the best hand(s) for high wins the whole pot.

After the pot is awarded, a new Omaha Hi/Lo game is ready to be played. The button now moves clockwise to the next player.

Limit, Pot Limit, No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo

Omaha Hi/Lo rules remain the same for Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit poker games, with a few exceptions:

Pot

Limit Omaha Hi/Lo

Betting in Limit Omaha Hi/Lo is in pre-determined, structured amounts. Pre-flop and on the flop, all bets and raises are of the same amount as the big blind. On the turn and the river, the size of all bets and raises doubles. In Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, up to four bets are allowed per player during each betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap (final raise).

Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo

The minimum bet in Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet up to the size of the pot.

Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as any previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).

Maximum raise: The size of the pot, which is defined as the total of the active pot, plus all bets on the table, plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.

Example: If the size of the pot is $100, and there is no previous action on a particular betting round, a player may bet a maximum of $100. After that bet, the action moves to the next player clockwise. That player can either fold, call $100, or raise any amount between the minimum ($100 more) and the maximum. The maximum bet in this case is $400 – the raiser would first call $100, bringing the pot size to $300, and then raise $300 more, making a total bet of $400.

In Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.

No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo

The minimum bet in No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet as much more as they want, up to all of their chips.

Minimum raise: In No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, the raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).

Maximum raise: The size of your stack (your chips on the table).

In No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.

Omaha Hi/Lo is growing very fast in popularity, especially with the exposure of online poker. So while learning the rules of Omaha Hi/Lo can take some getting used to, it is an entertaining poker variant that many players have learned to enjoy.

Learn How to Play Omaha Hi/Lo for Free

If you are unfamiliar with Omaha Hi/Lo, we recommend you try that poker game out to get a feel for how the game is played. You are always welcome to play on the free poker tables at the poker rooms, so that you can sharpen your skills before playing real money poker.

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