Omaha poker Hi-Lo

Omaha Hi-Lo is probably the second most popular poker genre played world over. It is the poorer cousin of Texas Hold'em, and as such, it too is a community card game. Players are usually dealt four cards each and the goal of the game is to make the best possible poker hand with any two of those four cards and any three of the five community cards laid out on the table. Now if you ask me, this game is a lot more difficult then Texas Holdem and sometimes frustrating as hell too.
Though the game itself goes down pretty much like Texas Hold'em the fact that each player gets four hole cards instead of the two they'd get in Texas Holdem makes for a completely different ballgame.
The fact that the game is usually played with a high-low split is enough to already confuse someone used to Texas Holdem. What this basically means is, that – at the showdown – the highest possible or the lowest possible hand wins.
Game begind with the dealer dealing each player his/her hole cards just like in Texas holdem. Blinds are posted in much the same way and the pre-flop betting begins. Already the possibilities seem overwhelming for a TH player. There are four cards in the hole, almost enough to make up a whole poker hand, though only two of them can be used.
The flop consists of the three community cards TH players grew accustomed to, however this is where the situation gets rough. There are seven cards already at the disposal of the player to make either the hoghest or the lowest possible hand with, and the game has hardly begun.
This game is also known as the 'game of the nuts' supposedly because that's what it oftentakes to win a hand. On my part I'd say "game of nuts" is right on because one has to be a regular nut to be able to keep track of all the possibly-winning combinations and also calculate odds for them.
The betting that follows the flop is the pinnacle of the game. This is where it is 70 percent decided. The rocks fold the lose players raise and reraise – poker business as usual.
Following the flop, the dealer burns the mandatory card then throws another one on the table. The turn is another opportunity for the already red-hot computer-like contraptions the players have in place of their brains,to hit overdrive. With already eight cards in the game for everyone, the possibilities seem to get out of hand and the end of the hand is nowhere in sight. The pesky lose players keep on doing their usual antics, and it has to a computing genius, he who knows which of the hands he can make has the best odds to take the pot.
The river finally brings about the last betting round, and also the soothing feeling that – while you sure as hell don't know what hand to play – you're almost positive nobody else at the table does, either.
The final round of betting is followed by the usual showdown. Time to show that hand and conquer or be conquered. The player who makes the best nuts out of exactly two of his hole cards ( and not any less either – players are not allowed to use only one of their holecards) and exactly three of the five community cards on the table wins.
Given the nature of the game the pot is usually split between several winners. One player might win the high end of the pot and another the low end, or two several players win both ends of the deal.
On my part I found it took a whole lot of concentration just to figure out who won what, compared to this game Texas Holdem strategy is a child's play. It is indeed like playing two separate holdem hands all squeezed into one.
There are other variations to this game as well, like Pot limit Omaha, but I must say after the brainstorming session I had received trying to play Hi-Lo, I wasnt all that eager to jump into a Pot limit too.
In certain variations of the game – some probably found it way too simple in its described form – players get five hole cards instead of the four, with the game itself going down just like it did with the four hole-card variant.
In a European variant of the game called Courchevel, a community card is first dealt before any betting commences. The first round of betting is done on this single community card and the four hole cards each player has.
This move makes the game longer with exactly one betting round, as in the preceedings two more cards are flopped to show the normal 3 card community flop.
The original version of this game is known as 'omaha high only' and is played without the high-low split.

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All articles written by (c) James West.