Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is frequently seen as one of the most complex but favored poker games. It is a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from all levels of players. This is the main reason why a once obscure variation, has increased in popularity so rapidly.

Omaha hi-low starts like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to every player. A sequence of wagering ensues in which players can wager, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. Another round of wagering ensues. After all the players have either called or folded, an additional card is flipped on the turn. an additional sequence of wagering ensues at which point the river card is revealed. The entrants will need to put together the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is the point where many entrants get baffled. Contrasted to Hold’em, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must use precisely three cards on the board, and precisely two hole cards. No more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are two ways a pot might be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the strongest possible hand out of every player’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same notion in just about every poker game.

A lower hand is more complicated, but certainly opens up the play. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be made, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Seeing as straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The lower hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The low hand wins half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there’s no low hand presented, the high hand takes the entire pot.

It may seem complicated at first, following a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the basic subtleties of play with ease. Since you have individuals wagering for the low and betting for the high, and since so many cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 provides an overwhelming collection of betting choices and seeing that you have numerous players shooting for the high hand, and many battling for the low. If you love a game with a lot of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha 8 or better.