Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most complex but favored poker variations. It’s a variation that, even more than normal Omaha poker, aims for play from every level of players. This is the chief reason why a once invisible game, has grown in acceptance so quickly.

Omaha/8 starts just like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to every player. A sequence of wagering follows in which players can wager, check, or drop out. Three cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. Another round of betting happens. Once all the players have in turn called or dropped out, another card is flipped on the turn. an additional round of wagering follows at which point the river card is revealed. The gamblers must attempt to make the best high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is the point where many players can get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, in which the board can be every player’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player has to use exactly 3 cards on the board, and precisely two hole cards. No more, not a single card less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot may be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house. It’s the very same concept in just about all poker games.

A low hand is more complex, but certainly free’s up the play. When determining a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that might be put together, with the lowest value being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Considering that straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an 8 and smaller. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there is no low hand available, the higher hand wins the whole pot.

It may seem complicated at first, after a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to pick up on the fundamental subtleties of the game easily enough. Since you have individuals betting for the low and betting for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha Hi-Lo offers an overwhelming array of betting possibilities and seeing that you have several individuals battling for the high hand, along with a few trying for the low. If you like a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.