The high version of Omaha, and in particular the pot limit version, has become very popular. This popularity is likely due to it’s similarity to Texas Hold‘Em which shows no sign of losing its position as the worlds most popular poker variant. Due to this link many of the players now learning and playing pot limit Omaha are coming from a Texas Hold’Em background and as such are bringing with them a few misconceptions about Omaha hand rankings that are not helpful to their success. This article will tell you what to look for in Omaha starting hands as well as which rules of Hold’Em hold true in Omaha and which do not.

Starting Hand Ranking in Omaha Hi According to Edward Hutchinson. Unlike holdem poker in which winning combination may be formed using two, one or none of hole cards in Omaha there have to be used two hole and three community cards. On those who play Omaha after playing holdem poker these four cards play a mean trick.

Good Hold’Em hand, Good Omaha hand?

The first problem Hold’Em players seem to have when assessing the strength of an Omaha starting hand is seeing good Hold’Em hands as good Omaha hands. A hand such as QQ72 with no suits might seem to equate to QQ in Hold’Em but in reality it is much less valuable. High pairs are still valuable (especially aces) but in Omaha you are looking for hands where all 4 cards are connected in some way.

Omaha Hi-Lo Preflop Hand Values There are 16,432 different starting hands in Omaha Hi-Lo Holdem (considering equivalence relations). The table on this page shows the top 5% of hands dealt, click here to see all of the hands, the page is almost 2MB so may take a while to load. For a Royal Flush you need an Ace King Queen Jack Ten all of one suit, hearts or clubs. In pot-limit Omaha, the poker hand rankings are just the same as in Texas hold'em. Like hold'em, pot-limit Omaha or 'PLO' poker is played as a 'high-hand' game, which means the hands go (from best.

Two Hold’Em hands do not make an Omaha hand!
Following on from our last point, hands such as AK88 with no suits might look like an attractive starting hand but actually it is really just two Hold’Em hands. The pair of eights is not connected in anyway with the Ace or King. This would change considerably if they were double suited or the eights were tens.

A hand like AJT9 double suited is much better then AK88 with no suits and in fact is ahead in pre-flop equity 58 to 42, despite having no pair and being outkicked when an ace comes.

Omaha – Holding your own outs

Imagine you are playing a Hold’Em hand and are holding a pocket pair and decide to go mining for that set. What if you knew that one of the cards that make you that set is already gone?

In Omaha you must use exactly two of your hole cards and you sometimes get dealt a hand where you are holding your own outs. Hands where you are dealt 3 (or 4) of a kind are examples of this. Say you are dealt JJJK single suited and are considering whether to call a raise. The fact is that part of the value in pairs also comes from hitting your set which is now half as likely, and on top of that your hand really only has 2 combos, JJ and KJ. Stay clear of these types of hand as they will have very low equity when facing a strong holding.

Hands where you hold 4 of the same suit also have less value then hands where you hold 2 of a suit. Not only will a flush draw appear less often but when it does you will have a lower chance of hitting it.

Omaha starting hand rankings

Best Omaha Hi Lo Hands

So far we’ve gone through some things that Hold’Em players should be aware of so they can avoid common mistakes but which hands are strong Omaha hands?

As you might expect aces is the best hand pre-flop but because Omaha is a four card game they can vary considerably in quality. It should be obvious that AAQJ double suited is better than AA72 with no suits, and indeed the former has a considerable equity advantage over the latter.

As you step down the ladder of premium pairs in Omaha their power as an over pair diminishes quicker than it does in Hold’Em and by the time you get down to queens you need to have other strength in your hand to make it playable. Hands such as QQJT and JJQK are much stronger than hands like QQ75 and JJK6.

Having connected or suited cards improves the strength of your hand and having both is excellent. A hand such as QJT9 double suited is a monster in Omaha due to its ability to hit many flops hard. It should also be noted that when you have a gap in your run down hands it is better to have the gap at the bottom. QJT8 is better than QT98 for example.

Omaha starting hand rankings summary

In Omaha you have four cards and must use exactly two. This means you are actually playing 6 combinations of 2 cards. The more of these combinations that are coordinated the better you hand’s equity will be. To get a more complete understanding of the equities of different hand match ups try using an online Omaha odds calculator.

For more strategy tips, check out the rest of the strategy section.

Table Of Contents

What is Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8-or-Better Poker?

If you know how to play pot-limit Omaha (or 'Omaha high'), you are well on your way to learning how to play Omaha hi-lo.

As the name suggests, Omaha hi-lo is a 'split-pot' version of Omaha poker in which players compete for both the 'high' and 'low' halves of the pot. Omaha hi-lo is usually played with fixed-limit betting and often turns up in 'mixed game' formats like H.O.R.S.E. (in which Omaha hi-lo is the 'O') or the popular 8-game mix.

You will sometimes see the game referred to simply as 'Omaha 8' or even 'O/8' or more elaborately as 'Omaha hi-lo split-pot-8-or-better.' The name gets styled differently, too, as 'Omaha High-Low,' 'Omaha poker high-low' and so on.

Pot-limit and no-limit versions of Omaha hi-lo are also popular, especially online either as cash games or tournaments.

How to Play Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8-or-Better Poker

The basic rules for Omaha hi-lo are very similar to pot-limit Omaha. See 'How to Play Omaha Poker' for an overview of how to play Omaha poker, which is itself a variation on regular Texas hold'em.

Just like in pot-limit Omaha, players are dealt four cards in Omaha hi-lo and are required to use two of those four cards in combination with three community cards in order to make a five-card poker hand.

As in hold'em or pot-limit Omaha, if a player bets and everyone folds before the showdown, the player wins the pot without having to show a hand. However, if the final bet is called and there is a showdown, hands are examined to see who has the best 'high' hand and who has the best 'low' hand, with each winning one-half of the pot.

Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8-or-Better Rules

In Omaha hi-lo, the 'high' hand is determined exactly the same way as in hold'em or Omaha 'high' games (like PLO), following traditional hand rankings.

The 'low' hand requires a little more explanation, especially if you are new to split-pot games or hi-lo poker.

First of all, whatever cards you use to make your high hand, that makes no difference when making your low hand. You can use the same two cards, the other two cards, or any combination just as long as you use two cards from your four-card hand plus three of the community cards to build your five-card poker hand.

The rules of Omaha hi-lo is usually played with a 'qualifier' for the low hand, meaning all of the cards making up a low hand have to be ranked eight or lower. That's where the 'split-8-or-better' comes from, a phrase usually added to the name of the game.

A qualifying low hand consists of five unpaired cards ranked eight or lower. For the low hand, the ace is considered a low card (the lowest), while it can also serve as the highest-ranking card in high hands.

Also worth noting — if your lowest five cards make a straight or a flush, that doesn't matter in Omaha hi-lo, you've still got a low hand (if all are ranked eight or lower). In other 'lowball' games like 2-7 no-limit triple draw, flushes and straights hurt you by making your low hand higher, but in Omaha hi-lo that is not the case.

That means a hand consisting of 5-4-3-2-A would be the lowest possible hand — that is to say, the best 'low hand' in Omaha hi-lo. This hand is sometimes called a 'wheel.' The next lowest possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A. The worst low hand that qualifies as a low in Omaha hi-lo would be 8-7-6-5-4.

A good way to figure out which low hand is best is to arrange the hand from highest card to lowest card and then to think of the hand as a five-digit number, with the lowest number being the best (or lowest) hand. Thus 5-4-3-2-A (54321) is better than 6-4-3-2-A (64321), and 6-4-3-2-A is better than 6-5-3-2-A (65321) and so on.

An Example of an Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8-or-Better Poker Hand

Omaha Poker Hand Rankings

Let's say a hand of Omaha hi-lo goes to showdown with the final board reading 6♣3♠K♦Q♦.

You hold A♣K♠7♦4♣, and your opponent has Q♠J♦4♦2♠.

Your best possible high hand is two pair, aces and kings — using the A♣ and K♠ in your hand pairing them with the ace and king on board, with the queen being a kicker.

Your best possible low hand is 7-6-4-3-A — using the 7♦ and 4♣ in your hand along with the three low cards on the board. Note how you can't use the ace in your hand when making your low hand, since you have to use exactly two cards in your hand and three on the board (and there is an ace on the board).

Your opponent, meanwhile, has you beat both for the high and the low!

Your opponent's best possible high hand is a flush — using the two diamonds in his hand (J♦ and 4♦) and the three diamonds on the board.

Your opponent's best possible low hand is 6-4-3-2-A — using the 4♦ and the 2♠ in his hand along with the three low cards on the board. 64321 is lower than 76431, so your opponent has you beat.

Winning both halves of the pot like this is called a 'scoop' or 'scooping,' which is something you always want to try to do when playing split-pot or hi-lo poker games.

Sometimes in Omaha hi-lo there is no qualifying low hand. This is the case whenever there are less than three unpaired cards ranked eight or lower on the board.

For example, if the board is 9♣K♦A♥4♥J♠, there are only two cards ranked eight or lower on the board (the ace and four), which means it is impossible for anyone to make a low hand. When that happens, whoever has the best high hand scoops the whole pot.

Conclusion

Omaha hi-lo is not difficult to learn, especially if you already know how to play pot-limit Omaha. The strategy can be complicated, though, with a great deal of importance placed on understanding what are strong starting hands (e.g., hands containing an ace with at least one or two low cards, especially a deuce) and not making the mistake of battling for only half of the pot (just the high or low).

Omaha Lo Hand Rankings

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