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Over the past few years, Texas Hold ‘em has received a lot of attention from poker fanatics, but another closely related variation is quickly stealing the spotlight:

Omaha Hold ‘em (also commonly referred to as just Omaha). Omaha Hold ‘em, like Texas Hold ‘em, is a community card/flop game variation of traditional poker.

There are however some notable differences between how Texas and Omaha Hold ‘em are played.

Rules of Omaha Poker:

The key rule for Omaha Hold ‘em involves the cards, how they are dealt and how they are played. In Omaha, each player is dealt four cards face down in the first round.

After this round, the rest play out the same as in Texas Hold ‘em with the initial flop of three cards and two more turned over individually for a total of five table cards.

Unlike Texas Hold ‘em, Omaha players must use exactly two of their four personal cards and three of the five table cards; no more and no less from either category.

Beyond this one notable exception, the rest of the rules of Omaha poker are pretty much standard poker rules with blinds, bets, calls, raises, folding, and bluffing as you would expect in any other poker game.

The cards are dealt in the same order and with the same names (The Flop, The Turn and The River) as in all other hold ‘em games.

Types of Omaha Poker:

Expect to see the base version of Omaha poker referred to by several different names from just plain Omaha to this article’s title Omaha Hold ‘em to the popular online poker room designation Omaha High.

These are just different names for the same game. On the other hand, other types of Omaha poker do exist, including Omaha Hi-Lo (also called Omaha Eight or Omaha Eight-or-Better), and Limit Omaha.

Omaha Hi-Lo gets its alternative title of “Omaha Eight” from the qualifying card for its high-low split. In this game, each player plays not only their best five card high hand but also makes a separate five card low hand (comprised of cards with a value of eight or lower, hence the name).

To play a qualifying low hand, a player must have a combination of five cards (maintaining the rule of three from the table and two from the hand) valued eight and under including the Ace. (To make this more or less attainable, some casinos offer variations where the qualifying card is alternately a 9 or 7 respectively.)

In Omaha Hi-Lo, the pot is split between the highest and lowest hands, and both may be held by the same player.

There is no qualifying value for playing a high hand, so that there is always high hand competition, but on rare occasions no player can make a combination of five cards of eight and under. In this instance, the high hand winner scoops the entire pot.

Limit Omaha is not so much about how the game is played as about how the players bet. Limit types of Omaha poker restrict the number of bets each player can make per round. At the other end of the spectrum, No Limit Omaha poker places no restrictions on betting or raising either per round or throughout the hand.

Omaha poker is also played in the U.K. but is more commonly referred to there as Pot-Limit Omaha (or PLO). They usually play their Omaha high hand only and also offer variations with up to six hole cards.

Omaha Poker Odds:

Omaha poker odds are comparable to Texas Hold ‘em odds with the primary difference being that more cards are dealt. More cards dealt means higher odds of you drawing a combination but likewise means higher odds of your opponents drawing a combination.

Omaha poker odds, in other words are more favorable for all players, making smaller combinations even weaker and monsters even rarer.

Omaha Poker Tournaments:

While Omaha Hold ‘em is still being overshadowed by its sister variation Texas Hold ‘em, expect tournaments to become more widely available soon.

Many major casinos are already holding special Omaha promotional events while others are tacking Omaha segments onto their major tournaments. The World Series of Poker holds perhaps the largest Omaha poker tournaments every year.

For quick and easy access to an Omaha tournament, the best solution is still online poker rooms.

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