How to Play Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Poker
What is Omaha Hi-Lo 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 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.
Here we go over the poker rules for Omaha Hi-Lo 8 ♣ or Better.
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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
Let's say a hand of Omaha hi-lo goes to ♣ showdown with the final board reading A♦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).
