How to Play Omaha The Rules

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

How to Play Omaha The Rules

Below is how to play and also the basic rules of omaha, omaha hi/lo 8ob. Omaha is much like the popular and booming Texas Hold’em poker. There is however one huge difference between the two. Each player is dealt 4 hole cards (card that only the player can see) instead of 2. Omaha has two different variants, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo. The differences in the 2 variants will be explained below.

There are some questions on playing Omaha variants you may want answered. “What is a flop, the turn and the river card?” are some classic examples of these. For people whom normally play Texas Hold’em common questions about Omaha include “How does Omaha Hi/Lo work?” Here for your convenience I have written the rules and objectives of both of the Omaha variants. Let’s have a quick look.

The Basics of Omaha.

The basics of both variants of Omaha remain the same. As mentioned, they are much the same as Texas Hold’em for anyone who has previously played it. There are from 2 (Heads Up) to 10 players per table. The ultimate aim is to make the best 5 card hand possible after the community cards have been dealt. In all, you will have a total of 9 cards to make this 5 card hand from. The hand ranks are the same as those in no limit texas hold'em with a royal flush being the best ranked hand and A high being the worst.

Pre Flop

As each hand starts a compulsory bet (posting of blinds) must be made by the players sitting after the dealers chip. The players are called the Big Blind and Small Blind (the blinds). As each hand finishes and the dealers chip moves along, so do the blinds with every player at the table eventually having to make the compulsory blind post. The small blind is half the amount of the big blinds bet.

Each player is dealt 4 cards (hole cards) and must decide which option to take once viewing them. You MUST use 2 of the four cards, no more, no less. The options include folding (not playing with them), calling (calling the amount of the already posted Big Blind), raising (increasing the amount that was posted by the big blind), re-raising (raising a players bet, that has raised the bet prior to you) or in the case you are the Big Blind checking (Do nothing). Your decision on what to do is dependable on the cards you are holding.

Post Flop.

As mentioned, you will have 9 cards in total to choose from. These include your 4 whole cards (which only you can) see and five community cards. After everyone has made their moves pre flop (folded, raised and checked etc), 3 cards will be dealt face up on the table. These are the first 3 of the 5 community cards. These 3 cards are what make up the flop. The flop helps you to determine what to do next. The betting is the same post flop as pre flop, the same options are available. Again, you have the option to check, bet, raise, re-raise and fold. Once every player has made their decision the dealer will place another card on the table face up. This is called the turn card. Again, you will have the same options as pre flop and after the flop. Finally, the dealer will place the last of the five community cards on the table. This card is called the river. Once again, you have the choice of what you would prefer to do. You can fold, bet, raise, check and re-raise.

The winner.

The winner of the hand is the person holding the highest ranked 5 card hand in Omaha, in Omaha Hi/Lo, it is a little different, and this shall be explained below in the Omaha game variants. Alike Texas Hold’em in the case that 2 people have the same hand, the “pot” (money in the middle of the table from all betting actions) will be split between these players.