Omaha Hi-Lo Poker playing guide

Omaha High-Low and regular Omaha are basically the same, with one exception that makes for a big change in strategy. The premise for Omaha High-Low is that there are two winning hands for each game: the strongest (highest) hand, and the weakest (lowest) hand split the pot.

The game itself is still played the same as regular Omaha, with each player starting with 4 Pocket Cards face down. 5 community cards are then dealt face up, and the highest and lowest hand split the pot. As with Omaha the winning hand must contain 2 pocket cards, and 3 community cards. Here's where things get interesting. For a hand to qualify as a low hand, it can't have any card higher than an 8. Because Aces count both as a high card and as a low card, the best possible low hand is A, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

You're probably thinking, "Isn't that a straight?" And you'd be right, except that in Omaha High-Low, any hand that qualifies for the low is not affected by straights or flushes. This creates an interesting situation: You can qualify for both the highest and the lowest hand in a game! If you win both, you will take the whole pot. So, let's say it's your lucky day, and you've been dealt the A & 2 of spades, and the community cards hold the 3,4 & 5 of Spades. Your straight flush will (most likely) take the high hand, and because neither straights nor flushes count in the low hand ranking, you've got the best possible low hand. Congratulations, you've just scooped the pot, taking 100%!

Now, to determine the highest hand we'll use the standard hand rankings, which can be viewed on our Hand Rankings page. To determine the best low hand, the highest low card is used. If two players share the same high card, then the next lowest card is used, and so on. If there are no hands qualifying as a low hand (i.e. every hand holds a card higher than an 8), the highest hand will take the whole pot. The rest of the game play is the same as regular Omaha.