Owing to its frequently large pots, Omaha Hi/Lo (also called ‘Omaha High Low’, ‘Omaha H/L’, ‘Omaha/8’ or ‘Omaha 8-or-better’) has 2️⃣ become a hugely popular game around the world. Each player in an Omaha Hi/Lo game is dealt four private cards 2️⃣ (‘hole cards’) that belong only to that player. Five community cards are dealt face-up on the ‘board’. All players use 2️⃣ exactly two cards from their four hole cards in conjunction with exactly three cards from the board to make the 2️⃣ best five-card poker hand possible. The pot is divided between the best hand for high and the best hand for 2️⃣ low - hence the name, Omaha Hi/Lo. You may use different combinations of two cards from your hand to make 2️⃣ your high hand and your low hand, but in each hand you must use precisely two from your hand and 2️⃣ three from the board - no more, no less. Visit the poker hands page to view the rankings of hands 2️⃣ in Omaha Hi/Lo.

Omaha Hi/Lo is played with an ‘8-or-better’ qualifier, which means that a low hand must consist of five 2️⃣ different cards - ranked eight or below - to be eligible to win the low portion of the pot. Low 2️⃣ hands in Omaha Hi/Lo are determined in exactly the same way they're determined in 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. If there 2️⃣ is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot. Omaha Hi/Lo uses the ‘Ace to Five’ or 2️⃣ ‘California’ system for ranking low hands. Straights and flushes do not count against a hand, and Aces are always low 2️⃣ in reading the low hand, so the best possible hand is a "wheel": 5, 4, 3, 2, A. To help 2️⃣ understand the ranks of low hands, the following sample qualifying low hands (not a complete list) are ranked from least 2️⃣ powerful (#1, will rarely win the low half of the pot) to most powerful (#10, the nuts):

8, 7, 6, 5, 2️⃣ 4 8, 7, 6, 5, 3 8, 6, 4, 2, A 8, 4, 3, 2, A 7, 6, 5, 4, 2️⃣ 2 7, 6, 5, 2, A 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 6, 4, 3, 2, 2️⃣ A 5, 4, 3, 2, A

Note that a low hand is always ranked from its highest card downwards. So for 2️⃣ example, hand #9 is known as a ‘Six-low’ because its highest card is a Six. Hand #5 is a ‘Seven-low’, 2️⃣ and Hand #1 is an ‘Eight-low’. In poker slang, you distinguish between close low hands by going further down the 2️⃣ ranks, so hand #9 would be called a ‘Six-Four low’, which beats hand #8, a ‘Six-Five low’. Also remember that 2️⃣ straights and flushes do not count against your low hand, so making a qualifying low that is also a straight 2️⃣ or a flush is a very powerful hand, that could win both the high and low halves of the pot. 2️⃣ That’s called a ‘scoop’.

Types of Omaha Hi/Lo Games