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Rules: Omaha High

TeamPD
By TeamPD
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In this article we describe the rules of Omaha poker (high), an increasingly popular variety of poker in online and live games. Many Omaha poker players... Texas Hold'em are getting to know and enjoying this modality. The rules of these two games are similar, but some details make Omaha a game with more action and powerful hands, which are rare in Texas Holdem. The game is played with four personal cards, as opposed to two like in Holdem. For this reason, it is more common to see final hands such as full houses, flushes, four of a kind and even straight flushes. We recommend that those who are not yet familiar with the game read the Texas Holdem Rules before reading this article. Here we will describe the rules of Omaha High (Omaha Hi), in which the best five-card hand wins. In another article we will discuss Omaha High-Low (Hi-Lo), a different variety.

General structure

The general structure of the Holdem game is maintained in Omaha, that is, there are blinds (small and big) and the dealer for each hand: in a $1/$2 Omaha game, the small blind posts $1 and the big blind posts $2. The order of players is also similar – the player to the left of the big blind acts first, and from there it follows clockwise. Omaha is also a game with community cards, with the flop (3 cards), turn (1 card) and river (1 card). The player must use 3 community cards and 2 hole cards to form his hand for each round. This is a significant difference between Omaha and Texas Holdem. In Omaha, you are required to use two cards of the four you are dealt, and three from the board. So, if the board has 4 spades and you only have one spade in your hand, you will not make a flush, as you would in Texas Holdem.

Varieties

Omaha High is played online in two varieties: No Limit and Pot Limit. The key difference between the two is that in a no limit game, the maximum bet is all the chips you have. In a pot limit game, the maximum bet is the amount of chips currently in the pot.

Structure of a round

Let's simulate a typical Omaha High hand to reinforce the basic concepts. First, each player is dealt four cards face down. The first round of betting begins with the player "under the gun" (the first to the left of the big blind) and continues clockwise. The flop is then dealt, with three cards in the middle of the table, face up. A new round of betting occurs, starting with the player closest to the dealer button, on the left. On the turn, another card is dealt face up on the table, followed by a new round of betting. Then the river occurs, with the last card on the table, followed by the last round of betting. The remaining active players show their cards. The best five-card hand wins, three from the table and two from the hole.

Basic Tips

Although the rules of Omaha poker are similar to those of Texas Holdem, the strategy is quite different. Omaha is a game of “draws” – attempts to improve one’s hand, as winning hands tend to be much more powerful. It is not uncommon in Omaha to see a full house being beaten by a higher full house, or straights being beaten by flushes, etc. Omaha is considered a more mathematical game than Texas Holdem, as decisions to raise and call bets are based more on the odds of making a hand than on the hands already made.

To illustrate this difference, consider that AA is the best starting hand in Holdem; while AAAA, in Omaha, is considered a bad starting hand, as it has a pair of Aces with little chance of improvement (remember that you can only use two cards from your starting hand). A pair of Aces would hardly win a round of Omaha Hi.

Good hands for Omaha are those with multiple ways to “connect” strongly with the flop. For example:

Next article
Rules: Closed Poker (5CD)

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70 COMMENTS

  2. Hello. I would like to ask Marcelo the following:

    In Omaha, the table turned: AAA 4 4

    In that case, I would like to know:

    1) Whoever has A makes four of a kind, right? And whoever has 4 makes only three of a kind?
    In this case, I had the hand AJ 7 8 and the opponent had 4 3 QQ

    2) My other question is: if he had 4 4 QQ, he would make four, but mine would be bigger, right?

    Thanks in advance!

    • 1)
      In this case, you made a quad of ACE with a J kicker, making your hand AAAAJ (You must use 2 cards from your hand and 3 from the table in Omaha)
      And your opponent made a Full House of Ace with Queens, making the hand AAAQQ

      2)
      If he had 44QQ he would make quad 4s with an ACE kicker, making the hand 4444A, and you would still win because you have quad aces!

      Thanks,

      Tiago – Poker Tips

      • This is an interesting question and it is also my doubt. If in Omaha Hi you must use 2 cards from your hand, why does the 7 enter your game? The kicks on the table, being higher than Q and J, do not eliminate your 7? In the same way, my doubt is that in a set, I have A2234, on the board there is AA89K, I would not make any play, because I used only the A, the 2234 would not enter, following the rule of using 2 cards in your hand and 3 on the table.

      • But in this case he would also have a sequence with 2 AKQJ, thus using two cards from his hand and three from the board. He would lose because his opponent's sequence is bigger, right?

        • Hello Ana. Good afternoon!

          Negative – there is no sequence JQKA 2. The ace only ends or starts a sequence – that is, A 2 3 4 5 or 10 JQK A. You can't start at the end of the deck and go to the beginning or vice versa, as you said or for example QKA23.

  8. I have a question!!!

    We were in an Omaha Hand

    I go out with AA 7 2 and my opponent goes out with 8 4 4 6
    on the Table the 5 Cards that Came Up Were 6 10 6 5 6

    In my game I made a Full House by placing my Two AA and if he were to use 2 of his cards he would make a full house also lower than mine. He swears that he made Quads with his 6 by placing a Kik, but his Kik does not go into the Omaha hand... Can someone please clarify this for me?

  9. Villain k 6 7 Q
    Me:2 9 3 4
    Board: 2 2 6 kj
    Whoever wins will explain to me exactly why this hand caused such a mess.
    Thank you in advance

    • Hello. Villain takes with a full house 99555, while you have a full house 66555. The four of a kind on the table becomes non-existent since in Omaha you use 2 cards from your hand and 3 from the table.

    • Hello Nicodemus. Good evening.

      The details you gave were very vague, so it might be a bit difficult to analyze, but from what we understand, all the cards on the table were spades, and yours too (although you only mentioned the 2 and 3 of spades, when in Omaha you would have four cards – let's assume you ignored the other two).

      In Omaha you ALWAYS use two hole cards and three board cards, no exceptions. Therefore, you would have a flush like this: 10 J 9 2 3 (spades).

      If the doubt persists, I recommend that you post in more detail on our forum: https://pokerdicas.com/forum/perguntas-de-iniciantes/

      Thanks.

    • Hello.
      Player 1 with QQTJ wins the pot, he has a full house 999QQ while the other only has trips 999AK.
      Quads on the table in Omaha are not valid, as only 3 cards from the table and 2 from the hand are used.

  16. People, this is how my hand had:

    10 of Cups
    10 of Wands
    10 of Gold
    09 Gold

    And on the table it fell:

    K of hearts
    09 of swords
    07 of sword
    10 of swords
    J of spades.

    My question is:
    Why didn't I win with 4 out of 10? (four of ten).

  18. I have JJ 4 2
    Villain 9 10 2 A
    Table 8 9 10 Q 5
    Do I go with JJ? Because I used both cards!

    Taking advantage of a full house with a pair in hand is always better than with two cards, for example

    Player 1: 5 5 to 8

    Player 2 : AKJQ

    TABLE : KKJ 5 2

    Pair of 5s makes a full and takes it? But KJ also makes it but it's not a set, help me?

    • Hello, Felipe.

      In question 1, no, you do not follow, because if you use your JJ your hand would only be one pair: JJ 9 10 Q. The villain won with two pairs, 9 and 10.

      In question 2, Player 1 has 555KK, while Player 2 has KKKJJ (highest full house). The first thing that matters in a full house is three of a kind. If the three of a kind are equal, the tie is broken at pair.

      For example KKKJJ beats KKK88. Likewise, the two hands mentioned beat 777AA.

      If you have any further questions, please post on the forum: https://pokerdicas.com/forum/perguntas-de-iniciantes/

      Thanks.

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    Cool, I'll share it with my friends!

  21. Goodnight..
    I was playing Omaha poker and came across the table AAA6Q
    I HAD 68710 AND ADV 34J5 IN MY HAND, AND ADV WON THE HAND WITH THE THREE OF A'S MORE THAN THE JQ KICKER HE HAD...SHOULDN'T I HAVE WON WITH AAA66 IN THE CASE OF THE FULL? THANK YOU

  22. Good morning….can I ask you a question about Omaha?

    next I have in my hand k-9-4-2
    my opponent has kj-6-4

    table opens Q-10-JA-9

    WHO WINS?

    I believe it splits the pot because they both have a straight and I just use the 9 as a kicker.

    • Hello goodnight.

      Ignoring suits (i.e. discarding flushes), your opponent wins with a higher straight, 10 JQK A. You have a lower straight, 9 10 JQ K.

      In Omaha, it is MANDATORY to use TWO hole cards and THREE board cards. If it were Texas Hold'em, you would actually be tied, as both would have a straight of 10 through A.

      Att.,

  23. Table 444J9
    my hand KJ73
    Opponent 9Q58
    In this case, would we take the three of a kind from the table to make 2 pairs or take 2 cards from our hand and see who has the most?
    Table type 444J9
    My best would be like this 444KJ
    Or 44JJK

    • Hello.

      Omaha is simple, always 2 cards in your hand, 3 on the table.

      On the board 444J9 you with KJ73 would have the hand 444KJ (trip 4s, KJ kicker). Your opponent has 444Q9 (trip 4s, Q9 kicker).

      You win, in this case, with a higher kicker (ignoring possible flushes, since you didn't mention the suits).

      Att.,

  25. Good afternoon, I have a question. In the case of Omaha, there are three of a kind of 8 on the table and I have a fourth 8 in my hand, so I have a four of a kind, but I have to use a second card, preferably the highest in my hand, which would be the kicker, right? Okay, but in the case of a four of a kind, there would be no tie, so there is no need for a kicker, so in Omaha, this play could not happen. Is this correct?

  29. Good evening, a question about Omaha, table 2, 5, 10, k, k
    i- 6 , k , j, a
    opponent – 2, 5, j, a
    Who takes this one?
    2 pairs 2 and 5 or three of a kind k?
    Thanks!!!!

  30. I have 6-4-J-10
    My opponent has 3-J-5-10
    Table 3 3 3 6 4
    Who wins and why?
    *another situation*
    I have 6-4-J-10
    My opponent has 3-2-5-2
    Table 3 3 3 6 4
    Who wins and why?

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