Omaha High is a type of community poker. Community poker games feature a number of cards that are dealt face up in front of the dealer. These cards are visible to all players, and all players share the cards. Players then use their own cards and the community cards to form a winning hand.

The variations of Omaha High at are defined by their betting limits:

Limit Omaha High (there is a specified betting limit in each game and on each round of betting)
Pot Limit Omaha High (a player can bet what is in the pot)
No Limit Omaha High (a player can bet all of their chips at any time)

Basic Play

1. Blind Bets
2. Deal - each player is dealt 4 cards
3. First betting round
4. The Flop - the first three community cards are dealt
5. Second betting round
6. The Turn - the fourth community card is dealt
7. Third betting round
8. The River - the final community card is dealt
9. Final betting round
10. Showdown

The Dealer Button

Omaha High Poker uses a small disc called the "dealer button" to indicate the dealer of each hand. At a new table, the first player seated will get the dealer button. Once a hand is completed, the dealer button then moves clockwise to the next player. This ensures that each player has the chance of playing early or late and that every player gets a chance to post the "blind bets".

Note: During Single Table Tournaments the first player to get the dealer button is determined through a high card draw (each player is dealt one card; the player with the highest value card goes first. If two or more players have the same value card then they are ranked according to suit - high to low - spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs).

The Blind Bets

The player to the left of the dealer button is required to place the "small blind" (usually equal to half the lower stake) and the next player to the left is required to place the "big blind" (equal to the lower stake limit). Once the blind bets have been made, the cards are dealt and the next player to the left starts the first betting round.

Both the small and the big blinds are considered live bets and therefore the player has the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting action comes back around to their position. After the flop and after each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the button is first to act.

When a player sits down at an active table, they will be required to post the equivalent of the big blind. Also, to prevent "blinds" abuse, players are required to post the small blind and the big blind upon re-entry (returning from sitting out) to the game if both blinds are missed (only the big blind amount is posted as a live bet and the remainder is added directly to the pot). All players have the option of sitting out and waiting for the button to rotate to their position before starting to play.

The mandatory posting of the blind is in place to ensure fairness to all players; preventing players from constantly switching seats to gain a positional advantage, or from entering games in a late position and then leaving before they are required to post the big blind.

First Betting Round

Starting with the player to the left of the "big blind", they have the option to bet, raise or fold. All remaining players can then call, raise or fold. To "call" is to bet the same as the previous player. If the first player folds, then the next player will have the option to bet while the remaining players can call.

The bets in the first betting round are set at the lower limit of the stakes structure, so in a $10/$20 game the value of a bet is $10 while the raise is $20 (a raise includes a call of the previous bet plus an additional bet).

The Second Betting Round

After the flop (when the first 3 community cards have been dealt), the second betting round begins.

The first player to the left of the dealer button is the first to act (bet, raise, check or fold). Checking is to refrain from betting and is only available if no bet has yet been made in the betting round. Once a bet has been made, remaining players will only have the option to call, raise or fold. Like the first round, the second also limits the bets and raises to the lower limit of the stakes structure.

The Third Betting Round

The third betting round starts after the Turn (when the fourth community card has been dealt).

Once again, the player to the left of the dealer button begins the betting (bet, check or fold). However, this time the bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stakes structure. Each subsequent player can then call, check, raise or fold (a player can only check if no bet has been made).

The Final Betting Round

The final betting round happens after the River card (the final community card) has been dealt.

The player to the left of the dealer button can bet, check, raise or fold. Bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stakes structure. Remaining players can then call, check, raise or fold (a player can only check if no bet has been made).

The Showdown

Any remaining players must use 2 of their cards and 3 community cards to make their hand.

If two or more players have the same hand then the pot is split equally between them.

Betting Exceptions

In Limit Omaha High a maximum of four bets are allowed per player in a betting round - (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise and (4) cap. In No Limit and Pot Limit Omaha High the number of times a player can raise is not limited. However, a player can not raise themselves (if a player raises and then all the remaining players call or fold, then the player who raised would not get an option to raise because they were the last to raise).

A player is declared All-In if they do not have enough chips to call. This player is eligible for the portion of the pot to the point of their final bet.

All further bets by other players go to a "side pot" which any All-In players are excluded from.

Omaha Hi/Lo (also Omaha High Low, Omaha H/L/8, Omaha/8)

Omaha Hi/Lo is another variation of Omaha. In this variant the betting, blinds, and postings are exactly the same as in Omaha. The difference comes at the showdown, the pot is split between the holder of the highest hand, and the holder of the lowest hand, if the low hand qualifies.

To make a low hand, you must have 5 distinct cards with no pairs, and no card higher than an 8. Since you must use two cards to make your hand, two of the cards in your hand and three from the board all need to be 8 or lower. As straights and flushes don't count the best low hand is A-2-3-4-5 of any suit. Ranking starts with the highest of your low cards, so 7-6-5-4-3 is 8-low and would beat 8-7-5-4-3-2 a 7-low. If two players make a low hand and have the same hi card, the next highest card wins, so 7-5-4-3-2 beats 7-6-4-3-2. If there is no low hand the entire pot goes to the high hand.

Play is structured the same as Omaha high with each player needing to make a five card hand. Players are dealt four cards face down, called their hole cards The dealer then places five cards face up in the middle of the table, each player can use these community cards, giving them access to a total of seven cards. What makes Omaha Hi/Lo different to Omaha high is that each player potentially has two hands, a high hand and a low hand.

If there is a no low hand the player with the best high hand wins the whole pot. If there is a low hand and a high hand the pot is split between the winning players. A player can also win the whole pot if they have have the best high hand and the best low hand using the same set of cards.

For more Omaha Hi/Lo information, see Wikipedia.