OMAHA HI/LO

Omaha high-low is a variant of Omaha. The game commonly played at a nine- or 10-handed table. The betting, blinds, and postings are exactly the same as Omaha . At the showdown, the pot is split between the holder of the highest hand and the holder of the lowest hand if that low hand is topped by no worse than an 8 .(The 8 is known in the poker world as a qualifier .) If that restriction is not met, the entire pot goes to the holder of the highest hand. Also, the same hand can win both the high and the low half of the pot. Winning the whole pot in either of these ways is called scooping.

Just as in the high version of Omaha, each player starts with four hole cards, and then the dealer places five cards face-up in the center of the table. These community cards are part of each player's hand, so each player has access to seven cards. The difference between Omaha high and Omaha high-low is that in Omaha high-low each player can potentially have two different hands, a high hand and a low hand. Each player forms a five-card high hand by using only two (no more, no less, but they can be any two) of his hole cards together with only three (no more, no less, but they can be any three) of the five community cards. Each player forms a five-card low hand (if possible) by using only two (no more, no less, but they can be any two) of his hole cards together with only three (no more, no less, but they can be any three) of the five community cards.

Both the high hand combination and the low hand combination can use the same set of cards, but they don't have to; in fact, usually they would not. Because of the qualifier restriction, if at least three cards 8 or lower do not appear among the community cards, a low hand is not possible.

Many more winning combinations are possible in Omaha high-low than in the high version of Omaha.