How To Play Omah Hi/Lo

Omaha Hi/Lo (also known as Omaha eight-or-better) adds an additional dimension ot Omaha games with the addition of low hands along with the usual high hands. The pot is divided equally (50/50) and the player with the best five-card poker hand for high will receive half the pot. The player with the best eligible five-card hand for low wins the other half. If there is no qualifying hand for low, the player with the best high cards will win both portions of the pot.



High Ranking For High Hands
Omaha Hi/Lo follows the standard poker hand ranking to determine high hand.

Low Cards
For the purposes of deciding which cards are high and which cards are low, all cards ranked nine or higher are considered high while all cards ranked eight or lower are considered low. For the purposes of low, ths suit of the cards do not play any function.

Thus to be able to form an eligible low hand within the rules for Omaha Hi/Lo, bioth the folowin conditions must be met:

1. At least two pocket cards must be ranked eight or lower;
2. At least three of the community cards must be ranked eight or lower.

Also note that for low, the cards does not need to be in order, so while having A,2,3,4,6 would be considered a failed straight for high, it is still considered a qualifying hand for low.

High Ranking For Low Hands
As stated above, for a low hand to be possible, at least three of the community cards must be ranked eight or lower, In addition, for players to have a qualigyingg low hand, at least two of their pocket cards must be ranked eight or lower.

For low, pairs (any pairs or combination is considered high regardless of rank) or flushes (since the suit of the cards are not considered for low) are not allowed, so the best possible hand combination for low would be A,2,3,4,5.

Once we have determined that the above qualifying creiteria for low has been met, we acn then evaluate the hands fo the players who qualified to compete for the low pot.

the lowest high card is evaluated first. If more than one player can make thier low hand with the same high card, then the second lowest high card is evaluated. This continues until the player with the lowest possible cards proceeds to win the low pot.





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