Win Two Ways: Play Omaha Hi-Lo Split Poker

Poker is a card game with numerous variants. Typically though, winners are determined based on hand ranking. Logically speaking, poker hands that are up the hand value scale are the winning hands.

One of the variants of poker, the Omaha Hi-Lo Split, slightly deviates from this rule. Instead of the pot going to one winner, the pot is divided between players with the highest and the lowest hand values.

For a hand to be considered low, Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker declares that the hand must not consist of a card higher than 8. If there is any one card higher than 8, then the hand does not qualify as a low hand even if the other four cards have denominations 8 and below.

Further, the hand must not consist a pair. Categorically then, either a straight or a flush qualifies most as winning low poker hands.

Straight refers to a hand of five consecutively numbered cards. The five cards are of different suits.

Flush, meanwhile, refers to a non-sequential hand with all 5 cards bearing the same suit.

In Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker, the lower your card value, the more your chances of splitting the pot with the player holding the highest hand. In this case, the hand consisting 5-4-3-2-1 is considered the lowest.

In this case also, 6-4-3-2-1 would beat 6-5-3-2-1, as much as 6-5-3-2-1 would beat 7-5-3-2-1.

Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker also rules that the hand must be a combination of two hole cards and three community cards--- no more, no less.

As it is in Omaha poker, the dealer distributes four hole cards for each player to commence the first round of betting of Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker. Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker also uses five community cards in the game.

As it is in Texas Hold 'em, big blinds and small blinds are characteristically part of the betting system of Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker.

If no hand qualifies for a low, the entire amount of the pot is rewarded to the player with the highest hand.

With Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker, players have two choices: whether to go the high hand way, or the low hand way. Since a hand must use three community cards, however, a low card is only possible if three or more 8-valued card show among the community cards.

Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker differs from other poker variants in its allowing of two poker hands to share the pot prize. In Omaha Hi-Lo Split poker, a hand that qualifies as a high hand can earn half the pot; the other half goes to the poker hand of lowest ranking.