Both the games of Omaha 8 and Omaha High-Low are the same, but however you find it, the game is peculiar in its split pot, i.e. the pot is divided between the player with the highest hand and the one with lowest. Should both the highest and lowest hands reside with one player, he gets the whole pot. This dual high and low winning hand form sets it apart from other variants and engenders some very different strategies as a player sets forth to enhance his betting odds to the highest level possible. Omaha calls for a single betting format and it is not a rarity for players to be actively seeking the highest or lowest or both hands along with all their opponents. Common to all poker types, the nuts (best hand) takes the pot.

As a beginner to Omaha 8, it will behoove you to watch many games to absorb the complex strategies involved. As in all poker games, the betting in Omaha 8 is an elaborate conglomeration of aggression, bluffing, and value betting and a comprehension of just how this amalgam of strategies is influenced by dual pots demands a clear understanding of what goes into making a winner. Your foremost efforts at learning Omaha 8 should be placed in a thorough study of the rules and then go on to join some beginner games and proceed on up the levels to master the possible game strategies. By the time you get to the really high levels with pot limit games, do not forget that high stakes mean multiple raises and high bets, so don\’t go into one of these games empty handed. Make sure you are funded sufficiently to cover yourself for a long potentially expensive night at the tables.

The format of play in Omaha 8

Holdem and Omaha standard versions follow the same arrangement as Omaha 8 when it comes to declaring the highest hand. The low hand determining factors though are different The low hand in Omaha 8 must meet the following criteria:

The reason for its name of Omaha 8 is due to the fact that a player must play a card of eight or under as part of his hand. As the rules require that hole cards must be used, two of their cards must be lower than this value for the hand to be considered low.

If no hand meets the criteria for the low pot, the highest hand gets the whole thing which is similar to standard Omaha. The Ace through eight are the sole cards that can lend themselves to the winning low hand. Any card can meet the criteria for the high hand and a player can form hands of mixed high and low hands to own the entire pot.

Omaha 8 generally keeps with the standard pot limit rules, but limit and no limit forms can be found depending on house rules. Split pots at high and low levels are the usual features of Omaha 8 which means a player must have significant comprehension of what makes up a potentially winning hand to get to his best betting strategy.

It should always be in your mind as a player that a hand of three or four of a kind renders it almost impossible to win either end of the pot due to the two hole card rule, which leaves the player holding a pair at best. The epitome of a winning hand will consist of ace-two suited as this duo can produce several different high hand combinations while also being the one lowest ranked low pot taker. The ultimate low hand is called a wheel and includes A-2-3-4-5. At the top of hand supremacy is the Royal flush put together with three community cards.