Omaha Hi Lo is a variation of the highly popular poker game that is also called Omaha Eight or Better and it attracts all levels of poker player to its tables. The name itself gives a pretty clear indication of what makes this game a little more interesting than its parent mainstream game, especially when you get to the final showdown round.

In similar manner to Hold’em games, there are community cards which are dealt into the centre of the board, which is another name for the table. These cards are used in conjunction with a player’s hole cards to produce the best hand that they can.

The betting rounds that follow the dealing of all players’ four hole cards are identical to normal Omaha poker, where betting follows the deal of each additional community card. When the final round of betting is complete, the all important showdown takes place.

Here is where Omaha Hi Lo differs from other variations of the game. The pot is split between the high hand as in regular Omaha and the low hand which is the lowest hand that can be made from two hole cards and three community cards. To qualify, all cards in a low hand must have face values of 8 or lower with no pairs. Aces count low and Flushes and Straights do not count, meaning that the lowest hand is A-2-3-4-5. While it is possible for a player to have both hi and lo hands this is rare.