Just Poker Talk

Omaha/8 is also known as Omaha Hi/Lo or Omaha eight-or-better. This game is a variation of Omaha (High). The games are identical in structure. The difference is that there can be two winners in Omaha/8, one with the high hand and one with the low. This small tweak or twist to the game adds new layers of complexity and opens the door for a variety of new strategies and approaches.

Omaha(High) was covered in a previous post, so I suggest reading that post if you are unfamiliar with regular Omaha. I plan to focus solely on the showdown, since determining the winner is the only stage that is different, though that is not to say that one would approach the flop, turn, and river in the same manner. There are new conditions and factors that need to be taken into account, however I will not be covering those factors since they fall into strategy rather than rules.

Determining the Winner of the High Hand:

Determining the winner of the high hand is simple. If you have ever played Texas Hold ‘Em, Seven Card Stud, or Five Card Draw, you will be familiar with the hand rankings, that four of a kind beats a flush or that a straight beats three of a kind. Omaha/8 uses the same rankings, however the five cards used to represent your hand are different from those games.

It is the same as regular Omaha where your hand must be a combination of two of your hole cards and three community cards. This means that you cannot use three hole cards and two community cards to make up your hand.

Determining the Winner of the Low Hand:

Determining the winner of the low is more complicated. For starters not every hand will have a low. In that case, the winner(s) of the high hand will win the pot. The reason will be made clear later.

The five lowest cards make up a low hand. This hand is a combination of two hole cards and three community cards. All nine cards can be taken into consideration, since your high hand has no effect on your low hand.

No cards with a value of eight or higher can be used. An ace is considered a “one” when determining the low hand. This rule is also the reason that not every hand has a low. There must be at least three community cards under eight to have a possible low hand.

Flushes and straights are not a factor in determining the low hand. The other types of hands (pair, two pair, full house, etc) indirectly affect the low hand since none of the cards used for the low can be the same value. If you have two threes in your hold cards, you could not use both, but you could use one of them to represent your hand.

The best low belongs to the player with the lowest combination of cards. This is determined by matching the lowest cards of a each hand. If they are the same, then the next lowest cards are matched. This continues until a set a cards does not match. The winner would be the one with the lowest card value. If players have identical hands, the low pot is split between the winners.

Dividing the Pot

It is not uncommon in Omaha/8 to split the pot multiple ways, so understanding how the pot is divided is crucial.

If there is no low hand, the pot is split amongst the winners of the high hand.

If there is a low hand, the pot is split in half, 50% for the low and 50% for the high. For simplicity I will call these the “low pot” and the “high pot” respectively.

If there are multiple winners of the low hand, the “low pot” is divided amongst them. The same is true if there are multiple winners of the high pot, except that the “high pot” is divided amongst them. This can leave situations where two winners of the low pot get 25% of the pot and the sole winner of the high pot gets 50% of the pot.

There is also a chance that a player wins both the high hand and low hand. In that case they would win the whole pot for themselves.

Conclusion

At first the rules for Omaha/8 can be confusing, especially when you are trying to determine low hands and how the pot gets split among multiple winners, but, with a few hours of play, the rules can be easily learned. If I can teach nine year olds how to play Omaha/8 it shouldn’t be too hard for older folks to learn this game. Omaha/8 is a fun variation of poker, especially for those who primarily play Texas Hold ‘Em or another game. Omaha/8 can also be profitable since not many people know how to play the game well.

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