Poker Game Review - Omaha High Low

At casino Omaha High/Low tables, a round plastic marker called the dealer "button" is placed in front of the player who would be dealing if a house dealer were not provided. The button is moved one seat clockwise after each game and the card distribution and betting starts to the left of that position.


Betting Procedure

1. Before each player is dealt four down cards, the player at the immediate left of the button, called the "Small Blind" is forced to bet (half the minimum bet). Then the player to his left and two seats to the left of the button, called the"Big Blind", is forced to bet the minimum bet. Each player is then dealt a four card hand.

The player at the left of the big blind is first to act and he must either call the big blind's bet, raise, or fold his hand. Continuing in turn clockwise, all the players around the table either call, raise or fold. When the betting gets back around to the small blind, he or she can fold and lose the bet placed earlier, call the amount necessary to get up to the betting level or raise. The big blind is then the last to act before any cards are turned up in the middle. The blinds are played in the first round only.

2. The dealer turns three cards up in the center of the table. This is the "Flop". As always, the player at the left of the button is first to act. There are no more forced bets and the players can all check around if they want to. Bets right after the flop are at the minimum bet level.

3. Now comes the "Turn" card with more betting that now goes to the higher minimum bet level.

4. Finally the last, or "River" card is turned up. The last betting round takes place. The players still in the contest reveal their hole cards and the highest hand wins the pot or splits with the lowest qualifying low hand. Of course, the ideal result is to win the high end with no split or have the cards to win both ways.

Showdown

Once all betting is complete, players determine the best five-card high or low hand that they can make from two of their four pocket cards and three of the five community cards. In Omaha High/Low the pot is split 50-50 between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand, consisting of 5 cards of different values ranked 8 or lower.

Straights and flushes are not counted against you when evaluating a low hand. However, they still apply for evaluating the high hand. Aces can be used both for high and low hands.

Therefore, the best possible low hand is A,2,3,4 and 5, which is also a straight for the high hand. It is possible for a player to scoop the entire pot with both the highest and lowest hands. Four of these cards will be in their own possession and dealt as down cards, and five will be face up as community cards to be shared by all players.

Therefore, if a player is dealt four kings down, only two of the kings count toward the final hand. The remaining three cards must come from the community cards. The player with the best five-card hand and the player with the qualifying best low hand share the pot evenly. Should multiple hands tie, the pot is split with any odd amount going to the player immediately to the left of the dealer.

The 'button' is moved clockwise around the table so that every player can benefit from the advantage of being last to act once per round. Like Hold 'Em, position is an important advantage with the player on the button being in the best position possible.