Can you call or all-in in Omaha hi/lo and win a portion of the pot AND end up with LESS chips then you put in? Is that possible? I swear it happened to me twice tonight!
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Of course you can.
Here’s an example:
Say you’re playing heads up with just one other player, and you have 1200 chips and you go all in. The other player only has 1000 chips and calls the bet. That player wins the hand so he gets the 2000 chips (main pot) minus the 200 chips (side pot) which go back to you. So he ends up with 2000 chips and you end up with 200 chips (which is less than what you had or what you put in).
Now this was the simplest case. The same could happen with any number of players, and split pots in hi lo. If your bet or all in is higher than that of the players who win/split the pot, you get the difference back (which is of course much less than your original bet or stack), and the others split the main pot.
The same applies if someone else goes all in and you call, and others who have a smaller stack call too. If the smaller stack players have the best hands, and your hand is better than that of the player who went all in, The small stack players win/split the main pot, and you win the side pot, while the all inner gets eliminated.
Hope this helps 
Another way it can happen let’s say 4 players go all in with 1500 each 6000 total pot. Then 3 players tie for the low pot and 1 player wins the high pot. The high wins 4500 and the other 3 will split 1500, or one could get knocked out and 2 split the 1500, or the high winner could tie for lo also and gets 4500 plus 1/3 of lo etc…
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Maya, I get it with a regular table, I’m talking about hi/lo.
Juicee, That totally sucks! I did not know that! Why am I playing that game? Last 2 nights I’ve been beaten in regular holdem holding full boats, ace hi flushes, trip aces, the last was a pair of aces with a queen as my low card…he had a king. So I switch to Omaha, and now I find out that when I win a pot, either with a high or low hand, I can lose chips! What, am I supposed to have an accountant sitting next to me before I place a bet? I’ll bet most people that play that game don’t know the truth. I’ll never play it again,
Actually “tie hand”, split “half-pots” are fairly common in hi-lo. The players call it “being quartered” because the tied half-pot winners get–at most–one quarter of the pot. If the tie is more than two ways (it can be three or even four) the half-pot could be reduced even more to a sixth or an eighth…
It can also happen at Hold’em or Omaha High only. Two players each have AA or another identical hand and go all in. No flush turns, so they split–but the rake takes its 5% share first, so each hand gets back fewer chips than were put in as bets. Example: A and B each bet 100 chips and tie; the rake gets 10 chips (200 X 5% = 10), so A and B each get back 95 chips, 5 fewer than they each put into the pot.
That’s one of the many reasons to play/bet cautiously regardless of what game you play. And, yes, it works that way in live games in clubs, homes, and casinos, too. Tied hands split the portion of the pot they’ve won minus any house rake.
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Alan, I understand the issue of the vig. Thats not what I’m talkin bout.
I’m not seeing this. In Holdem you cannot win less chips (not counting the vig) then you put in. If the pot gets split, its split among those that stayed, (called) plus the players chips that folded. Everyone gets their chips back plus. But this hi/lo s**t is different! Can the winning hi hand be screwed even if he’s the only hi hand, assuming there’s a winning low hand? And should the low hand ALWAYS be looked at as a kind of a gimme? I mean a player should NEVER play it, right? Because you could get really screwed
It is possible for up to 7 players to split the lo hand with A-5 straights.
Player 1… A2xx
Player 2 …23xx
Player 3 …34xx
Player 4… 45xx
Player 5 …5Axx
Player 6… A3xx
Player 7… 24xx
Community Cards A2345
Additional to that 4 more players may split the Hi hand by holding 67xx. Unlikely to happen but possible.
edit… that makes it a total of 11 players giving
44 hole cards
5 community cards
3 burn cards
Entire deck in play
Do Omaha hi/lo players understand all this, and do they consider this before they bet, or are most of them just wheel-of-fortune spinners, lol? Yeah…pretty sure you won’t see millhunk at any hi/lo game EVER! hahahaha!
might read here for some help
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The idea of a possible uneven pot split belays any strategy I’m willing to think about. I think the possibility of an uneven pot split is kinda unfair…
There are usually 2 hands in Omaha hi/lo. Half of every bet goes to each hand so essentially there are 2 half pots in play. 1 half goes to the best qualifying lo hand (or split among more than one) while the other hi half goes to the best overall hand.
As an example lets assume you are heads up and bet 1000 chips. Enemy calls 1000 so there are now 2 pots of 1000 each.
Your hand A289
Enemy hand A2KK
Community 345KK.
Enemy wins hi hand with KKKK (1000 chips) and splits the lo with A2345 500 each
Enemy gets 1500 and you get 500 which is a loss on your 1000 bet.
Also if there is no lo hand the hi hand wins both and the best lo hand may be the best overall hand so will win both lo and hi
You could have the best hand, and if enemy 1 has same hand as you, and enemy 2 has low hand - YOU LOSE! So does enemy 1.
You dont even need 2 Enemys. 1 can win 3/4 of the pot and you get 1/4.
It’s a great game when you master it. Good luck as you try.
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I’m glad we had this discussion, but I doubt I’ll try. I don’t like to share my pot…) Thanks everyone!
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Whether you know it or not, you can have the best hand in Omaha hi/lo and lose half or more of your chips! I don’t mean the half that goes to the low hand, I’m talking about a tie between you and another player for the best hand, and there’s also a low hand(s) - YOU LOSE! So does the other player that tied your hand (unless they’re the low also). I will not play the game anymore. It’s hard enough to keep my bank without being blindsided by some stupid s**t like that!
Don’t think it happens often? Happened to me twice in one game and I lost big both times.
This post was originally in Discussion and was merged here by Replay. It is not a comment to the folks that posted in this discussion - I know you guys know this already - its for others that don’t know, and I’m kinda pissed that they put it here. It doesn’t belong here.
Update - I just tried to post this in Discussion again with a diff title and Replay removed it. I’m starting to think Replay does NOT want this to be generally known, and I get it - who wants to play a game where THEE object is to have the best hand, but sometimes you still lose with the best hand?? NOT ME!
I’m done here. Now I know there’s a “1984” thing going on, I won’t be back to these forums. I’m sure you’re all sad about that. bye
Making the same post in multiple areas of the forum will get your post flagged as spam by most forum-management software. It’s not necessarily indicative of heavy-handedness by the Replay team.
The potential for split pots is one of the reasons people play Hi-Lo games. If you’re sitting with the nut high flush, watching players bloat a pot because they each split the nut low, it can be a lot of fun. Of course, if you have both the nut high and the nut low, you’ll never end up with fewer chips than you put in.
Not every game is for every person, though. Not a fan of the Hi-Lo game mechanics? There are plenty of other poker variants available on the site for you to master. Good luck on the tables.
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Nope. I don’t except that. Okay, maybe my post was seen as spam by Reply - I accept that - but I DON’T except the explanation that poker variants are for some people and not others. There is a fundamental ASSUMPTION when a person plays poker, and here it is: The best hand will NOT lose chips! That is the issue here, and I see hi/lo games as a TRAP for new players to lose many chips to seasoned players. Sorry, but this is supposed to be a friendly space (otherwise we would be playing with real money), taking ADVANTAGE of new players in this way is WRONG.
Hi millhunk,
Clearly you need to understand the rules concerning how to play omaha hi/lo. May I recommend you read the information given by Replay in the following link
I hope this will help.
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BLUEDIME
I have been training myself in to OMAHA Hi / Lo for several months now. I have ran through the same sinero. In futher play, going all-in with several players, who have all the wheel cards? 5432A, 6432A, 7632A, etc. Who laid the largest jam? who laid the smallest jam? The divided pot, your large bet, The results may be smaller than you hope far.
Omaha, I am still learning.
….BLUEDIME