Trying out Omaha

7 hi lo is my favorite and where i got started, this is only place that has it now, it is the best game to play for us old-timers:)

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Beer, it is much easier as u get to use all of your cards in 7 stud lol.

You can only use your best 5 cards like every poker game.

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Hi
Don’t leave home without an Ace.
In omaha unless you flop quads or a straight flush, when you flop the best hand, the only people calling you are looking for a better hand than yours (or they are fools and you deal with them in the usual way) particularly when you have top or any flush.
Its a game of outs but you pick it up surprisingly quickly, basically a good hand is easy to recognise and also the flop. You have the no outs hand. a few outs hand, or lots of outs hand and hopefully the nuts. The rest is just the same as any other poker game. Don’t leave home without an ace, (in both games) but when you do, be prepared to fold if no ace shows up on the flop, try to never play the second best low hand.
Only play at the low stakes ring games until you have a feeling for the game or they might put you off it, tournaments are low risk best place to learn. GL :smiley:
Tried to make it simple

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Once you understand the game a bit you can play all sorts of hands but its safer to stick to the Ace rule until then :smiley:

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JMO, Hi/Lo is probably the best strategic poker game available. Because if you play it correctly, your opponents never know if you’re going high, low or both ways. But, you really need to be able to see which way they are betting if you want to become successful. Just remember that you can actually lose chips although you win.

Omaha is similar to Hold’em except different.

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What is a JMO?

@BeerEagle69
JMO just my opinion

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Ok, new one to me.

I agree. I love it also. keeps me thinking.

The Daniel Negreanue tutorial on Omaha Hilo on YouTube is excellent, and explains all you need to know to get started with game. Their are a few others about more advanced strategy but i feel this is the easiest to understand when starting off.
GL
Mark

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Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8-or-Better Rules

In Omaha hi-lo, the “high” hand is determined exactly the same way as in hold’em or Omaha “high” games.

The “low” hand requires a little more explanation, especially if you are new to split-pot games or hi-lo poker.

First of all, whatever cards you use to make your high hand, that makes no difference when making your low hand. You can use the same two cards, the other two cards, or any combination just as long as you use two cards from your four-card hand plus three of the community cards to build your five-card poker hand.

The rules of Omaha hi-lo is usually played with a “qualifier” for the low hand, meaning all of the cards making up a low hand have to be ranked eight or lower. That’s where the “split-8-or-better” comes from, a phrase usually added to the name of the game.

A qualifying low hand consists of five unpaired cards ranked eight or lower. For the low hand, the ace is considered a low card (the lowest), while it can also serve as the highest-ranking card in high hands.

Also worth noting — if your lowest five cards make a straight or a flush, that doesn’t matter in Omaha hi-lo, you’ve still got a low hand (if all are ranked eight or lower). In other “lowball” games like 2-7 no-limit triple draw, flushes and straights hurt you by making your low hand higher, but in Omaha hi-lo that is not the case.

That means a hand consisting of 5-4-3-2-A would be the lowest possible hand — that is to say, the best “low hand” in Omaha hi-lo. This hand is sometimes called a “wheel “. The next lowest possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A. The worst low hand that qualifies as a low in Omaha hi-lo would be 8-7-6-5-4.

A good way to figure out which low hand is best is to arrange the hand from highest card to lowest card and then to think of the hand as a five-digit number, with the lowest number being the best (or lowest) hand. Thus 5-4-3-2-A (54321) is better than 6-4-3-2-A (64321), and 6-4-3-2-A is better than 6-5-3-2-A (65321) and so on.

An Example of an Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8-or-Better Poker Hand

Let’s say a hand of Omaha hi-lo goes to showdown with the final board reading A:diamonds: 6:clubs: 3:spades: K:diamonds: Q:diamonds:.

You hold A:clubs: K:spades: 7:diamonds: 4:clubs:, and your opponent has Q:spades: J:diamonds: 4:diamonds: 2:spades:.

Your best possible high hand is two pair, aces and kings — using the A:clubs: and K:spades: in your hand pairing them with the ace and king on board, with the queen being a kicker.

Your best possible low hand is 7-6-4-3-A — using the 7:diamonds: and 4:clubs: in your hand along with the three low cards on the board. Note how you can’t use the ace in your hand when making your low hand, since you have to use exactly two cards in your hand and three on the board (and there is an ace on the board).

Your opponent, meanwhile, has you beat both for the high and the low!

Your opponent’s best possible high hand is a flush — using the two diamonds in his hand (J:diamonds: and 4:diamonds:) and the three diamonds on the board.

Your opponent’s best possible low hand is 6-4-3-2-A — using the 4:diamonds: and the 2:spades: in his hand along with the three low cards on the board. 64321 is lower than 76431, so your opponent has you beat.

Winning both halves of the pot like this is called a " Scoop “ or “scooping,” which is something you always want to try to do when playing split-pot or hi-lo poker games.

Sometimes in Omaha hi-lo there is no qualifying low hand. This is the case whenever there are less than three unpaired cards ranked eight or lower on the board.

For example, if the board is 9:clubs: K:diamonds: A:heart: 4:heart: J:spades:, there are only two cards ranked eight or lower on the board (the ace and four), which means it is impossible for anyone to make a low hand. When that happens, whoever has the best high hand scoops the whole pot.

Conclusion

Omaha hi-lo is not difficult to learn, especially if you already know how to play pot-limit Omaha. The strategy can be complicated, though, with a great deal of importance placed on understanding what are strong starting hands (e.g., hands containing an ace with at least one or two low cards, especially a deuce) and not making the mistake of battling for only half of the pot (just the high or low).

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Very good explanation. The only thing missing is, you only have seconds to decide what to do during each hand.

I think only trying to play the game (the experience) helps it sink in. Oh yeah, it doesn’t account for bluffing. That’s where the fun is.

These are the fundamentals of the game. Whatever a player decides what to do after that is up to them. I strongly advise against any player jumping in to get the “ experience “ without knowing the fundamentals of any game. It is just a waste of chips.

Best of luck all.

I think Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo are two of the most dynamic and fun games out there. You tend to have more playable hands and it helps you learn alot about post flop play and trying to read other player’s hands. It also makes you a better hold-em play IMO as you become alot more aware of straights and flushes on the board. But it is also a game where you can go worst to first in a heartbeat and vica versa. very dynamic.

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I would totally agree, when I learned to play HiLo it was a rather expensive lesson and learning curve for me due to not taking time to learn the basics, just thought my good fortune would continue as it did in Holdem, it most definitely did not and initially I was put off the game for a long time.
I wouldn’t want anyone to be put off it as I was, its a great game when you get the hang of it.
Cheers
Mark

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Thank you Mark ! Totally agree also.