Win at Poker | Your Online Poker Games Resource

• WinAtPoker Home
• News
• Poker Forums
• Articles
• Strategy
• Rules
• Map

Article

Omaha High Rules

The rules for omaha high are very similar to those of texas holdem. The only true difference between the two games is that in holdem you only receive two cards dealt face down and in omaha you receive 4 cards dealt face down. After saying that you are probably telling yourself that this game is so much easier then holdem because you get more cards but that isn’t the case. This is true because although you are dealt four cards face down, you are only allowed to play two of your cards and then you must you 3 cards from the community to make the best five card hand. This puts a very unique twist on the game, and it is a very crucial rule that many beginners forget to enforce. If you have not already learned how to play holdem, I will explain what the basic rules for omaha is, and hopefully you will be able to take your new knowledge of the game to the card table. Good luck!

How many people at the table? General notion goes that there should be no more then 9-10 people at a table, and no less then 5-7 to start off with. Players can run out of money, and eventually if the game is continuous you will get down to two players (heads up play) and then eventually one.


Getting started: There are four cards that are dealt face down to each player that is involved in the hand at that moment. After the four face down cards are dealt, the two players to the left of the dealer are forced to post blinds (a bet without looking at your cards that is rotated around the table in the form of a big and small blind. Usually the small blind is 1/2 the amount of the big blind.) Along with blinds, there can also be an ante but this is not always played with when you use blinds.


As soon as the blinds are posted, the initial round of betting can start, usually with the player to the left of the big blind. Often times, this rule will be changed and just the player to the left of the dealer will start the initial round of bets. During this round of bets you have the option to call the blind, raise the blind, fold, or check if you are in the big blind. This round of betting ends when the final bet made by the big blind is either a check or call.


As soon as the round of betting ends, the dealer burns one card (places it face down) and then deals out 3 cards face up. These cards are known as community cards and are referred to as the flop. You can now use those 3 community cards to make you best 5 card hand, but keep in mind you still have 2 more community cards coming. After the flop there is a round of betting which goes about the same way as explained above.


After this round of betting is over, the dealer burns one more card and then places one card face up. This is called the turn or fourth street, and is your 4th community card of 5. You now try to make your best 5 card hand using a selected two of the four cards that you were dealt face down and 3 of the 4 community cards. A round of betting occurs, and after this the dealer burns one last card and then deals face up the last community card.


This card is known as the river or 5th street, and is the last card that you have. You now have all the cards that you will get, and you must use your two of your four face down cards plus three from the community cards to make your best five card hand. A round of betting occurs and the best hand wins unless you fold because of a bluff.


Remember that you can only use two of your four cards so this not only gives you more possibilities to make a hand, but it also give your opponent more options. You often see a lot of three of a kinds, straights, and flushes in omaha so when you hit a middle pair make sure that you know that you probably wont win with it.


There are different variations of the game of omaha that you can play including omaha high low. These small twists on the game make it a lot more challenging and interesting, however many players like to just stick to normal omaha high. If you are interested in learning about high low omaha then read more about the rules in the specified section on our home page.


Depending on what kind of stakes you are playing you must make sure that your bets are following the rules. In no limit you obviously can bet it all, but in some games you can only bet the size of the pot or there is a limit to each bet. The reason a card is burned before each set of community cards is dealt is so that there can be no cheating. The ranking of hands are the same as followed in holdem, by I will post them again in this set of rules.


Hand Rankings
High card- Ace high
Pair- Two Aces
Two pair- Two Aces and Two kings. Highest pair wins.
Three of a kind- Three aces
Straight- five cards in sequential order such as 10 J Q K A
Flush- five cards of the same suit and highest card in the flush wins if two or more players have flushes.
Full house- Three of a kind and a pair. Highest three of a kind wins.
4 of a kind- four cards such as 4 aces.
Straight flush- five cards in sequential order all of the same suit. Highest card in the straight flush wins.
Royal flush- 10 J Q K A suited.


Resources
Play Online Omaha Poker
William Hill Online Poker – Omaha High Rules