Omaha Hi/Lo

High hand combinations in Omaha Hi/Lo are as follows, in decreasing order of value:

• Royal flush
• Straight flush
• Four of a kind
• Full house
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a kind
• Two pairs
• Pair
• High card

Click here to learn how to use the various combinations to make a poker hand.

The low hand must contain five cards whose values are less than or equal to eight, including the Ace (that can be counted as 1). The winning low hand is the hand whose high card has the lowest value (for example, 2,,3,4,5,7 would win against 1,,2,3,5,8 because 7 is the high card with the lowest value). In case of a tie, the second highest card is used to determine the winner, and so forth. In low hands, only the numerical value of cards count: flushes and straights are not considered for ranking purposes. If there are fewer than three community cards whose values are equal to or less than eight, it is impossible to make a low hand since all 5-card hands (high or low) must contain three community cards.

A marker, called the puck, is moved clockwise around the table one player position at a time as the game progresses, to determine the order of distribution of cards and the order during the betting rounds. When play begins, the puck is placed in front of the first active player next to the dealer, who is the equivalent of the traditional casino dealer.

Before any cards are dealt, the first player next to the puck in clockwise order places the small blind bet. The next player in clockwise order then places the big blind bet. The actual amounts of the blind bets will vary in accordance with the type of limits of the table.

Starting with the first active player next to the puck, the dealer deals four face down cards one at a time to each player (the “pocket” cards). Once all players have received their four cards, the first betting round starts with the first player following the player who placed the big blind bet. In each betting round, as the situation permits, players have the following options:

Check: If no player has placed a bet, you can check, i.e. not bet but remain in the game.

Bet: Add a bet to the pot.

Call: Put the same bet into the pot as the previous player.

Raise: Place a higher bet than the previous player.

Fold: Not bet and lose the right of winning the pot (forfeit the game).

If no player has raised the big blind, the player who placed the big blind has the option of checking or raising.

The next betting round starts once all players remaining in the game have checked (whenever this choice is available) or have placed bets for the same amount.

The dealer burns the top card of the deck (which means it is dealt to the side and not used in play) then deals three community cards face up, called the Flop. The second betting round then begins, with the first active player following the puck, with the same options as the first.

The dealer burns the top card of the deck then deals a fourth community card face up, called the Turn. A third betting round begins with the first active player following the puck, with the same options as before.

The dealer burns the top card of the deck and deals a fifth community card face up, called the River. A fourth and final betting round then begins with the first active player following the puck, with the same options as before.

After the fourth betting round, all the players who still have their four pocket cards try to make the highest or lowest ranked 5-card poker hand, to try and win the pot using two of their four pocket cards and three of the five community cards. A single player can make both a high hand and a low hand by using any combination of five cards as long as exactly two of the four pocket cards and three of the five community cards are used. The first player to show his cards is the player who bet or raised last. If no one bet in the previous round, the first active player next to the puck (in clockwise order) shows his cards first.

Half the pot is won by the player with the highest ranked hand in the showdown. The other half of the pot is won by the player with the lowest ranked hand in the showdown. A single player can have both a high and a low hand and thus win the whole pot. If there is no qualifying low hand, the player with the highest ranked hand wins the whole pot. Where there remains only one active player (all other players having folded), that player wins the whole pot. The pot is shared equally between players whose winning hands are identical. Wins from the pot are added to the winning player’s total stakes on the table. If the player is sitting at a cash game table, total stakes will automatically be paid into his or her Espacejeux account upon leaving the table.

Loto-Québec’s online gaming website offers you Omaha Hi/Lo Limit and Pot Limit poker.