How to Play Omaha Hi/Lo

Short Description

Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better (Omaha Hi/Lo), a game for between 2-10 players, has gained popularity, both in the US and abroad, due to its highly challenging game play and many facetted game rules. Omaha Hi/Lo consists of 4 Betting Rounds. Throughout the game each player receives 4 facedown “Pocket Cards”. 5 face-up “Community Boardcards” are placed in the center of the Table, to be shared by all the players. Each player creates the highest valued and/or lowest valued qualifying Poker hand, using any 2 of his/her 4 Pocket Cards and any 3 the 5 Community Boardcards.

Betting Limits

Pacific Poker Online offers a variety of Tables, designed for different numbers of Players, and offering various Table Betting Limits.

In the game of Omaha Hi/Lo, each Table has both a Lower and Higher Limit Stake (Betting amount). A Table’s Lower Limit Stake is always half the Higher Limit Stake (i.e. a $1/$2 Table, or a $5/$10 Table).

In the first two Betting Rounds (see the Betting Rounds below), of a Omaha Hi/Lo game, Members Bet (wager) in multiples of that Table’s Lower Limit Stake.

In the final two Betting Rounds, of a Omaha Hi game, Members Bet in multiples of that Table’s Higher Limit Stake.

The Buy-in

In order to Sit-in (join) a Pacific Poker Online Omaha Hi/Lo Table, Members must purchase a minimum amount of Chips to play with (“Buy-in”). At Pacific Poker Online, the minimum Buy-in amount is 10 times the Lower Limit Stake of that particular table (i.e. at a $1/$2 Table the Member must Buy-in with a minimum of $10).

Posting

A Member entering a Pacific Poker Online Omaha Hi/Lo Table is required to pay an initial fee (“Post”), equal to that Table’s Lower Limit Stake. The Post follows the same rules as the Blind Bets (see The Blind Bets below) and allows the Member to Sit-in at the Table.

Members have the option of "Sitting Out", and waiting for the Big Blind before beginning to play. Posting ensure fairness to all Members, by preventing players from entering a Poker game in a Late Position in order to avoid placing Blind Bets.

The Dealer (The "Button")

In Pacific Poker Online’s Omaha Hi/Lo, the Members take turns acting as the Dealer. The Dealer is identified by the Button:

After each hand, the Dealer Button moves left, in a clockwise fashion, to the next Member who is Sitting-in at the Table.

The Blind Bets

In Pacific Poker Online’s Omaha Hi/Lo, Antes do not “seed” the Pot. Instead, the Pot is formed, initially, through the use of “mandatory” bets, known as "Blind Bets".

The first Blind Bet, known as the Small Blind, is posted by the first Member Sitting-in to the left of the Dealer in a clockwise fashion. The amount of the Small Blind Bet is half of that Table’s Lower Limit Stake. On Tables with Lower Limits Stakes greater than $1, the Small Blind is rounded down to the nearest dollar.

The second Blind Bet, known as the "Big Blind", is posted by the second Member Sitting-in to the left of the Dealer in a clockwise fashion. The amount of the Big Blind Bet is equal to that Table’s Lower Limit Stake.

Both the Big and Small Blinds, in Omaha Hi/Lo Poker, are considered “Live” (active) Bets and therefore, according to Poker rules, can be Checked, Called, Raised or Folded.

Missing the Blind Bets

Occasionally, a Member may choose to temporarily Sit-out from a Table:

• If, while Sitting-out, the Member misses his/her turn to place the Small Blind, upon re-Sitting-in that Member will be required to Post. This Post consists of a live Bet equal to the Big Blind.
• If, while Sitting-out, the Member misses his/her turn to place either the Big Blind or both the Small Blind and the Big Blind, upon re-Sitting-in, that Member will be required to Post. This Post consists of a live Bet equal to the Big Blind, plus an additional “Dead” (non-active) Bet, equal to the Small Blind , which is donated by the Member directly to the Pot.

The Betting Round

Pacific Poker Online’s Omaha Hi/Lo follows the conventional Poker Betting Round Structure.

There are four possible betting rounds in Pacific Poker Online’s Omaha Hi/Lo. The first two Betting Rounds are set at that Table’s Lower Limit Stake. The last two Betting Rounds are set at that Table’s Higher Limit Stake.

After the Members' pocket cards are dealt, the first Betting Round is initiated by the first Member Sitting-in, in a clockwise fashion to the left of the big blind.

After each of the subsequent three deals ("The Flop", "The Turn " and "The River "), in which the community boardcards are dealt, the betting rounds are initiated by the first active (who has not Folded) Member, in a clockwise fashion, to the left of the Dealer.

Betting Rounds always proceed in a clockwise fashion, from one active Member to the next. Each Member must either: Check, Bet, Raise, Call or Fold. Pacific Poker Online's Omaha Hi follows the conventional Poker Betting Round Structure.

There are four possible Betting Rounds in Pacific Poker Online’s Omaha Hi/Lo. The first two Betting Rounds are set at that Table’s Lower Limit Stake. The last two Betting Rounds are set at that Table’s Higher Limit Stake.

After the Members’ Pocket Cards are dealt, the first Betting Round is initiated by the first Member Sitting-in, in a clockwise fashion to the left of the Big Blind.

After each of the subsequent three deals ("The Flop", "The Turn " and "The River "), in which the Community Boardcards are dealt, the Betting Rounds are initiated by the first active (who has not Folded) Member, in a clockwise fashion, to the left of the Dealer.

Betting Rounds always proceed in a clockwise fashion, from one active Member to the next. Each Member must either:

• Check – Pass the option to act to the next active Member.
• Bet – Place a Betting Round’s initial increase to the amount that each of the following Members must place in the Pot, in order to remain in the game.
• Raise – Place a Betting Round’s 2nd, 3rd or 4th increase to the amount that each of the following Members must place in the Pot, in order to remain in the game.
• Call – Equal the previous active Member’s Betting amount in that Betting Round and remain in the game (In the first Betting Round each Member must at least equal the amount of the Big Blind).
• Fold – Discard hand and no longer remain active to participate in that game. The Member forfeits the amount (if any) that he/she has previously Bet during that game.

In keeping with conventional Poker rules, within each Betting Round there can be no more than one Bet and three additional Raises ("Raise", “Reraise” & "Cap"). Once a Cap occurs, the following Members will only be able to Call or Fold.

A Betting Round is concluded when:

• All active Members have Checked in Turn. or
  
• All active Members have matched the last Member to increase the amount (Bet/Raise) to be placed in the Pot, during that Betting Round. or
  
• All previous Members have chosen to Fold, leaving only one active Player. This last remaining player automatically receives the Pot. In this case both the Betting Round and game are automatically terminated.

The Showdown

Once the fourth Betting Round is completed, if more than one Member remains active in the game, there is a "Showdown". In the Showdown, each active Member utilizes any 2 of his/her 4 Pocket cards and any 3 of the 5 Community Boardcards, to create the highest valued and/or lowest valued qualifying 5 card Poker hand (see Poker Hand Value Chart below).

Pacific Poker Online follows Standard Poker Rules for determining Poker hand value (see Poker Hand Value Chart below).

1. The active Member who creates the highest valued Poker hand wins 50% of the Pot, minus the percentage of the Pot won by any Members holding higher valued All-in hands (see Pacific Poker Online's All-in Policy below) and the "Rake" (see "Limits, Antes and Rake" section of this site).
2. The active Member who creates the lowest valued Poker hand wins 50% of the Pot, minus the percentage of the Pot won by any Members holding lower valued All-in hands and the "Rake".
   • In order to qualify as the lowest valued Poker hand, the Member must create a Poker hand containing no card higher than an 8.
   • Straights or Flushes are not applied when vying for the lowest valued Poker hand (i.e. and A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest valued Poker hand).
3. An active Member who creates both the highest and the lowest valued Poker hands wins 100% of the Pot, minus the percentage of the Pot won by any Members holding higher or lower valued All-in hands and the "Rake".
   • No "Crossovers" are permitted in Omaha Hi/Lo (i.e. a Q-K-A-2-3 is not valued as a Straight).
4. If none of the active Members are able to create a qualifying Lo hand the Member with the highest valued Poker hand wins 100% of the Pot, minus the percentage of the Pot won by any Members holding higher or lower valued All-in hands and the "Rake".

If the active Member with the highest and/or lowest valued Poker hand is "All-in" (see All-in below), that Member receives the appropriate percentage (50% or 100%) of the Pot total, up until the time that they were All-in. (An Omaha Hi/Lo Poker game can have as many All-in Pots as there are active Members, minus one.) The remainder of the Pot goes to the active Member(s) with the next highest and/or lowest valued Poker hand(s).

Tie Hands

In the event that 2 or more active Members, participating in the Poker hand’s Showdown, hold equal ranking (by combination) hands, the winner is determined by the highest and/or lowest card (i.e. a pair of Aces beats a pair of Kings for the Hi hand and a 2 beats a 3 for the Low hand).

Should the Poker hands remain tied (i.e. a pair of Kings vs. a pair of Kings or low card 2 vs. low card 2), the highest and/or lowest valued card not held in common (the “Kicker”) determines the game’s winner(s).

In the event of exact ties in Poker hand value, between 2 or more active Members, the appropriate percentage of the Table’s Pot will be split evenly between those Members. In the event of extra odd Chip(s) the first winning Member to the left of the Dealer, in a clockwise fashion, will receive the odd Chip(s).

Auto Muck Losing Hand

Members participating in the Showdown, whose hands are of a lower value than an already showing hand, are offered the option to not show (“Muck”) their losing hands to the other participants at the Table. The automatic Mucking of non-winning hands protects Members from unknowingly revealing his/her hand to the Table’s other participants.

If a Member checks the “Auto Muck Losing Hand” box, his/her non-winning hand will automatically be Mucked, if there are higher valued hands already showing.

If a Member wins a hand by virtue of being the only remaining active Member, his/her winning hand will not be shown to the other Members participating at the Table by default. If this Member presses the “Show Hand” button, his/her winning hand will be shown to the other Members.