Omaha Hi
Omaha Hi Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or Omaha Eight or Better) is a “split pot” version of the popular Omaha poker game. In this version of the game, there are two winning hands in each round: the high winner and the low winner.
The high hand winner is the player with the highest value winning hand – the same as in the standard version of Omaha. The low hand winner is the player with the best hand featuring five unpaired cards valued 8 or lower. Flushes and straights are ignored in the low hand. If you know the basics of Pot Limit Omaha Hi strategy, you should have no problems getting to grips with Omaha Hi Lo strategy, so here are some tips to get you started.
Owing to its frequently large pots, Omaha Hi/Lo (also called 'Omaha High Low', 'Omaha H/L', 'Omaha/8' or 'Omaha 8-or-better') has become a hugely popular game around the world. Some people think that Omaha hi lo is the game of the future. Hi Omaha is a print and digital publication sharing stories from all around our community.
Be prepared to fold on the flop
An essential Omaha 8 strategy is to recognize when you have a weak hand early on and get out quickly. The game favors the highest value hands so if the flop offers you little, it’s time to fold. Betting on average hands is a flawed Omaha Eight or Better strategy that will quickly end your game.
Forget about bluffing
If you are planning on bringing your Texas Hold’em bluffing skills to the Omaha Hi Lo table, think again. The game is driven by strong hands so when the betting starts, the chances are you are going up against players with high-value combinations. Bluffing in this situation is a sure-fire way to get beat. There are some Omaha Hi Lo strategy advanced situations where bluffing may be useful, but it takes time and experience to understand such nuances of the game. Until you reach that point, bet the hand you have.
- Omaha Hi/Lo, also known as Omaha 8 or better or Hi/Lo split, is virtually the same game as Omaha except that there are potentially two pots for every hand, the high pot and the low pot. This means that players can actually win one-half of the pot by winning the best 'hi' 5-card poker hand or the other half of the pot by winning the best low hand.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Odds Calculator - Texas Holdem Odds Calculator Omaha High Odds Calculator - Hole Cards # Players. Community Cards reset rounds: 0.
Don’t commit too early
If you are dealt a strong early hand such as A-A-2-3 double-suited, don’t be tempted to raise early. You will reduce the field while committing a lot of money before you have seen the flop. It’s much better to keep as many players in the game as possible if you have the potential to hit the “nuts”. Some players may raise early if they have a good but not strong hand to try and force other players to fold but this strategy can backfire after the flop.
Remember, the key decision you need make after being dealt with your hole cards is whether to play your hand or not. If you have a premium hand, you should play but avoid raising until after the flop when there is a multi-way pot there to be scooped.
Omaha Hi Lo 8b Strategy
- How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8-or Better — Clear And Concise Guide – The Rules Of How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hands Guide — Starting Hands Guide For Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better and PLO8
- PLO8 Poker – Ace-Two Errors & How To Spot Them — Every PLO8 Player Enjoys The Sight Of A2 As Part Of Their Starting Hand, However There Are Times When A2 Errors Can End Up Costing You Chips.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count Systems For Starting Hand Selection — Dr Hutchinson’s Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count System Reviewed – Useful For Online Play??
- High Only Hands In PLO8 Poker – For The 30% Of The Time A Low Is Not Made, An Introduction To Profitable High-Hand Play.
- How To Avoid Being Quartered In O8 Poker – Avoiding Being Quartered In Certain Situations Can Make A Big Difference To Your Bankroll.
- Playing Static Flops In PLO8 – Cardrunners Coach Dan ‘CampFireWest’ Deppen takes us though some advanced strategy ideas.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- All-Ins Pre-Flop In No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo — No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Strategy Should Include Defense Against The Constant All-In Overbets Pre Flop in NL08.
- Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo, A Closer Look! — Straights, Draws To Straights and When To Play Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo… A Closer Look!
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- Scooping PLO Hi-Lo Pots – The Why And The How! — Lets take a look at taking the high and low splits of the pot in O8 games.
Getting Ahead at Omaha Hi Lo Poker
Getting ahead in Omaha Hi Lo is not difficult because, in spite of the popularity of the game, not many people play it that well. There is very little strategy to learn in Omaha Hi Lo Poker because the game is more odds-focused than Texas Hold´em and the cards that players are dealt will determine what their betting action should be.
Omaha Hi Low Strategy
As with every other form of poker, Omaha Hi Lo strategy takes third place behind understanding the betting actions of the other players on the table in relation to the position in the betting action that a player is in (you can read more about being the last player to act on our ‘Blinds, Dealing and Betting’ page).
Identifying that an opponent makes a certain size raise when they have a particularly strong hand – or limps into a pot when they have a speculative hand – will give a player in ‘position’ an edge on that opponent when it comes to make a betting decision.
The DO of Omaha Hi Lo Poker
The ‘DO’ of Omaha Hi Lo poker is ‘D’ for Discipline and ‘O’ for Outs. Profitable Omaha Hi Lo poker is a very boring game, as players should only get involved in pots that they have a very strong likelihood of winning. Whereas in Texas Hold´em poker players can justifiably limp into a hand with suited connectors and small pairs, that sort of speculative hand in Omaha Hi Lo will cost players a lot of money!
Being aware of the number of outs a hand has is also essential. If a player knows that his or her hand has 22 outs after the flop, and there are 45 ‘unseen’ cards which could be dealt on the Turn or River, he or she has an almost even money chance of improving their hand. The decision to continue in the hand or not can then be made depending on how much money that player has to pay to remain in the hand in relation to their chances of winning it (also known as ‘pot odds’).
Playing only the strongest hands and acting on them with the knowledge of how likely they are to be successful is not ‘sexy poker’ or very much fun, but it is the only way to consistently win money playing Omaha Hi Lo.
5 Card Omaha Hi Preflop Chart
The Dont of Omaha Hi Lo Poker
Omaha Hi/low
The big ‘don´t’ of Omaha Hi Lo poker is don´t get sucked into to playing badly on a loose table just because everybody else is. There are times when it is appropriate to bet on a hand which does not have a good chance of winning (see our page on ‘Winning Omaha Hi Lo Secrets’) or when it is established that the next players to act are likely to fold under pressure.
However, as we mentioned at the top of this page, Omaha Hi Lo Poker is a game that not a lot of players play well. By getting too involved in a loose game of Omaha Hi Lo (which is admittedly more fun) players are likely to enjoy fewer winning sessions and even see the standard of their game deteriorate to a point where they are relying on luck, rather than skill and Omaha Hi Lo strategy, to win pots.
Omaha Hilton
The final piece of advice on this strategy and tactics page is don´t go crazy with A2xx. A2 on its own is no better than a viable starting hand (more about this on our page about ‘Omaha Hi Lo Starting Hands’) and the ‘xx’ cards in A2xx should have some chance of winning the hand by themselves before a player commits themselves to a pot.