Omaha Hi/Lo is a split pot game. That means there can be two winners if there is a qualifying low hand. The Player with the highest hand will split the pot with a player with the lowest hand. The Hi/Lo split game is sometimes called Omaha Eight or Better. In order to have a hand qualify as low there must be no cards higher than 8 in your five card hand. Since in Omaha you must use two cards from your hand, there must be three cards on the board that are eight or lower. If there is no qualifying low hand the winner with the highest hand will wing

 Low Hand

An ace can be used as either high or low. A flush or straight is ignored when making a low hand. Therefore the lowest hand is A 2 3 4 5. This hand is also called a “wheel. If two players have the same hand they will split the low half of the pot. This is not uncommon because many players will play any hand that consists of an Ace-deuce. When tow players split the low we refer to it as getting “Quartered” as you only win a quarter of the pot. 

Scooping the Pot

Since you have four cards in your hand you can use any combination of two for the high hand and low hand. You may use two cards for high and two different cards for low. The ideal situation in Omaha is to have a hand that will win both the high hand and the low hand.  The other way to win the whole pot is to have the highest hand and have no low hand possible.

Counterfeited

If you have an Ace and a deuce in you hand and there is an Ace or deuce on the board, you hand is counterfeited if there are not four low cards. Since you must use two cards from your hand you will need to have three different low cards on the board or your hand will not count as low.

Example:

You have A-2

The board is:

2 4 5 J Q

 You can't make a low hand because the 2 is paired.

A Wild Game

Omaha Hi/Lo can be a very wild game. You will get players raising when they have a high hand and players raising when they have a low hand. It leads to some big pots and makes it a very exciting game.

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Until next time, remember:
"Luck comes and goes...Knowledge stays forever."
~ Bill Burton

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