Omaha Hi/Lo (8/b)

Omaha Hi/Lo (Eight or Better) is an Omaha variant where the best ‘High’ poker hand and the best ‘Low’ Eight or Better hands split the pot at showdown. This game can be played in 4, 5, or 6-card formats depending on the event. Because this is Omaha, you will still only be able to use exactly two cards from your hand and three from the board for your final hand to make your best five-card hand. However, being a split-pot game, you may use two different sets of two-hole-cards to make your high and low hands.

The “Lo” or Low Hand:
In Omaha Hi/Lo, the low hand is played with an “Eight or Better” qualifier, which means that a low hand must be, at worst, an eight-low to be eligible to win the low portion of the pot. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot.

Omaha Hi/Lo uses the ‘Ace to Five’ ranking for Low hands. Straights and flushes do not count against the hand, and Aces are always low. The best possible hand is a "wheel": 5, 4, 3, 2, A. To help understand the ranks of low hands, the following sample qualifying low hands are ranked from most powerful (#1, the best possible hand) to least powerful (#7, worst possible Low hand):

1. 5 4 3 2 A

2. 6 4 3 2 A

3. 6 5 4 3 2

4. 7 5 4 3 2

5. 7 6 5 2 A

6. 8 6 4 2 A

7. 8 7 6 5 4

Note that a low hand is always ranked from its highest card downwards. So for example, hand #2 is known as a ‘Six-low’ because its highest card is a Six. Hand #5 is a ‘Seven-low’. In poker slang, you distinguish between close low hands by going further down the ranks, so hand #2 would be called a ‘Six-Four low’, which beats hand #3 a “Six-Five low”.

Also remember that straights and flushes do not count against your low hand, so making a qualifying low that is also a straight or a flush is a very powerful hand, that could win both the high and low halves of the pot. That’s called a ‘Scoop’.

How it’s Dealt:
Pre-flop: At the start of each hand, players are dealt all their hole cards at once followed by a round of betting.
The Flop: After the pre-flop action is complete, three community cards are dealt followed by another round of betting.
The Turn: After action on the flop is complete, a fourth community card is dealt followed by a round of betting.
The River: After action on the turn is complete, a fifth and final community card is dealt followed by a final round of betting.

The Showdown / Determining the Hi and Lo Winners:

• If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete, the last player to bet or raise must shows their cards first. If no player bet on the River, the player immediately clockwise from the button shows their cards first. Further hands involved in the Showdown must be exposed or mucked clockwise around the table.

• The player with the best five-card high (‘Hi’) hand wins half the pot. The player with the best five-card hand for low (‘Lo’) wins the other half of the pot. If no hand qualifies for low, the best hand for high wins the entire pot.

• Remember that in Omaha Hi/Lo (8/b), there is an ‘eight or better’ requirement to win the low, so a player must have an unpaired five-card hand that consists of all cards Eight or lower. If no player can meet this requirement, there is no qualifier for low.

• If there is an odd chip when the pot is split amongst the High and Low hands, odd chip will be awarded to the High hand. If two or more players tie for the High hand and there is an odd chip in their half of the pot, odd chip will be awarded to the highest high card in their winning five-card hand. Likewise, if two or more players tie for the Low hand and there in an odd chip in their half of the pot, odd chip will be awarded to the highest high card in their five-card Low hand.