Omaha Hi-Lo Rules

Omaha Hi-Lo, also called Omaha Eight-or-Better, Omaha/8 or O8, is a split-pot form of Omaha. The object is to win all or part of the pot, with the best high hand, the best qualifying low hand, or both.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. High hands are ranked according to the standard poker hand rankings. Low hands are ranked as set out in Article 4.

Each player receives four hole cards. Every hand, high or low, shall be made from exactly two hole cards and exactly three community cards.

Between two and ten players may take part. Nine is standard for a full table.

The player to the left of the button posts the small blind and the next player posts the big blind. Each player is then dealt four hole cards, one at a time, face down.

There are four betting rounds: pre-flop, flop, turn and river. The flop (three cards), turn (one card) and river (one card) are each dealt face up after a burn card.

Before the flop, the player to the left of the big blind acts first. On every later round, the first active player to the left of the button acts first.

The game is most often played as fixed-limit or pot-limit. See betting structures for the rules of each.

2.4(a) In fixed-limit Omaha Hi-Lo, bets and raises on the pre-flop and flop rounds equal the small bet (usually the big blind), and on the turn and river equal the big bet (twice the small bet). Most venues cap the betting at one bet and three or four raises per round, with no cap when only two players remain.

2.4(b) In pot-limit Omaha Hi-Lo (PLO8), bets and raises are capped at the size of the pot, calculated as in pot-limit Omaha.

The high half of the pot goes to the best five-card poker hand made from exactly two hole cards and exactly three community cards, ranked by the standard hand rankings.

All the rules of Omaha hand-making apply to the high hand. A four-flush on the board with one card of that suit in hand is not a flush; three of a kind in the hand counts only as a pair.

Every hand has a high value. There is always a winner of the high half, even when there is no qualifying low.

To qualify for the low half, a hand shall consist of five cards of different ranks, each ranked eight or lower. This is an eight-or-better low.

The low hand is also made from exactly two hole cards and exactly three community cards. A qualifying low is therefore possible only if the board contains at least three cards of different ranks from ace to eight.

For low purposes, aces are low and count as one. Straights and flushes do not count against a low hand. The best possible low is 5♣4♦3♥2♠A♣, known as a wheel or bicycle, which is also a five-high straight for the high hand.

A pair disqualifies a hand from the low, because the five cards must be of different ranks.

Low hands are compared from the highest card down. The hand with the lower highest card wins; if those are equal, compare the next highest card, and so on. A low is usually described by its top two cards, such as "seven-five".

A player's high hand and low hand are assessed separately. A player may use any two hole cards and any three community cards for the high, and any two hole cards and any three community cards for the low. The two selections may be the same cards, may overlap, or may be entirely different.

A player does not declare which half they are playing for. The cards speak, and the dealer awards each half to the best qualifying hand.

A player who wins both the high and the low halves, or who wins the high when there is no qualifying low, scoops the pot.

At showdown the pot is divided into two equal halves. The best high hand wins the high half, and the best qualifying low hand wins the low half.

If no player has a qualifying low, the best high hand wins the whole pot.

If two or more players tie for the high, they split the high half equally. If two or more players tie for the low, they split the low half equally. A player who ties for one half receives only their share of that half, which in a two-way tie is a quarter of the pot. This is called being quartered.

Odd chips. When a pot cannot be divided exactly in half, the odd chip goes to the high half. When a half is then split between tied players and cannot be divided equally, the odd chip in that half goes to the first tied player to the left of the button.

Each side pot is split and awarded separately, as if it were its own pot. A player may win the high half of one pot and the low half of another, depending on who is eligible for each.

The order of showing is the same as in Omaha: the last player to bet or raise on the river shows first, or, if the river was checked, the first active player to the left of the button.

To win any part of a pot, a player shall table all four hole cards face up. The dealer reads the best high hand and the best low hand available from those cards.

The cards speak. A player who announces only a high hand, or only a low, is still awarded any half their cards win. Players should keep their cards until the pot is pushed, because a misread low is the most common error in this game.

A player may win the high half, the low half or both with the same four cards. Tied hands and odd chips are settled under 6.3 and 6.4.

Big O. Five-card Omaha Hi-Lo: each player receives five hole cards and still uses exactly two for each hand. It is usually played pot-limit.

Omaha Hi-Lo without a qualifier. Some home games award the low half to the lowest hand whatever its cards. Cardrooms and tournaments use the eight-or-better qualifier unless stated otherwise.