Omaha Poker Rules

The object of the game is to win the pot, either by holding the best five-card hand at showdown or by making a bet that no other player calls.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Hands are ranked according to the standard poker hand rankings. Suits have no rank.

Each player receives four hole cards. A player's hand shall consist of exactly two of their hole cards and exactly three of the five community cards. This rule is set out in full in Article 3.

Between two and ten players may take part. Nine is standard for a full table; six is standard for a short-handed table.

Unless stated otherwise, Omaha means Omaha high, in which the whole pot goes to the best high hand. The split-pot version is covered in Omaha Hi-Lo.

A dealer button marks the nominal dealer and moves one seat clockwise after each hand. The player to the left of the button posts the small blind and the next player posts the big blind. Antes, where used, are set by the venue.

The dealer deals one card at a time face down to each player, starting with the small blind and moving clockwise, until every player has four hole cards.

Before each round of community cards the dealer burns one card. The community cards are dealt face up in the centre of the table as the flop (three cards), the turn (one card) and the river (one card).

There are four betting rounds: pre-flop, flop, turn and river. 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.

On each round a player may check (if no bet has been made), bet, call, raise or fold. A round ends when every active player has either folded or put the same amount into the pot. If the pre-flop action is limped around to the big blind, the big blind has the option to check or raise.

If all but one player folds at any point, the remaining player wins the pot immediately and need not show their cards.

A player's five-card hand shall be made from exactly two hole cards and exactly three community cards.

A player may not use one, three or four hole cards, and may not play the board. The five community cards can never, on their own, be a player's hand.

A player may choose any two of their four hole cards and any three of the five community cards. The player's hand is the best five-card combination that complies with 3.1.

The cards speak (Article 5). The dealer reads each hand according to 3.1, whatever the player declares.

In practice, this means:

3.5(a) A flush requires two hole cards of the suit and three board cards of the same suit. A four-flush on the board with one card of the suit in hand is not a flush.

3.5(b) A straight requires two hole cards that fit with three board cards. Four to a straight on the board with one connecting card in hand is not a straight.

3.5(c) Three or four of a kind in the hand counts only as a pair, because only two of those cards can be used.

3.5(d) A full house cannot be made from a board with two pairs and a single matching card in hand.

In a pot-limit game, the maximum bet is the size of the pot. The maximum raise is the amount needed to call plus the size of the pot after that call.

The minimum bet and minimum raise are the same as in no-limit: a bet must be at least the big blind, and a raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise in the same round.

To calculate a pot-size raise:

4.3(a) Add together all chips already in the pot, including the current round's bets and the blinds.

4.3(b) Add the amount the raiser must call. This gives the pot after the call.

4.3(c) The raise may be up to that amount, on top of the call.

4.3(d) A shortcut: the maximum raise-to amount is three times the last bet or raise, plus everything else in the pot, including any calls of that bet.

Before the flop, the blinds count as part of the pot. With blinds of 1 and 2, the first player to act may raise to a maximum of 7: call 2, making the pot 5, then raise 5.

A player may ask the dealer to count the pot before acting. In pot-limit games the dealer shall state the pot size on request. A player who declares "pot" is bound to a pot-size bet or raise, and the dealer confirms the amount.

If a player puts in more than the pot allows, the excess is returned and the wager stands as a pot-size bet or raise.

A player may always go all in for less than the maximum. An all-in wager that is less than a full raise does not reopen the betting to players who have already acted, as in Hold'em.

If more than one player remains after the river betting, the hands are shown to decide the winner. The order of showing is the same as in Hold'em: 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 a pot, a player shall table all four hole cards face up. The dealer then reads the hand under the two-plus-three rule.

The cards speak. A player who miscalls their hand does not lose a pot their cards actually win. Because Omaha hands are easily misread, players should keep their cards until the pot is pushed.

Hands of the same rank are compared card by card on the five cards that make up each hand. If both five-card hands are identical, the pot is split equally. Suits never break a tie.

When a pot cannot be split evenly, the odd chip goes to the first tied player to the left of the button.

A misdeal is declared if the first or second card of the deal is exposed by the dealer, if two or more cards are exposed during the deal, or if the button was in the wrong place and no substantial action has occurred.

If a player is dealt the wrong number of cards and this is discovered before substantial action, the hand is a misdeal. If it is discovered later, a hand with more than four cards is dead. Some venues allow a player with too few cards to continue with a hand that can only be made from the cards received.

A hand is dead if it is folded, if it has the wrong number of cards at showdown, or if the cards touch the muck and cannot be clearly identified.

Players shall keep all four hole cards on the table and in view at all times, and are responsible for protecting their own hand.

Five-card Omaha. Each player receives five hole cards. The two-plus-three rule still applies: exactly two hole cards and three community cards.

Six-card Omaha. Each player receives six hole cards, again using exactly two. Because 52 cards will not stretch to a full table, five-card and six-card games are usually spread with six players or fewer.

Courchevel. A five-card Omaha game in which the first flop card is dealt face up before the pre-flop betting. The remaining two flop cards are added after that round.

Split-pot Omaha. In Omaha Hi-Lo (Omaha Eight-or-Better) the pot is divided between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand. Five-card Omaha Hi-Lo is often called Big O.