Omaha

Omaha has a well-deserved reputation for being a game for action players. Pot-sizes tend to get large as players liberally splash chips around the table, especially in the hi-low variations, where multi-way pots and frequent raising make the game very exciting.

In Omaha, players are dealt four face-down cards. Afterwards, each player gets a chance to exercise his betting options. Next, three cards are dealt simultaneously on the table for all players to share. This is called the flop, and it is followed by another round of betting. A fourth card, called the turn, is then dealt, and it too is followed by a round of betting. One final community card called the river is dealt followed by a final round of betting. When all bets have concluded, there is a showdown, in which the highest ranking hand in play wins the pot. Visit our hand rankings page for an overview of poker hand rankings.

In Omaha, players must use exactly two of their four down cards and three of the five community cards to form their hand. It is easy for new players to get confused, and even world-class players have been known to misread their hands in Omaha. For example, if you were dealt four aces in the hole, you wouldn't have quads because only two of the aces would count toward the final hand! The remaining three cards would have to come from the board.