How To Play Omaha
By: Chris Iaquinta
Omaha is a type of poker game that is very similar to Texas Hold’em and has managed to stay popular despite the recent Hold’em surge. As with Hold’em, Omaha is a known as a community card game, with the players sharing cards on the board, but one stark difference with Omaha is that each player is dealt 4 hole and they must use exactly 2 cards from these cards and 3 from the board in order to make a 5-card poker hand. The game can also be played hi/lo, but for this ‘how to’ we’ll stick to Omaha High; the highest hand wins it all version
Here’s how to play:
The two players to the dealers left put out blind bets. The player directly to the left of the dealer puts out the small blind while the other player puts out the big blind.
Each player is then dealt four cards, face down. These are known as hole or pocket cards.
The action, also known as the first move, falls to the player to the left of the big blind. He can call the bet, raise it, or fold. From here on betting continues around the table, clockwise.
Once the betting is completed, three cards are now dealt face up on the table, which is also known as the board. These cards are called the flop and are “community cards.” This means everyone can (and will) use them in conjunction with their own hole cards in order to make the best hand.
From the flop on, betting will begin with the player to the left of the dealer, who can check or bet.
A fourth card is then dealt face up onto the board. This is known as fourth street or the turn card.
Another round of betting.
The final card is now dealt face up. This card is known as fifth street or the river.
A final round of betting now occurs after which the remaining players show their cards. To make up their final five-card hand, players must combine two of their four hole cards with three of the cards on the board. Players are allowed to use any two cards from their hole along with any three from the board, but to make the best 5 card hand they must use exactly 2 from their hole cards and 3 from the board.
