Omaha Hold'Em has similar rules to Texas Hold'Em. The primary difference is that in Omaha each player gets nine cards to choose from in creating their poker hand, and as such, the hands tend to be better. Before continuing with this page, if you are a beginning poker player, you might want to familiarize yourself with the general rules for the game by checking out our Rules of Poker section.

In Omaha Hold’Em, each player receives four hole cards. Just as in Texas Holde’Em, a round of betting follows the dealing of these cards. After the first round of betting, three community cards are dealt (the flop). Another betting round follows, after which the turn, a forth community card, is dealt face up. This, predictably, is followed by another round of betting and a final community card being dealt, known as river.

Omaha Hold’Em rules stipulate that each player must form their poker hand by combining two of their hole cards with three of the community cards. With so many cards to choose from, it is not uncommon for the winning hand to be a flush or full house. Once the final betting round (after the river) has taken place, players remaining must reveal their cards, and the best poker hand wins.

Omaha Hi-Lo Rules

Omaha Hi-Lo rules are exactly the same as Omaha Hold’Em rules except for one variation: low hands can split the pot with the high hand. To qualify as a low hand, a player’s poker hand must consist of five cards of 8 or lower with no pair, and they must use to cards from their hand and three from the board. Straights or flushes can be considered a low hand as long as the cards are all 8 or below, so in rare cases it may be possible to win the low hand and the high hand. If there is no qualifying low hand, the entire pot goes to the high hand.