Omaha Rules

Omaha is a poker game that allows each player to use the four cards in their hand and the five in the flop to end up getting the best high hand out of the nine cards. The game is similar to Holdem but the winning hands seem to be skewed toward higher hands like trips, straights or flushes. The extra two cards are responsible for this major winning hand difference. The betting is pretty straight forward as it takes place after each player is dealt four cards face down and then a round of betting is completed Each deal to the flop is followed by a round of wagers. After the five card flop is completed there is a final round of betting. The show down by all players that are still in the game will show the winner and the dealer gives the pot to the winner.

These are the simple game rules for most players to follow, however the game is much tougher than Holdem as the hands tend to get drawn out on and a pair is usually worthless.

Trips is a fair hand and straights or flushes win a lot of hands. Better hands than these two do happen, but the three hands of trips, straights or flushes are common to a number of winning hands. One item that trips up a lot of players is this, the five card hand at the end is made up of two cards from the players hand and three cards from the flop. This is the mandatory way the hands are put together.

This game is a great game when played as a pot limit game. This keeps the early betting in check and lets a person with a made hand bet enough before the turn and the river to protect their hand. A Holdem player moving into this game is going to make a number of mistakes before they get use to the fact that winning hand levels are higher in this game. For this reason they can be taken advantage of by an experienced Omaha player. Players that know the game are worried when suited cards show on the flop or connecting cards are present in the flop. If there are several players in the hand, it is likely that one or more has a flush or a straight. Trips are going to be dead if either hand makes their draw.