Rules Poker Omaha
Omaha is a fairly recent variation of the game of Poker, emerging some time in the 1980’s from whence it gained in popularity throughout casinos and in tournament play across the United States and around the world. In Omaha Poker each player receives four cards and there are five community cards. The distinguishing feature of Omaha is that at the showdown, players make their best Poker hand from exactly two of their hole cards and exactly three of the community cards.
Omaha is usually played with either pot-limit or limit betting rules. For more on the different betting structures in poker, check out our guide to Poker Betting Rules. Pot Limit Omaha is commonly called “PLO”, and is the second-most popular poker game in the world, behind Texas Hold’em. Omaha is usually played with either pot-limit or limit betting rules. For more on the different betting structures in poker, check out our guide to Poker Betting Rules. Pot Limit Omaha is commonly called “PLO”, and is the second-most popular poker game in the world, behind Texas Hold’em.
Number of Players
Omaha is suitable for anything from two to ten players.
The Cards
Omaha Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Cards rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and A where the Ace can be counted as 1 in a Straight, ranking below the 2 or high, ranking above the King.
Deal and Play
Posting the Blinds
The game begins with the two players left of the Dealer placing an initial bet. This is called ‘posting the blinds’. In Omaha Poker there are no antes, but rather forced bets or blinds.
The player to the immediate left of the Dealer posts a small bet called the ‘Small Blind’, which is usually equal to half the minimum bet.
The player left of the small blind then posts a bet called the ‘Big Blind’, which is usually equal to the minimum bet.
The Deal
The Dealer then burns the top card of the deck, and beginning with the player to his/her immediate left, deals out four cards one at time, face down to each player. These are known as the player’s hole cards. Players look at their hold cards but do not reveal them to any other player.
First Round of Betting
Beginning with the player left of the Big Blind, players take it in turn to call, raise, or fold. The blinds count as bets so that the small blind need only pay into the pot the difference between his/her initial bet and the standing bet.
The Flop
The Dealer then burns the top card of the deck and deals out three cards face up to the center of the table. These three cards are known as the ‘Flop’.
Beginning with the first active player in clockwise direction from the Dealer, each player takes it in turn to check, bet, raise or fold.
The Turn
The Dealer then burns the top card of the deck and deals out another card face up to the center of the table. This card is called the ‘Turn’.
Beginning with the first active player to the Dealer’s left, each player takes it in turn to check, bet, raise or fold.
The River
Rules Poker Omaha Nebraska
The Dealer then burns the top card of the deck and deals out another card face up to the center of the table. This card is called the ‘River’.
Beginning with the first active player left of the Dealer, each player takes it in turn to check, bet, raise or fold.
The Showdown
After this, beginning with the player who was the last to bet or raise in the previous betting round and continuing around the table in a clockwise direction, each player takes it in turn to reveal their four hole cards. Each player makes their highest possible five-card Poker hand using exactly any two of their hole cards and any three of the community cards, known as the board.
It is important that each player reveal all four of their hole cards even though they will only use two of them to make their 5-card Poker hand.
Rules Poker Omaha Ne
The player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot. If two players tie with the same hand, then the win goes to the player with the highest high card. If this does not resolve the tie, then players split the pot evenly.
L I N K S
Omaha Poker Strategy - Poker Strategy Magazine
Rules for Omaha Poker - Card Games Website
How do you play Pot Limit Omaha? - Australian Card Games
The Basic Rules of Pot Limit Omaha (PLO)
Omaha is a poker variant in which each player is dealt four “hole” cards (cards that the other players can’t see) and then share a five card board. It is similar to Hold’em in its play, with flop, turn, and river cards dealt in succession on the board, interspersed with betting rounds. The most common betting structure for Omaha is Pot Limit, in which players can only bet the size of the pot, including their call.
The play begins with each player being dealt four cards. Unlike Hold’em, players must play exactly two cards from their hand and exactly three from the board. Hand rankings are the same in Omaha and Hold’em, with a high card being the worst and a royal flush the best possible hand.
In PLO, the play starts with a small and big blind, which rotates each turn. The first player after the big blind (Under the Gun – UTG) may fold, call the big blind, or raise up to the “pot limit.” If the blinds are $1 and $2, the UTG player can bet up to $7. Things then get a little tricky. The second player can now fold, call the $7 or bet up to $24. This betting structure takes a while to get used to. See our How to Calculate Pot Limit article for more examples. When in doubt, if you would like to bet the maximum, you can always announce that you bet “pot” and the dealer will figure out the amount for you.
Note that starting hand values are quite different than in Hold’em, so you’ll want to familiarize yourself with these differences before playing Omaha. The “Advice” button in our PLO simulator can help you with this.
Hand equities run much closer together in Omaha, and thus more players will generally stay to see the flop than in Hold’em. With the ability to select the best two of a four card hand, winning hands in Omaha also tend to be quite strong. Single pairs and two pairs are rarely likely to take down the pot, and players should be drawing to nut straights and flushes if they decide to draw.
As you might imagine, Omaha pots can grow quite big, and with pre-flop hand equity advantages rarely larger than 60% variance swings in PLO can be big as well. The PLO player will need a larger bankroll than the typical No-Limit Hold’em player for that reason.
