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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is frequently viewed as one of the most complicated but favored poker variations. It’s a game that, even more than normal Omaha poker, invites play from every level of players. This is the primary reason why a once invisible variation, has expanded in acceptance so rapidly.

Omaha/8 starts like a normal game of Omaha. Four cards are handed out to each player. A sequence of wagering follows in which players can wager, check, or drop out. 3 cards are given out, this is known as the flop. One more sequence of wagering ensues. After all the players have in turn called or dropped out, another card is revealed on the turn. Another sequence of wagering follows and then the river card is revealed. The players will need to put together the best high and low 5 card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is the point where a number of players get flustered. Contrasted to Hold’em, in which the board can make up everyone’s hand, in Omaha hi/low the player must utilize precisely three cards from the board, and exactly 2 cards from their hand. No more, not a single card less. Contrary to regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot could be won: the "high hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the strongest hand out of everyone’s, regardless if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It is the very same notion in just about every poker game.

The lower hand is more complicated, but really opens up the play. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes don’t count. A low hand is the weakest hand that might be put together, with the worst being made up of A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes don’t count, A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any 5 card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The lower hand wins half of the pot, as does the higher hand. When there’s no low hand available, the high hand takes the entire pot.

While it seems complicated at the start, following a couple of hands you will be able to pick up on the base subtleties of the game with ease. Since you have individuals wagering for the low and betting for the high, and seeing as such a large number of cards are being used at the same time, Omaha 8 or better provides an overwhelming range of wagering choices and owing to the fact that you have many individuals trying for the high hand, and a few battling for the low hand. If you love a game with a plethora of outs and actions, it’s not a waste of your time to play Omaha/8.