Omaha Holdem Rules

Omaha Holdem Rules Guide

A very popular community card game is Omaha Holdem Poker. The game is very similar to “Texas Holdem” with the exception that each player receives 4 face down cards (“hole cards”) instead of just two. Another difference between the two games is that in Omaha Poker you can only use two of your “hole” cards to make a hand out of the four that were dealt to you. This game is very popular and is dealt in most online poker rooms as well as the World Series of Poker.

Omaha Poker rules:

In the “limit” version of Omaha Poker, the table has set betting limits which are stated in the table name such as $3/$6 table, $5/$10 table and so on. The betting is divided that the lower betting limit ($5) is played during the first two betting rounds and the higher limit ($10) is played during the last two betting rounds.

A hand of Omaha Poker starts of with one player being “the dealer” then the two “blind” bets are placed (“Big Blind” and “Small Blind”) by the two players to the left of the dealer. The “Small Blind” places a bet of half the lower limit ($1 in a $2/$4 table) and the “big blind” places a bet equal to the lower limit of the table ($2). At tables where the lower limit is not even (for example at a $3/$6 table) the small blind will be rounded down (to $1 instead of $1.5).

After the blind bets are placed the cards are dealt, four “hole cards” (faced down) to each player. The betting starts with the player to the left of the “big blind” and the player can either fold his hand, call (match the lower limit) or raise. In the following rounds the betting will always start with the player left of the dealer. Usually in “limit” games the betting rounds have a ceiling of 4 bets per round which is to ensure that the “raises” can not go on indefinitely (a bet, a raise, a re-raise, and a final re-raise). The betting round is not over and no new cards are dealt until all players placed equal bets or folded.

After the initial round of betting is over, the dealer will hand out the “flop” which is three community cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table. All players share the cards across the middle of the table, and may use them along with their “hole” cards to make the best hand possible.
Remember that in Omaha Poker you can only use two hole cards (out of the four dealt to you) in addition to three community cards to create the best possible five card hand.

Once the flop is dealt, a round of betting begins using the lower bet size. As mentioned before, the player who is left of the dealer will start the betting. The betting round is not over until all players placed equal bets or folded, at which time another card is dealt face up in the middle of the table.

The fourth community card is also known as the “turn” (just like in Texas Holdem poker”). Once again, the player to the left of the dealer will start the betting round. Starting with this round of Omaha Poker, the higher limit of betting will be used (for example, in a $2/$4 table, the betting in this round will be in increments of $4).

Now we come to the final community card which is called the “river”. Again, the round of betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer and the high limit bet will be used. When all remaining players contribute equally to the pot, they are ready to reveal their cards in what is called a “showdown”. The players will turn over their cards and the player who was able to put together the highest hand from his two “hole cards” (out of the four) and three community cards will win the pot.

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