Omaha Poker Rules
Omaha shares many rules with Texas Hold’em, with a few important differences.
To begin the game, each player in Omaha is dealt 4 cards face-down, instead of 2 as in Hold’em. Players use their four face down cards and the five community cards that are eventually dealt in the middle to form their best poker hand possible.
That said, the way you form your best hand is another key difference between Omaha and Hold’em emerges. In Hold’em, you use any combination of your two face down cards and the five community cards to make your best hand. You can use one card from your hand and four from the board, two from your hand and three from the board, or play the five cards on the board.
In Omaha, though, you must use both of your hole cards when forming your best five card hand. You don’t have the option of using just one. So if you hold the AhKd face-down and the board is 10h 9h 3h 2h Qs, in Omaha you only have an Ace high hand, and not a flush, since you must use both of your hold cards. In Hold’em, you have an Ace high flush with hearts, as you can use only one of your hole cards if you so choose, but that isn’t the case in Omaha.
Omaha is also slightly different in that it’s commonly played as a high/low split game (called Omaha HiLo or Omaha/8), in which the highest hand and the lowest hand split the pot. More pokerroom.com/poker/poker-school/rules.html');" href="http://www.pokerroom.com/poker/poker-school/rules.html" target="_blank">poker rules information can be found at PokerRoom.com
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Is it possible to use all four cards you are dealt face down and use only one card from the board to make your best poker hand, or does it always have to be only two of the cards you use face down????
No, you can only use the two cards in your hand that give you the best hand… you must use 2 and only 2 cards from your hand… not 1, not 3, and not 4… just 2.
Hope that helps!
if you have 3 aces on in the middle and the person has a ace and another card and lays both down do they have the four of a kind. in instance three aces in the middle and the guy lays down an ace and a six and says thats using both does he get the four of a kind
I am new to Omaha. I have fallen big time. I lost a hand where I had two pair – q’s (flop) and tens (my own) someone beat me with 3 queens. They obviously had 1 in their 4. If we have to use 2 cards how is it possible they won using only 1 of their cards?
Suzanne, they made a hand with their one queen and an irrelevant card, plus the two queens in the flop and another irrelevant card. Just because only one of the cards in their hand counted, doesn’t mean it wasn’t “used”.
In the instants that 3 of a kind is in the flop and 2 people have the turn card…and no match on the river…who wins..is the hand…is the best hand the three of a kind with the high card?
ed: yes, your player got 4-of-a-Kind. 3 aces on the board, plus the 4th ace in his hand, plus his Six was a junk card to round out his hand. Therefore he played 5 cards total: 3 from the board, 2 from the hand.
low kash: Assuming nobody holds the 4th match to the 3 cards on the board, or a pocket pair (for a full house), or a flush, or a straight, then yes the best hand is the 3-of-a-Kind on the board with the highest card IN THE HAND (high “kicker”). The turn card is irrelevant in this scenario, even though your players had a match on the turn (remember they MUST use 2 cards from the hand and 3 from the board, period). Likewise, the river card is irrelevant in this scenario for the same reason.
If both players tied on their kickers, then you’d compare their next highest card. It’s rare, but it happens.
when playing a low/high split game, how exactly are the low hands decided?
we recently ran into an argument when two people declared low and one held A, 2, 4, 6, 8 and the other held 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. The first said he had won because he held the ace, but the other said that he won because he had the lowest high card.
Shane,
In Omaha, you MUST use two cards in your hand and three on the board. Two cards must always be used from your hand.
Ed,
Yes, the player has four of a kind.
Suzanne,
The had to use two cards, but since there was two queens on the board and they had a queen, they won with three queens. They just didn’t declare what their other card was. Cards speak in most games.
Low Kash,
In this case, it depends on what the two cards in their hand that they play are. They both have three of a kind. The fact they match the turn card is irrelevant since they must use the best three on the board, which is three of a kind. If the two best cards in your hand is K-10 and your opponents best cards are Q-J, you would win.
Herman,
You determine the low starting with the highest low card an working back. The person with A-2-4-6-8 has an eight low and the other player with 7-5-4-3-2 has a seven low. Seven is lower than eight, so the seven low gets half the pot.
board shows A A 2 3
one player has A 5 6 9 10
other K K Q Q
who wins and why
? is could the first player use his ace with a high card
John,
I think you have the board and your players hand backwards. Your player should be having four cards in his hand. The board is likely A 5 6 9 10 and your opponent holding AA23 and the other KKQQ. In that case, the opponent with AA23 is the winner with trip aces and the nut low with 2-3.
For sake of argument, lets say the board is AA23 and the player had A569 and the other KKQQ. The player with A569 would win with trip aces and a A-2-3-5-6 low. You MUST play 2 cards in your hand and three on the board. No way around this.
Is not A2345 the best low hand?
or is it considered only high as a straight? And if all hearts A2456 is that only high with a flush?
Dan,
A-2-4-5-6 would be both an ace high flush and a six low. It would be both.
A-2-3-4-5 is known as the wheel. It is the nut low and a low straight.
two Omaha questions, please respond via email, thanks
if the board shows:
A-10-10-10-3
and you hold:
10-J-7-6
do you have four tens with a Jack kicker, or does the Ace on the board in some way negate your kicker?
nest Omaha hi-lo question:
the board shows:
A-2-3-4-5
you hold:
A-2-J-Q-K
do you have a wheel?
can you use your A-2 and the board’s 3-4-5?
thanks a lot!
Jeff King
Board shows 10c8c6h6s6d player1has kd9d player2has 8cQh who wins?
This looks like a holdem hand as opposed to Omaha . In the scenario given, the player with Q-8 will win, since they have a full house. Now, if this was an Omaha hand, the player with k-9 would win since he can only play three cards on the board. However, since both players seem to lack two cards each, I have to assume it is a holdem hand.
Jeff,
Our apologies for not replying sooner. I have been working the World Series of Poker and comment replying hit the back burner. To answer your questions, in the first instance you ahve four tens with a jack kicker. Remember that in Omaha you play 3 on the board and two from your hand. It has to be that way.
The same applies to the second scenario. You use the best five card combination to make your hand. You would use the A-2 in your hand and the 3-4-5 on the board to make a wheel.
Remember, two in your hand and three from the board to make a hand. In Omaha Hi-Lo, you do not have to use the same two cards for high and low. Let’s say that your hand would have been A-2-6-7 in your 2nd example. You would have both a wheel for low and a seven high straight. The A-2 would go with the 3-4-5 for low and the 6-7 would go with the 3-4-5 for high.
Hope this helps.
James
I have a question. We play omaha with no hi/lo. We play it like holdem with 2 additional cards but use same rule being you MUST use 2 of the 4 cards in your hand.
Say board shows 8-7-6-10-k
player 1 has 6-9
player 2 has 10-9
player 3 has 9-7
1. Does player 2 win since he is using the highest card in his hand being 10 to make the straight?
2. Is it a split pot since all three players are using the same highest cards possible to make 6-10 straight?
Following is hold em hand. If board shows A-Q-Q-Q-4. Opponent has A-A and you have A-2 who wins?
Your opponent wins. You have queens full of aces (Q-Q-Q-A-A) and your opponent has aces full of queens (A-A-A-Q-Q) In Holdem, you can play any combination of the two cards in your hand and five on the board.
Joe,
In this case, all three players have a ten high straight. The high card in player two’s hand is irrelevant.
if the board is (Q-Q-Q-6-6)
my hand is (K-J-3-2)
opponent hand is (J-10-6-3)
who wins?
You win the hand. Both of you will be playing three queens from the board. From your hand, you will play KJ (Q-Q-Q-K-J) and your opponent J-10 (Q-Q-Q-J-10) Remember that it is two cards from your hand and three on the board.
please help. playing omaha last night. one hand came up, on board 8JJJA. player holding 26JQ. i understand you need two from hand. what is the hand here and does he have four of a kind. thank you
Your opponent has four jacks with a queen kicker. He would play the Q-J from his hand and J-J-J from the board.
cant see the answer to my question
The board shows K,K,Q,10, 3
My opponent shows Q,6,5,2
I have Q,10,3,2.
I say I win with K,K,Q,Q,10
He says that I can’t play the 10, because it would make another pair and he wins with K,K,Q,Q,6.
I say I win because I don’t have to use the board 10.
In Omaha, you play two cards in your hand and three from the board. You would play the K-K-Q from the board and Q-10 from your hand for K-K-Q-Q-10. Your opponent plays the Q-6 in his hand for K-K-Q-Q-6. You win this hand. Just because your 10 could make a pair with the 10 on the board is irrelevant.
if board shows a,q,9,9,7
i have q,7,3,4
my opponent has a,2,4,6
who would win?
i think i wud win with 2 pairs queens and sevens as i have used 2 cards from my hand.
my partner thinks he wud win as he has 2 pair aces and 9s but he has onli used 1 card from his hand
Your opponent would win. You will be using the Q-7 from you hand to make Q-Q-9-9-7 and your opponent would be using A-6 from his hand to make A-A-9-9-6. When you play Omaha, you are REQUIRED to use two cards from your hand and only three from the board.
If the board shows 88856 and one player has 8A78 and the other has 829J wouldnt the one that had four of a kind with an Ace high win or is the pot split between the two players?
Tiffany,
Your example is not valid. There is no way two players can have an eight in their hand if there are three eights on the board. There are only four eights in the deck.
However, to answer your question, the player with the 8A would win. You must play two cards from your hand and three on the board.
If the board is Q Q 10 10 5 and a player uses A K and another 7 7 . Does A K win or lose???
The player with the two sevens wins. You have to play three cards on the board and two in your hand. You have QQ10AK and your opponent has QQ7710.
Does the board lay in Omaha? Hi Lo? like if there is a full house on the board with A.. and no one can beat the board.. (like have pocket’s that are higher) can everyone play the board or do you still have to plat 2 cards from your hand in this instance?)
Thank you.
Leonard,
Regardless of what is on the board, you have to play two cards in your hand and three on the board. If the board is AAAKK, then you would play the three aces and the two best cards in your hand (unless you have pocket kings in your hand, in which case you would play KKA on the board with your two kings for quad kings.) Unless someone has a pair of kings or the case ace in their hand, in the example here, the person with the best pocket pair in their cards will win the pot.
If the board shows 2,2,5,5,8 and one player has 2,5 and
and another player has 5,6 do both players win?
IN HI-LO OMAHA POKER,WITHTWO HANDS CALLING LOW AND ONLY ONE HAND CALLING HIGH,MY QUESTION IS, DOES THE HIGH HAND HAVE TO SHOW HIS HAND?
VERY IMPORTANT!!
THANK YOU!!
No. In this case, the player with the 2-5 wins. It MUST be 2 cards in your hand and three on the board. Your friend has trip fives. The other player has fives full.
If you don’t show your hand, how do we know he is telling the truth. The high hand must show his hand to prove he has the hand. If he mucks his hand, its a fold.
Is it possible to play a pocket pair to make a straight? e.g. board has 4-5-7-8 and player has pocket 6′s.
No, it is not possible to make a straight with just a pocket pair in Omaha. You have to play two cards in your hand and three on the board. You will need a 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, or nine in your hand to go with one of your sixes to make a straight.
A common debate in my poker circle concerning Omaha Poker is, “If i choose two cards and only one of them make the premium hand, do I win?” Here are a few example:
1 (Flush?) Board: 2s 4s 6d 8s 10s Hand: As 5h
2 (Straight?) Board: Ad 2c 3s Jh 5h Hand: 4c 7d
3 (Four of a Kind?) Board: Ah 9c Ad Ac 10s Hand: As Qd
4 (Set of Three?) Board: 3s 3c Kh 10s Jc Hand: 3h 4d
5 (Two Pair?) Board: 7c 4s Jh Jd 10c Hand: 7h 2s
6 (Pair?) Board: 2c 3h 4d 5s 6s Hand: 6d 10c
Brandon,
In Omaha you can ONLY use three cards on the board and MUST use two in your hand. Example one, you don’t have a flush, you have 10-8-6-5-A. Example 2 you have ace high or A-J-7-4-3. Example three you do have four of a king with A-A-A-A-Q. Example four you have a set of threes with 3-3-3-K-4. Example five you have two pair with a deuce. Example 6 you have a pair of sixes with a 10-5-4.