Omaha hold 'em (also known as Omaha holdem or simply Omaha) is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards. The exact origin of the game is unknown, but casino executive Robert Turner first brought Omaha into a casino setting when he introduced the game to Bill Boyd, who offered it as a game at the Las VegasGolden Nugget Casino (calling it "Nugget Hold'em").[1][2] Omaha uses a 52-card French deck. Omaha hold 'em 8-or-better is the "O" game featured in H.O.R.S.E.
Omaha hold 'em derives its name from two types of games.
"Hold'em" refers to a game using community cards that are shared by all players. This is opposed to draw games, where each player's hand is composed only of concealed cards, and stud games, where each player's unique hand contains a mix of cards visible to the other players and concealed hole cards.
In the original Omaha poker game, players were only dealt two hole cards and had to use both to make a hand combined with community cards.[3] This version of Omaha is defined in the glossary of Super/System (under Omaha) as being interchangeable with "Tight hold 'em". Across all the variations of the game, the requirement of using exactly two hole cards is the only consistent rule. The "Omaha" part of the name represents this aspect of the game.
Explanation
In North American casinos, the term "Omaha" can refer to several poker games. The original game is also commonly known as "Omaha high". A high-low split version called "Omaha Hi-Lo", or sometimes "Omaha eight-or-better" or "Omaha/8", is also played. In Europe, "Omaha" still typically refers to the high version of the game, usually played pot-limit. Pot-limit Omaha is often abbreviated as "PLO." Pot-limit and no-limit Omaha eight-or-better can be found in some casinos and online, though no-limit is rarer.[4][failed verification]
It is often said that Omaha is a game of "the nuts", i.e. the best possible high or low hand, because it frequently takes "the nuts" to win a showdown. It is also a game where between the cards in their hand and the community cards a player may have drawing possibilities to multiple different types of holdings. For example, a player may have both a draw to a flush and a full house using different combinations of cards. At times, even seasoned players may need additional time to figure what draws are possible for their hand.
The basic differences between Omaha and Texas hold 'em are these: first, each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two. The betting rounds and layout of community cards are identical. At showdown, each player's hand is the best five-card hand made from exactly three of the five cards on the board, plus exactly two of the player's own cards. Unlike Texas hold 'em, a player cannot play four or five of the cards on the board with fewer than two of their own (nor can a player play three or four of his or her hole cards).
A maximum of eleven players can be dealt a hand in Omaha, regardless of whether or not burn cards are used, however Omaha is most commonly played six handed or nine handed.
Some specific things to notice about Omaha hands are:
As in Texas hold 'em, three or more suited cards on the board makes a flush possible, but unlike that game, a player always needs two of that suit in hand to play a flush. For example, with a board of K♠9♠Q♠Q♥5♠, a player with A♠2♥4♥5♣cannot play a flush using the ace as would be possible in Texas hold 'em; the player must play two cards from in-hand and only three from the board (so instead, this player's best hand is two pair: Q♠Q♥5♠5♣A♠). A player with 2♠3♠K♦J♦can play the spade flush.
The same concept applies to straights. In Omaha, a player cannot use only one hole card and four cards on the board to play a straight. For example, with a board of 5♠6♥7♦8♥A♠, a player with J♦J♠4♦9♠ or J♦J♠9♦9♠cannot play a straight. But a player with J♦J♠4♦3♠can play a straight from 3 to 7;
Two pair on the board does not make a full house for anyone with a single matching card as it does in Texas hold 'em. For example, with a board of J♠J♦9♦5♥9♣, a player with a hand of A♠2♠J♥K♦ cannot play a full house; the player can only use the A-J to play J♠J♥J♦A♠9♣, since they must play three of the board cards. A player with J♣2♣9♠10♠can use their J-9 to play the full house J♠J♦J♣9♠9♦ (or 9♣). Likewise, a player with 10♠5♣5♠2♣can use their 5-5 to play the full house J♠J♦5♥5♣5♠.
Likewise, with three of a kind on the board, a player must have a pair in hand to make a full house. For example, with a board of J♠J♦A♦J♥K♣, a player with A♠2♠3♥K♦ does not have a full house, the player only has three jacks with an ace-king kicker, and will lose to a player with only a pair of deuces. This is probably the most frequently misread hand in Omaha. (Naturally, a person with the fourth jack in hand can make four jacks because any other card in hand can act as the fifth card, or "kicker".)
Omaha hi-low split-8 or better
A showdown in Omaha hi-low split. Player on the left wins the low-hand half with the nut low A-2-3-4-5, player on the right wins the high-hand half with a full house 5-5-5-J-JThe most valuable starting hand in Omaha hi-low split
In Omaha hi-low split-8 or better (simply Omaha/8), each player makes a separate five-card high hand and five-card ace-to-five low hand (eight-high or lower to qualify), and the pot is split between the high and low (which may be the same player). To qualify for low, a player must be able to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower (this is why it is called "eight or better"). A few casinos play with a 9-low qualifier instead, but this is rare. Each player can play any two of their four hole cards to make their high hand, and any two of their four hole cards to make their low hand. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins (scoops) the whole pot. This game is usually played in the fixed limit version, although pot limit Omaha/8 is becoming more popular. A few low-stakes onlinetournaments feature no limit Omaha/8.
The brief explanation above belies the complexity of the game, so a number of examples will be useful here to clarify it. The table below shows a five-card board of community cards at the end of play, and then lists for each player the initial private four-card hand dealt to him or her, and the best five-card high hand and low hand each player can play on showdown:
Board:2♠5♣10♥7♦8♣
Player
Hand
High
Low
Alan
A♠4♠5♥K♣
5♥5♣A♠10♥8♣
7♦5♣4♠2♠A♠
Bryan
A♥3♥10♠10♣
10♠10♣10♥8♣7♦
7♦5♣3♥2♠A♥
Chris
7♣9♣J♠Q♠
J♠10♥9♣8♣7♦
Cannot qualify
Derek
4♥6♥K♠K♦
8♣7♦6♥5♣4♥
7♦6♥5♣4♥2♠
Eve
A♦3♦6♦9♥
10♥9♥8♣7♦6♦
7♦5♣3♦2♠A♦
In the deal above, Chris wins the high-hand half of the pot with their J-high straight, and Bryan and Eve split the low half (getting a quarter of the pot each) with 7-5-3-2-A.
Some specific things to notice about Omaha/8 hands are:
In order for anyone to qualify low, there must be at least three cards of differing ranks 8 or below on the board. For example, a board of K-8-J-7-5 makes low possible (the best low hand would be A-2, followed by A-3, 2-3, etc.) A board of K-8-J-8-5, however, cannot make any qualifying low (the best low hand possible would be J-8-5-2-A, which does not qualify). Statistically, around 60% of the time a low hand is possible.
Low hands often tie, and high straights occasionally tie as well, as do, even more rarely, full houses. In theory, it is possible to win as little as a 14th of a pot (though this is extraordinarily rare). Winning a quarter of the pot is quite common, and is called "getting quartered." One dangerous aspect of playing for the low pot is the concept of "counterfeiting". To illustrate, if a player has, for example, 2-3 and two other cards in their hand and the flop is A-6-7, that player has flopped the "nut low". However, if either a 2 or a 3 hit the board on the turn or the river, the hand is "counterfeited" and the nut low hand is lost (the player still has a much weaker low hand however, with 3-4, 3-5 and 4-5 making better lows). This is why there is significant extra value in possessing the "protected" nut low. To illustrate this, if the player has 2-3-4 in their hand their low is protected, i.e. if a 2 or 3 hits the board they still have the lowest possible hand. To lose the nut low in this case either a 2 and a 3, a 2 and a 4, or a 3 and a 4 would have to hit the board on the turn and the river (giving the nut low to a player holding 4-5, 3-5 and 2-5, respectively), an unlikely possibility. For similar reasons it is significantly better to possess the protected nut low draw over the low draw. For example, this could be having A-2-3 with a flop of 7-8-9; any low card below 7 on the turn or river gives the player the best low.
When four or five low cards appear on the board, it can become very difficult to read the low hands properly. For example, with a board of 2♦6♥A♣5♣8♠, the hand 2♥4♠5♠K♦ is playing a 6-5-4-2-A (either their 2-4 with the board's A-5-6, or their 4-5 with the board's A-2-6--either way makes the same hand). In this situation he is often said to be playing their "live" 4, that is, their 4, plus some other low card that matches the board but still makes a low because the one on the board isn't needed. A player with 3♠5♠10♥J♦ is playing a "live" 3, for a low of 6-5-3-2-A, which makes a better low. However, a player with 3♣7♦Q♦Q♠ can only play 7-5-3-2-A low; even though he has a "live" 3, he must play two low cards from their hand, and so he must play their 7-3, and cannot make a 6-high low hand.
Starting hands with three or four cards of one rank are very bad. In fact, the worst possible hand in the game is 2♠2♣2♥2♦. Since the only possible combination of two cards from this hand is 2-2, it is impossible to make low. As no deuce remains to appear on the board, it will be impossible to make three deuces or deuces full, and anyone with any matching card to the board will make a higher pair. Likewise, starting with four cards of one suit makes it less likely that you will be able to make a flush. Starting with four different suits yields no chance for a flush, and starting with four disconnected cards reduces straight possibilities. Computer analysis of the best starting hands has proven that the best starting hand for Omaha is A-A-K-K (double suited). One favorite starting hand for Omaha is A-A-J-10 (double suited), because of its wider range for making the nut straight (J-7, Q-8, K-9, and A-10). For the Hi-Lo variation, the most valuable starting holding is A-A-2-3 (double suited).[5]
Hands to avoid tend to contain mainly middle-ranked cards, which are of little use for any low splits and which tend to generate lower pairs and sets, weaker flushes and lower straights and can be very expensive. Four of a kind is the worst possible starting hand in Omaha, in contrast to most other poker games, where it is exceptionally strong.[6]
Straights and flushes are ignored when judging low hands. Low hand ranks from best to worst: 5-4-3-2-A (the wheel), 6-4-3-2-A, 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, ..., 8-7-6-5-4. Low hands can thus be read as numbers between 54,321 and 87,654 (with the exception of any number that has a pair, i.e. 54,322). The lowest number that any player can make, while ordered from high card to low, is the best possible low hand in play. For example: 2♠ 3♣ 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ wins over A♠ 2♣ 3♥ 4♣ 8♠[7]
Pot-limit Omaha
The worst starting hand in Omaha
Pot-limit Omaha (frequently shortened to PLO) is popular in Europe, online, and in high-stakes "mixed games" played in some American casinos. This variant is more often played high only, but can also be played high-low. To a still greater degree than in Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, PLO is a game of drawing, when drawing, to the nut hand.[8] Second best flushes and straights can be, and frequently become, losing hands, especially when a player is willing to commit their entire stack to the pot. Furthermore, because of the exponential growth of the pot size in pot-limit play, seeing one of these hands to the end can be very expensive and carry immense reverse implied odds.
Wraps
In poker, an out is any unseen card in the deck that will give a player the best hand. A wrap is a straight draw with nine or more outs.[9] This is called a wrap because the player’s hole cards are said to wrap-around the board cards. In Texas hold 'em, where players have two hole cards, the greatest number of straight outs possible is eight; however, in Omaha, there are four hole cards, which can result in straight draws which can have up to 20 outs. An example of a twenty-out wrap is J♥10♠7♦6♣ on a flop of 9♥8♠2♦. To hit a straight, any of the following cards is needed: 5♥5♠5♦5♣6♥6♠6♦7♥7♠7♣10♥10♦10♣J♠J♦J♣Q♥Q♠Q♦Q♣.
Redraws
A desirable hand to have in PLO is the current best hand with a redraw. For example, if the board is Q♠J♠10♥, and the player has A♠K♣Q♣Q♥, then not only do they have the current best hand possible (their ace-king makes the ace-high straight), but they also have a redraw with the two queens in their hand because if the board pairs, they will make a full house, or four queens. A♠K♠Q♣Q♥ would be an even better hand because it has flush and royal flush redraws as well. In fact, with the Q♠J♠10♥ board, A♠K♠Q♣Q♥ is approximately an 80-20 money favorite over a random hand containing ace-king (see freerolling). Even a pair of queens with any two spades is better than 55-45 against a random ace-king hand.
Omaha Variations
The most common variations of Pot Limit Omaha high are Five-card Omaha, commonly referred as "Big O" very popular in Southeastern United States as a home game and Six-card Omaha or 6-O which can be found in many casinos across the UK. Some online poker rooms support Five-card Omaha, Six-card Omaha and Courchevel.
"Big O" (occasionally called Five-card Omaha or 5-O) began appearing in Southern California in 2008 and had spread to most of the card rooms in the area by the end of the year.[citation needed]
Sometimes the high-low split game is played with a 9 or a 7-high qualifier instead of 8-high. It can also be played with five cards dealt to each player instead of four. In that case, the same rules for making a hand apply: exactly two from the player's hand, and exactly three from the board.
Courchevel
Courchevel is named after the high-end ski resort in the French Alps. According to the urban legend, bored tourists wanted to play a version of poker no-one has ever played before, so they came up with this game. The place where Courchevel was most commonly played was the Aviation Club de France in Paris. That casino is now closed.[10]
In the game of Courchevel,[11] players are dealt five hole cards rather than four. Simultaneously, the first community card is dealt. Following an opening round of betting, two additional community cards are dealt, creating a 3-card flop, where the structure of the game is then identical to standard Omaha. Still, exactly two of the five hole cards must be used. Courchevel is popular in France but its popularity has expanded in other parts of Europe, particularly the United Kingdom. Courchevel is also available in a hi-low 8 or better variety, and while Courchevel is rarely offered on any of the major online poker sites, as of 2019, hi-low sit-and-go games at the micro stakes level can be found taking place several times a day on Pokerstars, which had the game since 2013.[12]
In poker, the nut hand is the strongest possible hand in a given situation. The second-nut hand or third-nut hand may refer to the second and third best possible hands. The term applies mostly to community card poker games where the individual holding the strongest possible hand, with the given board of community cards, is capable of knowing that they have the nut hand.
In a poker game with more than one betting round, an out is any unseen card that, if drawn, will improve a player's hand to one that is likely to win. Knowing the number of outs a player has is an important part of poker strategy. For example, in draw poker, a hand with four diamonds has nine outs to make a flush: there are 13 diamonds in the deck, and four of them have been seen. If a player has two small pairs, and he believes that it will be necessary for him to make a full house to win, then he has four outs: the two remaining cards of each rank that he holds.
Five-card stud is the earliest form of the card game stud poker, originating during the American Civil War, but is less commonly played today than many other more popular poker games. It is still a popular game in parts of the world, especially in Finland where a specific variant of five-card stud called Sökö is played. The word sökö is also used for checking in Finland.
Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River, is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was one of the most widely played poker variants in home games across the United States and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Although seven-card stud is not as common in casinos today, it is still played online. The game is commonly played with two to eight players; however, eight may require special rules for the last cards dealt if no players fold. With experienced players who fold often, playing with nine players is possible.
Texas hold 'em is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards, later an additional single card, and a final card. Each player seeks the best five-card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards: the five community cards and their two hole cards. Players have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt and after each subsequent deal. The player who has the best hand and has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all of the money bet for the hand, known as the pot. In certain situations, a "split pot" or "tie" can occur when two players have hands of equivalent value. This is also called "chop the pot". Texas hold 'em is also the H game featured in HORSE and HOSE.
In poker, the probability of each type of 5-card hand can be computed by calculating the proportion of hands of that type among all possible hands.
Big two is a card game of Cantonese origin. It is similar to the games of Zheng Shangyou, daifugō, president, crazy eights, cheat, and other shedding games. The game is very popular in East Asia and in Southeast Asia, especially throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. It is played both casually and as a gambling game. It is usually played with two to four players, the entire deck being dealt out in either case. The objective of the game is to be the first to play off all of one's cards.
Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are made by house rules. Non-standard hands usually appear in games using wild cards or bugs. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. Because the hands are defined by house rules, the composition and ranking of these hands is subject to variation. Any player participating in a game with non-standard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game before play begins.
Desmoche is a popular rummy card game usually played for small stakes which closely resembles other games in the rummy family, like Conquian and gin rummy, more than poker. It was probably devised in Nicaragua in the first half of the 20th century.
In community card poker, a player or hand is said to be counterfeited when a community card does not change the value of their hand, but makes it more likely that an opponent will beat it. This occurs primarily in Omaha hold 'em Hi-Lo split and sometimes in Texas hold 'em. Counterfeiting also occurs in the Badugi variant of draw poker.
Badugi is a draw poker variant similar to triple draw, with hand-values similar to lowball. The betting structure and overall play of the game is identical to a standard poker game using blinds, but, unlike traditional poker which involves a minimum of five cards, players' hands contain only four cards at any one time. During each of three drawing rounds, players can trade zero to four cards from their hands for new ones from the deck, in an attempt to form the best badugi hand and win the pot. Badugi is often a gambling game, with the object being to win money in the form of pots. The winner of the pot is the person with the best badugi hand at the conclusion of play. Badugi is played in cardrooms around the world, as well as online, in rooms such as PokerStars. Although it hasn’t had its own tournament per se at the WSOP, it is featured in the Dealers Choice events as well as in the Triple Draw Mix. The 2023 WSOP event does have a Badugi tournament scheduled.
High Stakes Poker is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran from March 1, 2009 to May 21, 2011, and was simulcast in 3DTV on N3D. The show was revived on December 16, 2020 on PokerGO.
Patrik Antonius is a Finnish professional poker player, former tennis player and coach, and model from Vantaa, Finland. He currently resides in Monte Carlo. Antonius was mentored by poker pro Marcel Lüske as a member of Luske's "Circle of Outlaws" and later advised by Jennifer Harman. Antonius has two children.
Poker hand A is said to dominate poker hand B if poker hand B has three or fewer outs that would improve it enough to win. Informally, domination is sometimes used to refer to any situation where one hand is highly likely to beat another. The term drawing dead is used to denote a domination situation with zero outs.
The 2007 World Series of Poker was the 38th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series featured 55 poker championships in several variants. As a WSOP custom since 1976, each of the event winners receive a championship bracelet in addition to that event's prize money. The series culminates with the $10,000 No-Limit hold'em "Main Event", which has attracted thousands of entrants since 2004. The winner of the WSOP Main Event, who wins a multimillion-dollar prize, is considered to be the World Champion of Poker.
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Machiavelli is an Italian card game derived from Rummy and is usually played by 2 up to 5 players, but can be played by even a higher number. Because of its characteristics, it is not generally associated with gambling, but is instead a party game.
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