Familiar with Texas Hold'em? If yes, then learning how to play Omaha poker will be a piece of cake for you. Being one of the many poker variants and sharing numerous similarities with Texas Hold'em, picking up Omaha poker rules will come easy to anyone familiar with the classic game.
Omaha poker is known as Texas Hold'em's faster-paced and more action-packed cousin, so if you're looking for an added poker thrill, the Omaha variant may be for you.
From its origins to some simple Omaha poker strategy tips, we will lay out the basics of the game so that you can quickly grasp the essence and practise it yourself from thereon.
Let's begin, shall we?
What Is Omaha Poker and Its Origins?
Omaha poker, or Omaha Hold 'em, is a community-type game where players try to beat others by having the best 5-card hand combination. To make a hand, players must use hole cards in their hands and community cards on the table. Like numerous other poker variants, Omaha poker has no limit regarding the number of players and is played with a 52-card French deck.
Before Omaha poker rules were laid down, a few variations of the game, such as Twice Three or Greek Hold 'em, were played in the Midwest and the South. In these early versions, players were allowed to draw five hole cards instead of four, limiting the number of players.
Players around the country slowly adopted the four hole cards version, and it started spreading all over the US, adopting names like Fort Worth, Nine Cards, or Oklahoma. It remains unclear why players settled on the name Omaha. Still, we know that the game entered the history of poker in 1982 when legendary poker player Robert Turner introduced it to the Golden Nugget audiences. From thereon, it spread like fire, becoming the second-most popular poker variant.
Nowadays, players enjoy Omaha both in brick-and-mortar casinos and in the form of online poker, due to the high variance of winning combinations and action-packed gameplay.
How to Play Omaha Poker: Step By Step
Switching to Omaha poker rules will be a breeze if you know how to play Texas Hold 'em poker. Now let's get down to business and look at the main points of Omaha poker gameplay.
Pre-flop
If you're playing casually at home, you and your fellow players first need to decide who will be the dealer in the first hand, with the role passing to the player on the left in every subsequent hand. In casinos, the dealer never changes and never participates in wagering.
Now that you have the dealer, the two players on their left will assume the roles of the big and small blinds; the big blind posts the first bet or ante up, and the small blind follows up with half of the big blind's bet (if the big blind put in 10, the small blind must bet 5, and so on).
The player holding the dealer button then deals out four hole cards face-down to each player, going in circles and starting from the first player to their left. The first betting round can start after the hole cards have been dealt.
The players can choose to call, raise, or fold. At this point, the community cards still need to be dealt, and players need to calculate their next move based on their hole cards. If calling or raising, they put their bets in the centre of the table, called the pot; if they choose to fold, players must discard their cards and are not allowed to bet until the current hands wrap up.
Until the end of the hand, the minimum bet will always be equal to the big blind. In Omaha Hi-Lo, there is no maximum bet determined; in Pot-Limit Omaha, on the other hand, the maximum bet is the same as the current size of the pot.
The flop
The dealer then deals the first three community cards on the table, known as the flop. The betting continues for all players who haven't folded in the same manner: clockwise from the dealer, starting with the big blind.
The turn
The third betting round starts with the dealer putting out an additional community card, the turn, on the table, face-up next to the three previously dealt. With four community cards on the table, the players continue to place their bets, following the same clockwise logic.
The river
The dealer places one final community card face-up. This card is called the river, and once it's dealt, there are no more cards to deal for that round. The remaining players are then called to bet one last time and determine their best five-card poker hand, using two hole cards and three community cards.
If you believe you have a better hand than your opponents, you can raise the pot to win more money. The betting continues as in previous rounds until the final player has placed their bet.
Showdown
The time has come for all players still in the game to show their hole cards. If you're playing the basic version, the player with the best hand takes the pot; if you're playing Omaha Hi-Lo, the pot is split between the players with the highest and the lowest hands.
As you can see, Omaha poker rules are similar to its more popular cousin, Texas Hold 'em. The main difference is the number of hole cards (four as opposed to two), making Omaha poker strategy more intricate and its gameplay more exciting.
List of All Basic Omaha Poker Rules
Learning how to play Omaha poker may seem challenging, but you'll get a gist of it in a couple of hands and start having fun. Although the betting and how the pot is awarded are slightly different depending on the variant, the basic rules and mechanics are the same for all Omaha versions.
- Players are dealt four hole cards face-down, as opposed to two cards in Texas Hold 'em
- The dealer deals five community cards face-up
- The players must pick two of their hole cards and use both of them when making their five-card hand
To learn more about poker positions, we suggest you head to our blog about poker blinds, as your current position at the table can significantly influence your Omaha poker strategy.
Omaha Poker Winning Hand Rankings
When learning how to play Omaha poker, memorising hand rankings comes first. Knowing which combos are allowed and how you can or cannot hit them during the round will help you play with more confidence; coupled with a proper Omaha poker strategy, a confident attitude can go a long way.
Here are Omaha poker winning hand rankings in descending order:
Royal flush - to score it, you must have an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the same suit in your hand
Straight flush - five cards of sequential rank and the same suit
Four-of-a-kind - four cards of one rank and another card of a different rank
Full house - matching three cards of one rank and another two cards of a different rank
Flush - combo of five cards of the same suit that are not in a sequential order
Straight - five cards of sequential order that are not of the same suit
Three-of-a-kind - three cards of one rank and two cards of two different ranks
Two pair - two cards of the same rank, two cards of another rank and the fifth card of a third rank
One pair - two cards of one rank and three cards of three different ranks
High-card - a hand that falls in neither of these categories, with the highest card the only one counting.
Remember that different types of poker value poker hands differently. Pot-Limit Omaha, for example, is a high-hand game, meaning that the highest hand wins the pot; meanwhile, in Hi-Lo Omaha, the highest and the lowest hands are worth equally, as their owners split the pot at the end of the round.
Good Starting Poker Hands
Some starting poker hands are better than others, so what you get at the pre-flop may significantly affect the outcome of the game and your overall Omaha poker strategy.
Here's a handy list of the 30 best starting hands in Omaha poker:
As you may have guessed, large pairs hold the highest value, just like they do in Texas Hold 'em, however, with greater possibilities for a redraw.
This becomes more obvious when you notice that a combo of two aces, a jack and a ten (A-A-J-T) ranks second-best, ahead of a hand of two aces and two queens (A-A-Q-Q); having jacks and tens instead of queens open far greater possibilities of scoring a straight.
To put it into perspective: the best starting hand in Omaha, A-A-K-K, has only a 6% edge against the second-best Omaha hand (A-A-Q-Q); in Texas Hold 'em, the best starting hand (AA) holds an 83% edge over second-best starting hand (K-K).
Omaha poker starting hands may be weaker than starting hands in Texas Hold 'em, but that's what increases the variance and makes Omaha much faster-paced.
The Main Differences Between Omaha and Texas Hold 'em Poker
Lastly, when learning how to play Omaha poker, being familiar with how cards are dealt is crucial. Like in Texas Hold 'em, all players are dealt their hole cards face-down, which they combine with the community cards to form a five-card hand.
But with one major difference: in Hold 'em, all players receive two hole cards, whereas in Omaha, every player is entitled to four hole cards, of which they must use two.
In Texas Hold 'em, you can either use both hole cards, one of them or leave them both out ("play the board"). In Omaha, there is no such possibility as you are required to use no more and no less than two of the four cards you were dealt.
Omaha Poker Tips and Tricks
As promised, we will round off our guide on how to play Omaha poker with some tips and tricks that can help you hone your Omaha poker strategy.
Tip 1 - Be careful when selecting starting hands
As we said, your starting hand is crucial in Omaha, and knowing when you stand little chance can help you minimise your losses. Omaha poker offers many options regarding starting hands, so sticking to those worth playing is the way to go if you're new to the game.
If you're at a significant disadvantage, you cannot afford to wait and keep betting for long, as gaining a good position from a poor starting hand after the flop is extremely hard.
Tip 2 - Don't play out of position (OOP)
If winning a hand while out of position in Texas Hold 'em is hard, in Omaha it's virtually impossible. In Omaha, the lead often changes on each street, making it difficult to know where you stand; your situation is only worse when out of position
For instance, a small blind is unlikely to win a hand of poker as the player in that position acts first and cannot read other players' actions.
When playing out of position, be extremely cautious. Bet as little as possible and fold as soon as you see the pot increasing unless you're sure your hand stands a chance.
Tip 3 - Be careful when bluffing
Omaha poker is heavily focused on the nuts (or the best possible hand), so it might seem like bluffing is an essential element of the game. However, since players are presented with a broader range of hands in Omaha than in Texas Hold 'em, Omaha is more open to semi-bluffs.
Experienced players often put big bets on the flop since a solid starting hand can be mathematically more favourable than made hands in some cases.
Although players bluff when playing Omaha, with so many options out there (don't forget your fellow players also have four cards in their hands!), you should be cautious when choosing to bluff.
Tip 4 - Keep track of the blockers
Remember that blockers (hole cards that prevent other players from making a particular hand) occur more frequently in Omaha than in Texas Hold 'em.
Knowing other players cannot form a specific hand by pushing them off with a blocker gives you more power, especially if you're playing with a weak hand.
Tip 5 - Pay attention to big bets and raises
Omaha poker lets you gather much information, so many players choose not to bluff as its gameplay is action-crazed and fast. (That isn't to say that nobody bluffs!)
However, if you notice one or more of your opponents raising it big, it likely means that they have a solid starting hand on which they act. Although there is a chance your opponent is bluffing, this is rarely the case in Omaha.
