Omaha poker is very much similar to another type of poker, the Texas Holdem. The player must also create a five-card poker hand both from the pocket cards and the community cards. A deck of 5-cards is used in this type of poker game.

About ten people can play the game.

Omaha poker, however, is different in the number of faced-down pocket cards that each player is given by the dealer. In Omaha, players are dealt with four cards as opposed to the two cards in Texas Holdem.

Still, players are given five community cards which they can use. This amounts to a total of nine cards that they can choose from when creating the best hand. However, players must use their two pocket cards and their three community cards in coming up with the best five-card hand. Because there are more cards to choose from, poker hands in Omaha Poker are stronger compared to other types of poker games.

Basically, Omaha poker can reach up to four rounds, provided that there are two players left to play and battle it out for the pot money. If everyone has folded, the game and the pot money of course goes to the last remaining player. During the first round of betting, the players are given four cards that are faced-down.

The dealer will then place three community cards at the center of the table, which the players can use for their hand. These cards are dealt with faced up. The next round, which is often called Turn in poker lingo, involves the dealer placing one community card faced up on the table. The final round or the river also involves the dealing of another faced-up card on the table. For each round, players can bet, raise the stakes, or fold.

Because there are more cards involved and the possibility that a good card will be dealt with later in the game, players in Omaha poker often stay until the flop before folding.

Basic strategy

Omaha poker is undisputedly more complicated than Texas Holdem because of the fact that players will have to make guesses on four of the cards instead of only two in Texas Holdem. Another is the fact that with the players going to use two of the cards in the pocket cards and three in the community cards, the possibilities and the combinations of the hands are greater. It is much more difficult for a player to guess the outcome of the game in Omaha poker than in some poker game types.

One variation of the Omaha poker is the Omaha Hi/Lo, which is quite the rage in the United States. In fact, it is the Hi/Lo variation that are often seen in US casinos as opposed to the Hi variation, which quite prevalent in European casinos. The name Hi/Lo is actually a shortcut for Hi/Lo split, eight or better.

In Omaha Hi/Lo, it is not the one with high hand that is given the pot money. The player with the best hand will have to split the pot money with the player with the lowest hand, provided that his hand can meet some requirements. If there is no low hand that can meet the requirements, then the best player will get the full pot money.