If you’ve mastered Texas Hold’em, then Omaha won’t be too difficult to understand. It’s similar in terms of game flow to Hold’em, but has a few more intricacies regarding how you can use your cards to make a winning hand. With that in mind, here’s a quick guide to help you become successful in this rapidly-growing variety of poker.

Game Play

Each person at the table in Omaha receives four cards, which is twice as many as you receive in Hold’em. These four are called hole cards and are only able to be seen and used by you. The person seated to the left of the dealer (who is represented by the button) is in the small blind, one of two forced bets in every hand. The person seated to the left of the small blind is the big blind. The big blind is typically twice as large as the small blind.

A round of betting occurs before the first three community cards are dealt. Each player must decide whether to call the big blind, raise to more than twice the big blind, or fold. For example, if the blinds are 25-50, each player must decide whether to call 50, raise to 100 (or more depending on the limits), or fold.

Your objective is to make your best five card poker hand using exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three of the community cards. This is the only combination of cards that you are allowed to use to make your final hand and is the main difference between Omaha and other types of poker.

Flop, Turn, and River

Just like in Hold’em, the first three cards to be dealt face up for everyone to use are called the flop. In Omaha, two of your hole cards and the flop now make up your best five card poker hand. After the flop is dealt, a round of betting occurs.

The fourth card to be placed face up is the turn. After the turn is dealt, a round of betting occurs. This time, the person to the left of the dealer acts first.

The final card to be placed face up is the river. After the river is dealt, a round of betting occurs.

The best five card poker hand wins. Remember, it consists of two hole cards and three community cards. Then, the button is moved one position to the left and a new hand is dealt.

Varieties of Omaha

One of the more popular varieties of the game is Pot Limit Omaha. In this version, a player can only bet up to the size of the pot at any given moment. In other words, a player can only move all in if he possesses fewer chips than the size of the pot. This is similar to Pot Limit Hold’em.

Another immensely popular game is Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better. In this game, the players who hold the high and low hands split the pot. However, the only caveat is that the low hand must be no better than eight high. Not every pot will have an eligible low hand. In that case, the high hand scoops the entire pot.

Aces don’t count towards the low, making the best possible low hand A-2-3-4-5, or the wheel as it’s commonly known. Flushes and straights also do not count against a person’s low, so 3-4-5-6-7 of hearts counts as seven high as it applies to the low and a straight flush as it applies to the high. Players are able to use different cards to create the low and high hands.

Limit and No Limit Omaha are common, so be sure to determine what the limits are at a table before playing.