How To Play Omaha

The object of Omaha is to develop the strongest 5-card poker hand from the 9 cards available. There are strict guidelines ruling how a player’s hand must be developed. A player has 4 Hole Cards of his own, plus 5 Community Cards that all players may use. However, the player must use precisely 2 Hole Cards and 3 Community Cards to develop a 5-card hand. The highest ranking poker hand wins the pot.

How To Play Fixed Limit Omaha

Omaha Hold’em Poker has always had a fairly good following of players, but never enough to compare to the extreme popularity of Texas Hold’em. In the last few months, however, there has been an incredible spike in Omaha interest. It remains the second most popular poker variant, but has gained a substantial amount of ground.

Omaha is played in much the same way as Texas Hold’em, with a few distinct differences.

Omaha is played with a single deck of 52-cards, accommodating 2-10 players per table.

Betting Structure of Limit Omaha

While Omaha can be played in any limit, this tutorial will focus on how to play Fixed Limit Omha. Fixed Limit means that all Bets/Raises must equal the low- or high-end stakes, depending on the betting round. So, if the stakes are $2/$4, players must bet/raise $2 during the first two betting rounds, and $4 during the final two betting rounds.

In Fixed Limit Omaha, the stakes also determine the Small Blind and Big Blind amounts. The Small Blind is equal to half the low-end stakes ($1), while the Big Blind matches the low-end stakes ($2). Blind bets are forced bets that must be placed before the initial deal. The Small Blind is placed by the player seated left of the dealer button. The Big Blind is placed by the player seated left of the Small Blind.

All other betting options are detailed below.

Check: A Check may only be placed if no player has yet Bet in the current round. When a player Checks, they are not placing a wager at all, but staying active in the hand. If another player Bets after you have chosen to Check, you must at least Call the Bet to stay in the hand, or Fold.

Bet: A Bet is the first wager made in a single round of betting.

Call: A Call is when a player matches the current Bet.

Raise: A Raise is when a player wagers more than the current Bet. For example, if one player Bets $2, the next player may Call the $2 Bet, and Raise another $2.

Fold: To surrender your cards, the hand and the pot.

All-In: To bet it all! When playing Fixed Limit, a player may only push All-In if he has too few (or just enough) chips to Call or Raise the current Bet. All-In bets are kept separate from the main pot since an All-In bettor can only win as much as he’s bet from any other player.

How to Play a Hand of Fixed Limit Omaha

For this example of how to play Omaha Hold’em, we will be using $2/$4 stakes and a Fixed Limit betting structure.

The hand begins with the Small Blind and Big Blind bets. The dealer will then deal 4 face-down cards to each player, called Hole Cards. Do not let anyone else see your Hole Cards.

1st Betting Round – Pre-Flop: The player left of the Big Blind will start the betting round by Calling the Big Blind, Raising or Folding. In clockwise fashion, each player may do the same – Call, Raise or Fold. The Small Blind may Call or Raise by adding enough chips to his Small Blind bet; or Fold, losing the Small Blind bet. The Big Blind may Check if no other player has Raised, or Call/Raise by adding chips to his Big Blind (or Fold, losing the Big Blind bet). Once all players have Called or Folded, the betting round ends.

2nd Betting Round – The Flop: 3 Community Cards are dealt face-up on the table. Community Cards are used by all players, combined with Hole Cards to develop the best hand. The second round of betting begins with the player left of the dealer button – Check, Bet or Fold. (Note that a player should never Fold when the Check option is available!) If all players Check, the betting round is over. If a wager is placed, all players must Call, Raise or Fold before the betting round ends.

3rd Betting Round – The Turn: Another Community Card is dealt, followed by another betting round. For this round and the remainder of the hand, all Bets/Raises increase to the high-end stakes of $4.

4th Betting Round – The River: This is 5th and final Community Card and last betting round. Betting is handled the same as the last round.

Omaha Winning Hand Rankings

The Showdown: A Showdown only commences if two or more players remain active (have not Folded). Those players will combine exactly 2 Hole Cards and 3 Community Cards to develop the strongest possible 5-card poker hand. The player with the highest ranking poker hand wins the pot.

In the event of an exact tie, the winners will split the pot. (i.e.: 2 players have a Queen-High Straight.)

Poker Hand Ranks (highest to lowest)
Royal Flush (Ace-high straight suited)
Straight Flush (straight suited)
4 of a Kind (4 cards of the same value)
Full House (3 of a Kind + 1 Pair)
Flush (all cards suited)
Straight (all cards in sequence)
3 of a Kind (3 cards of the same value)
2 Pair (1 Pair + 1 Pair)
1 Pair (2 cards of the same value)
High Card (none of the above combinations)