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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha/8 or better) is commonly viewed as one of the most difficult but popular poker games. It is a variation that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from all levels of players. This is the primary reason why a once irrelevant variation, has increased in popularity so amazingly.

Omaha/8 starts exactly like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to every player. A sequence of wagering ensues where gamblers can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. Another sequence of betting ensues. After all the gamblers have in turn called or dropped out, a further card is flipped on the turn. Another round of betting follows at which point the river card is revealed. The gamblers will need to make the strongest high and low five card hands using the board and hole cards.

This is where many entrants get flustered. Unlike Holdem, where the board can make up every player’s hand, in Omaha hi lo the player has to use exactly 3 cards from the board, and precisely two cards from their hand. Not a single card more, not a single card less. Unlike normal Omaha, there are 2 ways a pot can be won: the "higher hand" or the "low hand."

A high hand is just how it sounds. It’s the best possible hand out of everyone’s, it doesn’t matter if it is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the very same concept in nearly every poker game.

The lower hand is more difficult, but certainly opens up the action. When deciding on a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. the lowest hand is the worst hand that might be made, with the worst being A-2-3-4-5. Because straights and flushes do not count, A-2-3-4-5 is the worst possible hand. The lower hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and smaller. The low hand takes half of the pot, as just like the higher hand. When there’s no lower hand available, the higher hand wins the whole pot.

It may seem complicated at the start, following a couple of rounds you will be agile enough to get the fundamental subtleties of the game easily enough. Seeing as you have players betting for the low and betting for the high, and since so many cards are being used at the same time, Omaha/8 offers an exciting assortment of wagering options and because you have many individuals battling for the high hand, along with a few trying for the low. If you prefer a game with all kinds of outs and actions, it is not a waste of your time to participate in Omaha/8.