Toady lets take a look at another variation of Poker, Omaha, also known as Omaha Hold’em. If you have been already following our #MyTimeInQuarantine series, you already know how to play Texas Hold’em Poker and hence learning Omaha is going to be a piece of cake for you. For those who haven’t, you can read more about it here . Omaha isn’t a new game altogether but just another variation of Poker. Fun Fact – There are more than 300 variations of poker played around the world.
History of Omaha
First and foremost, Omaha Poker has nothing to do with the city of Omaha other than being named after the city. The game did not originate in Omaha. Omaha Poker has a history dating all the way back to 1982 when this variation was 1st introduced in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before Omaha became popular, there already existed a few variations of the game that evolved over time to give us the Omaha we all know today. It is said that one of the early variations of Omaha, Twice Three, might have started in the city of Chicago. In this variation, players were dealt 5 hole cards instead of 4 that we see in today’s Omaha. This limited the number of players that could play at one table and led to a shift in the way we play Omaha. In no time after the transformation, the game began to spread like wild fire all across America. Back in the day, the game would also be commonly known as Nine Cards, Fort Worth and Oklahoma.
Rules
Unlike Texas Hold’em, where everyone is dealt 2 hole cards, in Omaha, players are dealt 4 hole cards. Community cards remain same at 5. So, each player has a total of 9 cards to play around with. The goal is to make the best hand of 5 cards possible. Each player must use at least 2 hole cards and remaining community cards to make a hand. You can’t use only one of the hole cards like you do in Texas Hold’em. Other than this all the rules and the way the game progresses remain same.
Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or better
Each player makes a separate 5 card high and a 5 card low with the same 4 hole & 5 community cards. The Pot is split between the high and the low. It is very possible for the same player to win both, High & Low Pot in the same round. But keep in mind, to qualify for a low hand, player has to play cards that are lower than 8. Each player can play any two of his hole cards to make a high hand & any two of his hole cards to make a low hand. If no player is able to qualify for a low hand, the entire pot will go to the one with the highest hand.
You can read more about different poker hands here.
That’s all you need to know before starting a game of Omaha Poker. You can read as many articles and watch as many videos you want to, but you will have a deeper understanding of the game only when you actually try your hands on it. And you don’t have to go all the way to Goa to an actual casino to try Omaha out. Now you can do it from the comfort of your home. From your favorite seat. FTR Poker has a lot of Omaha tournaments everyday for you to get the game rolling. All you need to do in log in and your favorite table will be ready for you.
We hope you have already tried Texas Hold’em on our mobile app or our desktop client, now try out Omaha to know where your interest lies. That’s all for this article. And lastly, as we always say…. May the flop be with you!