Texas Holdem is by far the most popular poker game, everyone knows that. But what comes next? The answer to this question is, no doubt, Omaha poker. This game that is highly similar to the popular Texas Hold’em has established its status in recent years as the number two variation in all channels of poker.

Omaha Poker Rooms

Room			Rating	Bonus	Review	Visit
2.		888Poker		$88 free + $400	Review	Play Now

History

The exact origin of Omaha is not clear. The game has appeared gradually as an underdog Holdem variant in the casinos and has become more and more popular over the years. The similarities to Texas Hold’em were a very good starting point, and one may suspect that Omaha was developed as an alternative to the popular Texas variation. When exactly this happened is not clear, the earliest traces of Omaha can be traced back to the 1980s in Las Vegas. Where it really came from will probably always remain a mystery.

Omaha Poker Rules

Omaha is played exactly like Texas Hold’em: Two to ten players put their blinds (and possibly an ante) and then get their hole cards from the dealer. The major difference lies in the number of hole cards. In Omaha you get four hole cards, and not 2 as in the Texas variation. After that everything is the same – this is followed by betting round, the flop brings three Communitiy cards, the river and turn 1 community card each, there is a betting round between each round in where the players can raise, call or fold. This way the pot constantly grows.

Another main difference is the way the winning hand is calculated in the showdown. The players try to reach the best hand by using their hole cards and community cards. However, since they have four hole cards available, the players can use only two of the four hole cards and three community cards to assemble their hand

Omaha Hi lo

In this variant of the game the pot is split at the showdown and is divided equally between the highest hand and the lowest hand. As a result, the game changes significantly, because you can maneuver in two directions.

Sounds easy? It is. But if you want to really excel in this poker variant you will have to know more than just the rules of the game. Strategies, mathematics and psychologies play a major role in it and knowing the rules is just the first step.