Omaha poker: Learn Omaha poker rules & how to play

Omaha is a popular poker variant that is second in popularity only to Texas Hold'em. Usually played with a pot-limit betting structure, Omaha shares many characteristics of Hold'em, but there are also some vast differences.

What Is Omaha poker?

Omaha is a community card game strikingly similar to Texas Hold'em, except players receive four-hole cards in Omaha compared to two in Hold'em. Furthermore, Omaha players must use precisely two of their four hole cards plus three of the five community cards to make the best five-card poker hand, unlike Hold'em, where playing the board is possible.

Omaha is usually played to a pot-limit betting structure; hence the most popular variant is Pot-Limit Omaha or PLO. Some Omaha games, typically in live cash games in Las Vegas, use fixed-limit betting.

What are the hand rankings in Pot-Limit Omaha?

You will be pleased to know that Pot-Limit Omaha's hand rankings mirror those of Hold'em, which means there is one less thing you need to learn if you want to play PLO! High card is the weakest possible holding, a hand with no pair or better, with the rare royal flush being the strongest possible hand.

Due to the extra hole cards compared to Hold'em, Omaha players frequently make stronger hands, meaning three-of-a-kind, straights, flushes, and full houses are more common.

What is a Pot-Limit Betting Structure?

Pot-Limit is the most common form of Omaha poker. The pot-limit name means the maximum bet size is determined by the size of the pot when it is your turn to act. You can bet less if you wish, but there are limits to the maximum bet size.

For example, if you are the first player to act on any postflop street, betting the pot is betting the amount already in the pot. If there is R100 in the pot, $R100 is the most you can bet. Things become a little more complicated if there are other bets to consider.

What are the main differences between PLO and Hold'em?

The number of hole cards players receive is the biggest difference between Omaha and Hold'em poker. You receive four hole cards in standard Omaha games but only two in Hold'em. Although the game runs the same way as Hold'em, in that there is preflop, the flop, turn, and river, and the hand rankings are identical, the way you make the best hand differs.

You must use exactly two of your hole cards in Omaha games and exactly three from the community cards to make the best five-card poker hand. For example, if your PLO hole cards read Ah-As-Kd-Qc and the community cards read Jh-Th-9h-5h-3c, you would not have a heart flush but a queen-high straight.

The closeness of equity between holdings makes PLO a drawing game and a game of drawing to the nuts. Furthermore, compared to Hold 'em, you generally need a stronger hand at showdown to win the pot in Omaha games. Two pair is often a powerhouse hand in Hold'em, but it is quite vulnerable when you play Omaha.

What are the other types of Omaha games?

Pokerbet currently offers four Omaha variants: Pot-Limit Omaha, Pot-Limit Omaha 5, Pot-Limit Omaha 6 and Pot-Limit Omaha 7. In these other formats of Pot-Limit Omaha, you either receive 5, 6 or 7 hole cards, but all other fundamentals of PLO4 otherwise apply.