Omaha Poker 2024

In this guide, we examine the history of Omaha poker, its rules, how to play a hand and some of the variants of the game that have developed over time. We have also included a brief guide on basic Omaha strategy to help you four-card your way confidently at the poker table.

What is Omaha Poker?

Omaha is a poker variant in which the object is to win the pot, either by making the best five-card poker hand at showdown or by being the last player left with a live hand (when all opponents fold). Omaha poker is an action game and big pots can build quickly.

Like Texas Hold’em, Omaha uses five community cards and has the same number of betting rounds. These community cards (also known as board cards) are dealt out as the flop (the first 3 cards, which are all dealt at once), the turn (4th card), and the river (5th card), with betting rounds taking place before and after each stage of the board is dealt out.

This pattern is exactly the same as in Texas Hold’em, but there is a key difference in Omaha, which is subtle, but makes a huge difference to the way that the game is played.

In regular Omaha, players are dealt four private cards (hole cards) and must use exactly two of them, in combination with exactly three of the board cards, to construct a five-card poker hand. Whereas in Texas Hold’em, players are permitted to use any combination of the hole cards and community cards to make their best 5-card poker hand.

Omaha Betting Formats

Omaha poker can be played with different betting modes. Most commonly, it is played as a pot-limit poker game, meaning that the maximum that anyone can raise when it is their turn to bet is the total amount that is already in the pot.

Omaha can also be played with a no-limit betting structure, and this is becoming more popular. Some online poker sites now include no-limit Omaha tournaments on their regular daily schedules.

How to Play Omaha Poker

Like Texas Hold’em, Omaha is played with a standard 52-card deck. A single game of Omaha is known as a hand and includes four rounds of betting. Players are required to match their opponents' bets to stay in the hand, or they can fold (release their cards) and forfeit the right to win the pot.

A player wins either by having the best hand at showdown or by being the only player left with cards due to other players folding. Playing a hand of Omaha poker takes place in a series of stages:

Pre-Flop

• The dealer button signifies which player is the dealer for each hand. It moves clockwise, one player at a time, after every hand.
• The two players immediately to the left of the dealer post forced bets called blinds. There is a big blind (two players to the left of the dealer) and a small blind (the player to the immediate left of the dealer). The big blind is typically double the size of the small blind and is equivalent to the minimum bet that can be made in the hand.
• Each player is dealt four face-down cards that only they can see (hole cards).
• The first betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind being the first to decide whether to call, raise, or fold.

The Flop

• The dealer places 3 community cards face-up on the table.
• A round of betting occurs, starting with the first active player to the left of the dealer.

The Turn

• The dealer places a 4th community card face-up on the table.
• Another round of betting takes place.

The River

• The dealer places the 5th and final community card face-up on the table.
• A final round of betting occurs.

The Showdown

• If more than one player remains after the final betting round, players reveal their hands.
• In Omaha, each player must use precisely two of their hole cards and three of the five community cards to make their best 5-card poker hand.
• The player who has the highest-ranked Omaha hand wins the pot.

Omaha Hand Rankings

The hand rankings used in Omaha are exactly the same as in Texas Hold’em and most poker variants. It’s important to remember that hand rankings in. Here is the order of Omaha poker hand rankings, from best to worst:

1. Royal Flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, all of the same suit.
2. Straight Flush: Five cards in a row of the same suit.
3. Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank.
4. Full House: A pair plus three of a kind.
5. Flush: Five cards of the same suit, but not in consecutive ranking order.
6. Straight: Five cards in consecutive ranking order, but not of the same suit.
7. Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank
8. Two Pair: Two different pairs
9. One Pair: Two cards of the same rank
10. High Card: When no player has a pair or better, the highest ranking card held wins.

Omaha Strategy

Omaha may seem a bit like Hold’em at first, but the adjusted mechanics of having four hole cards, but having to use two of them to make your hand, makes a big difference to the way the game plays out. Here are some basic Omaha strategy tips to make your initial journey to the Omaha table a smoother ride.

Best Omaha Starting Hands

Look for cards that are of adjacent rank or of the same suit, as you want your cards to work well together to give you the best chance of connecting with the board. Double-suited cards with a pair and two other connected cards are considered the premium type of holding.

Omaha Starting Hands to Avoid

A pair of aces is a much stronger starting hand in Hold’em than it is in Omaha. It is a good hand in Omaha, too, but the relative strength depends on which of the other two cards accompany it. The absolute worst two cards that could be dealt along with a pair of aces, is another pair of aces.

Holding four aces (or four of any kind) is indeed almost worthless, as you can only use two of your hole cards. You are very unlikely to improve your hand, as you cannot make straights or flushes.

A pair of aces with another two suited and connected cards (of another suit) is a much better proposition for an Omaha starting hand.

Holding three-of-a-kind in your hand is also a bad hand to start with and one to avoid playing. Avoid small pairs and cards that are disconnected.

Post Flop Equity Shifts

Be aware that as each community hand is dealt out in Omaha, the situation regarding who holds the lead can change dramatically. Turn cards can not only switch the equity from one player to another but can open up drawing possibilities for others.

Position is Key

As per Texas Hold’em, the late position is advantageous as it gives the player control of the hand as the last player to act during each betting round. Pay close attention, as you can bet more aggressively when you have a positional advantage.

Pot Control

Omaha is most commonly played with a Pot Limit betting structure, which means more flops and more multi-way pots than in Hold’em. This acts as a natural form of pot control in a game in which players like to gamble and despite the maximum bet size being equivalent to the pot, pots can get very big very quickly.

Many players will do exactly as the rules permit and make pot-sized bets; however, betting smaller is also allowed and is advisable if you’re drawing and don’t yet have the nuts.
 

Omaha Variants

In addition to regular 4-card Pot Limit Omaha, there are also many other Omaha variants, some better known than others. While some of these are rarely played as standalone games, they are often found in dealer’s choice games or as part of a rotation in mixed game formats. Some rare Omaha variants have possibly only ever been played by drunk Scandinavians on a ferry somewhere in Europe.

5-Card/6-Card/7-Card Omaha

5-Card Omaha plays out in exactly the same way that regular 4-card Omaha does. The only difference is that players receive five hole cards (private cards) instead of four. Players are still required to use just two of their hole cards to make their poker hand by combining these with three of the board cards.

In short-handed Omaha games, increasing the number of hole cards even further is possible. Six-card and 7-card Omaha games are rare but not unheard of.

Courchevel

Courchevel is a variant of 5-Card Omaha in which the first flop card is revealed at the start of the hand before there has been a round of betting. After the first round of betting has been completed, the remaining two cards of the flop are dealt and the hand plays out in the same way as a regular Omaha hand.

Omaha Hi-Lo (Eight or Better)

Omaha Hi-Lo, or Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, is a split pot game. Half the pot is awarded to the player with the highest-ranked hand and half to the player with the lowest-ranked qualifying hand. A low hand must contain five unpaired cards ranked 8 or lower. If there is no qualifying low hand, the entire pot is awarded to the player with the highest-ranked hand.

Big O

Big O is basically the same as Omaha Hi-Lo, however players begin with five hole cards instead of four.

Drawmaha/Sviten Special

Sviten Special is a Swedish version of a split pot poker variant called Drawmaha. As the name suggests, it combines draw poker with Omaha, specifically 5-Card Omaha, to create a unique split pot game. Sviten Special’s popularity has spread from Scandinavia to other parts of Europe and is now played in poker rooms as far away as Malta.
 

Playing Omaha Online

While most online poker is dominated by No Limit Texas Hold’em, many sites do offer Omaha tables. However, liquidity levels do not always match ambitions and on some sites, only a small number of PLO tables may actually be in operation.

Larger and more established sites tend to have more Omaha cash game action and a few run specialist online Omaha tournament series.

Playing Omaha Live

Live Omaha is still most commonly found as a cash game and is often the preferred poker format for high stakes cash games. It’s not unusual for the biggest game in the room to be a Pot Limit Omaha game, often playing several stake levels above the rest of the active tables.

Many high stakes professional poker players can regularly be found in ‘nosebleed’ stakes Omaha cash games, such as the 2024 WSOP Hall of Fame inductee Patrik Antonius.

Lower stakes Pot Limit Omaha games, and Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo are also found in some live poker rooms, with Omaha also featuring heavily in dealer’s choice cash games and mixed game rotations.

Omaha is well-catered for at the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. In 2024, there were 16 dedicated Omaha bracelet events and several other mixed-game tournaments that included an Omaha variant.

Online US Poker Sites with Omaha

Access to legal and regulated online poker in the USA is currently only available in five states:

• Nevada
• New Jersey
• Delaware
• Michigan
• Pennsylvania 

Most of these states have a liquidity sharing agreement, which helps to increase the player pool at sites licensed in more than one state.

Most regulated poker sites operating in the US offer some level of Omaha tables, however the level of provision varies, with most liquidity on smaller sites focused on Texas Hold’em.

Both Bet MGM and especially PokerStars offer a wide range of Omaha tables. PokerStars’ offering also includes Omaha Hi-Lo and Courchevel in both cash game and tournament formats.
 

History of Omaha Poker

Surprisingly, Omaha is not as old as you might expect. The name certainly sounds like it might date back to Wild West times, but in fact it is a relatively new poker variant, only becoming widely played in the 1980s. It was also almost certainly not invented in the city it is named after, Omaha, Nebraska.

As with many card games, especially poker variants, when and where the very first playing of the game now known as Omaha took place,  is lost to the mists of time. What is known is that it made its first public appearance in Las Vegas in 1982. It was introduced by Robert Turner to the Golden Nugget Casino manager Billy Boyd; and was at first known as Nugget Hold’em.

It quickly gained popularity, became universally known as Omaha. It's a testament to the success of the format that it made it onto the 1983 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule so soon after being introduced to the Las Vegas poker scene.

Just prior to the poker boom of the early 2000s, many UK casinos closed their poker rooms, only to re-open them a few years later, after Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP Championship victory, sparked a poker boom. Just prior to this boom, Omaha became prevalent as the game of choice in many cash-game focused UK poker rooms, although Hold’em quickly regained the top spot.

Other Forms of Poker

Omaha is just one branch of poker’s family tree. Over the years, there have been countless poker variants played, most long forgotten, but some have prevailed and have become the established games that are widely played today, both live and online:

• Texas Hold'em: The number one form of poker being played in the world today. Players receive two cards each and have to make the best five-card hand by combining these with five community cards (cards that are shared by all players).
• Stud Poker: Stud poker games include a mix of face-up and face-down cards, but no community cards as each player receives cards that only they can use.
• Razz Poker: A stud poker variant where the lowest five-card hand wins the pot, not the highest hand.
• Badugi Poker: A draw game played with four-card hands instead of five. The object is to make the lowest set of cards to win the pot, with no two cards being of the same suit or rank.