Omaha is a poker variation with five community cards where players get four hole cards.

Omaha rules are identical to Texas Hold’em rules with the only exception: to get a combination at the showdown one must use exactly two pocket cards (no more no less than two) and three community cards of the board.

For instance, if you have pocket cards        : and the board is          : you won’t be able to get straight as you need to use 2 (two) pocket cards and 3 (three) cards from the board.

The combinations in Omaha are the same as the combinations in Texas Hold’em (look - combinations in poker).

Omaha is a more complicated game that Texas Hold’em. That’s why this game is not recommended for the beginners.

The most common type of Omaha is Omaha Pot Limit.

Omaha poker variations

Below are major Omaha variables

Omaha (Omaha Hold’em, Omaha Hi) is the basic type of Omaha which was described earlier. Further we will speak of Limit and Pot Limit versions.

• Limit Omaha is the type of Omaha with fixed sizes of bets which is popular among the beginners. As the stakes are not high here and bluff is not that decisive. There is minimal and maximal bet sizes for each betting round. For example, limit Omaha with $10/$20 means that the first and the second betting rounds have bets of $10. The player who wants to make a raise should bet $20. In the third and fourth betting round players make $20 bets.
• Omaha Holdem Pot Limit is another type of Omaha. It is different from Omaha Limit in the max bet one can make: not more then the current size of the pot. The size of the pot is the size of all the bets made before and the bet an active player should make before the raise.
• 5 Cards Omaha us the founder of Omaha family. The main difference is that instead of four cards in the beginning the player gets five cards. Therefore, the chances of getting good combinations increase, This kind of poker is old and can rarely be seen in poker clubs and online.
• Omaha Hi/Low is another very interesting kind of Omaha. It exists in Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit forms. The main difference in Omaha Hi/Low is that the half of the pot goes to the strongest hand (Hi-hand) and the other half of the pot goes to the weakest hand (Low-hand). The weak hand is a hand with no pairs and with no cards above 8. For instance,           (with ace being a one). Straights and flushes are irrelevant here. The weakest unbeaten combination is          , so called 'wheel'. The player may get the strongest and the weakest combinations (Hi-hand and Low-hand) at the same time. To get the weakest combination, he may use two pocket cards different from two cards he uses to make a strong hand. However, the major principle of Omaha remains the same: the player must use two pocket cards and three common cards to make the combinations. The strong combination always in play, there could be no weak combinations. Then the player with the strong combinations gets the whole pot. With these rules, there are many options to get a winning combination. The price of the win is much lower in comparison with Omaha Hi. Having even very strong combination you will have only half the pot probably. The pure winning won’t seem bug in that case, That’s why professional Omaha Hi/Low players prefer to fold without taking big risks in certain situations. Winning the Hi and the Low at the same hands is called 'scooping the pot'.

History of Omaha

History of Omaha is closely connected with the history of Texas Hold’em as Omaha is the close relative. It has many variations, the first game of the family is a five card Omaha where the player gets five cards instead of four. This kind of poker first appeared in Detroit in the beginning of 70s, and the game was called two for three. This game became popular in the industrial towns of North and West and Middle West of United States of America, especially in Chicago and New York. 5 Card Omaha had a major disadvantage as the number of players was limited with 8 max .It was later almost entirely replaced by what we know as a standard Omaha with 4 cards.

The game was called differently in different places: 'Oklahoma two for four' in Oklahoma, 'Fort Worth' in Dallas and 'Nine Cards' in Seattle. Now we know it as Omaha. It is not surprising that this name came from Nebraska capital. In the gambling world, Nevada is the key and there the game was called Omaha. Hold’em in Nevada existed in two variations: as a popular Texas Hold’em with any of 7 card available to make combinations and in variation where the player could use only the cards in his hand. This rare form was called Omaha. Nevada players used the word 'Omaha' to call so two cards of the hand used to make poker combination. When 4card Hold’em came to Las Vegas, it was immediately, called Omaha to highlight the fact two pocket cards must be used.

Omaha was first noticed in Nevada in 1982. It is considered that it was brought there by Given, an Eastern woman for Seattle nicknamed 'Lady Dragon' and Robert Turner, a well-known poker tournament star from Alabama. This game became popular in gambling halls of 'Golden Nugget' casino. Since the 'Star Dust' poker tournaments started in January 1983, high stakes Omaha became popular among poker players and became always included to the series.