How to play
Omaha Hi-Lo, also called Omaha Eight or Better or PLO8, is Pot-Limit Omaha with a split pot: half goes to the best high hand and half to the best qualifying low hand. Here you sit at a cash table with one to five computer opponents. Everyone starts with 1,000 chips, the blinds are 5 and 10, and a fresh 52-card deck is shuffled for every hand.
- Four hole cards. Everyone gets four cards face down; five community cards come out over the flop, turn and river, with a betting round after each, just like Pot-Limit Omaha.
- Pot limit. The most you can raise is the size of the pot after you call. The Pot button sets the largest raise.
- Two hands at the showdown. Each player makes a high hand and, if possible, a low hand. Both follow the Omaha rule: exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three community cards. You can use different hole cards for high and low.
The low hand. A low is five cards of different ranks, all 8 or lower. Aces count low, and straights and flushes don’t spoil a low, so A-2-3-4-5 is the best low. Lows are compared from the highest card down: 7-5-4-3-2 beats 8-4-3-2-A. Because you must use three board cards, there can only be a low if the board shows at least three different cards of 8 or lower.
Splitting the pot.
- If someone has a qualifying low, the pot is split in half: the best high takes one half, the best low the other. An odd chip goes to the high half.
- If nobody has a low, the best high hand wins the whole pot.
- One player can win both halves (“scoop”).
- Ties split their half, and each side pot is split on its own.
Your hand under the table shows both your high and your low once the flop is out. When an opponent runs out of chips, a new player sits down with 1,000 chips; if you run out, you can get 1,000 free credits at a new table. Your table is saved between visits.
Strategy
Play for both halves. The best starting hands can win high and low at the same time: an ace with a 2 or 3 and other connected cards, ideally with two suits, like A-2-3-K with the ace suited. A-2 is the most valuable pair of cards for low.
Beware of counterfeits. If you hold A-2 and the board brings an ace or a 2, your low gets weaker because you can’t use a paired board card twice. Having a third low card (A-2-3) protects you.
Avoid getting quartered. If two players hold the same low, each gets a quarter of the pot. Big bets with only half the nut low often lose chips.
High-only hands need the nuts. A big pair or a middle straight on a low board usually wins at most half the pot. On a high board (fewer than three low cards), only high counts again, and the game plays like regular Pot-Limit Omaha.
More poker. For five hole cards, try Big O. For split-pot stud, play Stud Hi-Lo.
If you enjoy Omaha Hi-Lo, try Omaha Sit & Go or Open-Face Pineapple next.
