Learn How to Play Omaha

The rules of Omaha Poker are almost identical to Texas Holdem. If you are already familiar with how to play Texas Holdem, you’ll find it easy to learn how to play Omaha. The main difference between the two games is that in Omaha Poker, each player receives four hole cards instead of two. There are a couple other minor differences but for the most part, the two games are very similar.

If you don’t know how to play either game, that’s no problem either. We’ll get you up and going with our simple listing of the rules of Omaha below. In Omaha Poker, the goal is to win the pot by having the best poker hand or betting everyone else out of the pot. Poker hands in Omaha are created using any two of the player’s hole cards and three of the community cards. The best five card combination wins the pot.

Omaha Poker Rules

At the beginning of each Omaha hand, two players must pay the “blinds” which are basically antes. The purpose of the blinds is to get money in the pot and generate action. The two players to the left of the dealer must pay the blinds each round. The player closest to the dealer pays the small blind and the player one spot to the left pays the big blind. The blinds are sized so that the small blind is equal to half the big blind.

The position of the dealer moves one spot to the left at the beginning of each hand. This ensures that all the players at the table take turns paying the blinds. In games that use a full time dealer, a small token called the “dealer’s button” represents the position of the dealer at the table.

Preflop

Each player receives four cards face down. These are called the “hole cards.” Once the hole cards have been dealt, a round of betting takes place. The player to the left of the big blind begins the betting by either calling, folding or raising. In order to stay in the hand, each player must either call or raise the minimum amount (one big blind). If any player raises, that amount becomes the new minimum to stay in.

Flop

The dealer now deals three cards face up in the middle of the table. These are the first of five community cards that the players all share. Another round of betting begins with the first player to the left of the dealer. Note that last time the betting round began with the player to the left of the big blind. This time it simply begins with the first player to the left of the dealer.

In this betting round and all the rest, the first player to act may either check, bet or fold. After that, the players all have a chance to take the same actions. If any player places a bet or raise, that amount becomes the new minimum to stay in. Betting always moves clockwise around the table.

Turn

The dealer deals one card face up on the table next to the flop. This is the fourth community card and is also shared by all the players. This is followed by an additional betting round. If playing fixed-limit, this is where the bigger bets kick in.

River

The dealer deals one last card face up next to the turn. This is the fifth community card. Next, there is one last round of betting.

Showdown

The players still in the hand may now reveal their hole cards. Using any combination of two hole cards plus three community cards, the players make their best five card poker hands. The player who holds the highest ranking poker hand takes down the pot.

Note to Texas Holdem players – Showdowns are different in Omaha than Texas Holdem in one very important way. In Omaha, each player must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards. That is not the case in Texas Holdem. This changes certain hands such as flushes. No longer can a player have just one flush card and use four community cards to make a flush. The players must always use two of their hole cards.