Omaha High/Low
At casino Omaha High/Low tables, a round plastic marker called the dealer "button" is placed in front of the player who would be dealing if a house dealer were not provided. The button is moved one seat clockwise after each game and the card distribution and betting starts to the left of that position.
Before each player is dealt four down cards, the player at the immediate left of the button, called the "Small Blind" is forced to bet (half the minimum bet). Then the player to his left and two seats to the left of the button, called the"Big Blind", is forced to bet the minimum bet. Each player is then dealt a four card hand. The player at the left of the big blind is first to act and he must either call the big blind's bet, raise, or fold his hand. Continuing in turn clockwise, all the players around the table either call, raise or fold. When the betting gets back around to the small blind, he or she can fold and lose the bet placed earlier, call the amount necessary to get up to the betting level or raise. The big blind is then the last to act before any cards are turned up in the middle. The blinds are played in the first round only.
The dealer turns three cards up in the center of the table. This is the "Flop". As always, the player at the left of the button is first to act. There are no more forced bets and the players can all check around if they want to. Bets right after the flop are at the minimum bet level.
Now comes the "Turn" card with more betting that now goes to the higher minimum bet level. Finally the last, or "River" card is turned up. The last betting round takes place. The players still in the contest reveal their hole cards and the highest hand wins the pot or splits with the lowest qualifying low hand. Of course, the ideal result is to win the high end with no split or have the cards to win both ways.
Once all betting is complete, players determine the best five-card high or low hand that they can make from two of their four pocket cards and three of the five community cards. In Omaha High/Low the pot is split 50-50 between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand, consisting of 5 cards of different values ranked 8 or lower. Straights and flushes are not counted against you when evaluating a low hand. However, they still apply for evaluating the high hand. Aces can be used both for high and low hands. Therefore, the best possible low hand is A,2,3,4 and 5, which is also a straight for the high hand. It is possible for a player to scoop the entire pot with both the highest and lowest hands. Four of these cards will be in their own possession and dealt as down cards, and five will be face up as community cards to be shared by all players. Therefore, if a player is dealt four kings down, only two of the kings count toward the final hand. The remaining three cards must come from the community cards.
The player with the best five-card hand and the player with the qualifying best low hand share the pot evenly. Should multiple hands tie, the pot is split with any odd amount going to the player immediately to the left of the dealer. The 'button' is moved clockwise around the table so that every player can benefit from the advantage of being last to act once per round. Like Hold 'Em, position is an important advantage with the player on the button being in the best position possible.
These hands should be automatically folded without any further consideration:
• Quads - (including) A A A A
• Trip Threes thru Trip Kings - 3 3 3 X - K K K X
• Three or more unpaired Middle Cards - X 6 7 9
Playable Starting Hands:
The best possible starting hand is AA23(Double Suited)
• SOME TRIP ACES and TRIP DUECES - These only: 2AAA, 3AAA, 4AAA(S), 5AAA(S), 222A(DS)
• PAIR of ACES with LOW CARDS - AA23, AA44, AA35 etc.
• PAIR of ACES SUITED with ANYTHING - Ah A Xh X
• A2 with ANYTHING - A2XX
• A3 with LOW CARDS - Paired or unpaired. A344,A345, A355
• A3/ ACE SUITED with ANYTHING - Ad A Xd X
• ACE SUITED with THREE UNPAIRED HIGH CARDS - Ac Jc Q K etc.
• FOUR UNPAIRED LOW CARDS - 2345
• TWO HIGH PAIR DOUBLESUITED - Kh Kd Qh Qd etc.
Strategy
The most important thing to keep in mind in split pot games is the difference between winning half the pot and winning it all; every time you play you want to give yourself the opportunity to win the High and the Low hands. After the flop, if your high hand is not a certain winner and will probably have to split with the low, or if you are playing for low and don't have a decent shot at the high hand, usually check/fold and get out early. Slow play most Omaha hands. It is very difficult to run players off in this game and early raises are risky unless you know you can't lose.
Avoid playing middle suited connectors. Hands like 8h 9h that are often very playable in Holdem and Omaha high, are bad news in high-low split. To make the high end of a straight, you have to catch the cards that will also qualify low hands. To play these you also need a suited ace or an A2.
Don't overbet A2, A3 and 2 3 nut lows. These are often shared with another player and you can end up getting "quartered". In other words, if there are two playing the same nut low and one going high, you are in a situation where every bet you make contributes 1/3 to the pot that will only pay you 1/4 back. You do better if you can check around. Fast play in this situation only makes you money if there are three or more other players with either high or losing low hands.
Watch out for uniform flops, like 8 7 6 They can easily turn into straights that can overtake your high pair trips, or other good hand. Beware of Suited Flops that can make a completed flush. In this case, you should usually hold the nut in that suit, or have trips or two pair that can fill up. Pay very close attention to your cards. Omaha High Low hands can get confusing and it is sometimes easy to think you have a nut hand winner when you don't, or have the best possible hand and not realize it. Be careful to avoid these costly mistakes.
In Victor Chandler's poker school, you can read more on Omaha hi lo strategy. PartyPoker's poker academy is also very interesting.