Omaha High is a community poker game, similar
to the more popular Texas Hold'em game, but with marked differences
in both play and strategy. The main difference lies in your
pocket cards, 4 of which are dealt face down 2 of which must
form part of your hand.
Trying to make a great 5-card hand with 9 cards
may appear simple, but remember you must use "2 from
the hand and 3 from the board". So those 4 Aces in your
hand may be deceptive!
Dealing the Game of Omaha High
The object of Omaha High is to create the best five-card hand
using exactly two out of four pocket cards and three out of
five community cards. You do not need to nominate the cards
you wish to use, the system will automatically select the
best combination for you.
Before the Deal:
- Players will buy-in for the posted amount.
- Selected players will post blinds.
The Dealer Button:
The dealer in Omaha High will start to deal each game contingent
on which player has the “button.” The button is a graphical
representation of which player is the “dealer.” Although our
dealer will be dealing the game, the player who has the button
placed in front of his seat gets to play his cards as if he
were the actual dealer. When the cards are dealt to players,
they are dealt in a manner as if the player was actually dealing
in a live environment.
Blinds:
Because we have a player “on the button” we now ask two players
to “post the big or small blinds please.” The blinds serve
a purpose similar to antes, in that they put forced money
into the pot that gives players an incentive to enter the
hand. In each hand two players are forced to post or bet blinds.
The first blind is called the small blind.
This bet is usually half the minimum bet of the game, although
in some games, the fraction is slightly different. In $15-30,
the small blind is $7, and in $5-10, the small blind is $2.
So, in a $2-4 game the small blind will be
$1. The second blind is called the "large blind"
and is always the same size as the game's minimum bet, e.g.,
in a 5-10 game, the large blind is $5.
The player directly left of the button will have the small
blind. The player directly to the left of the small blind
will have the large blind of the full amount or the lowest
game limit.
You can join the game at any time, if the blind
has not yet reached your seat you will be given the option
of posting the big blind and being dealt in that hand, or
waiting for the blind to reach your seat naturally.
Opening Deal:
Now that we have a button and small and large blinds, we are
ready to deal. The dealer always deals from the player closest
to the dealer's left.
Moving clockwise around the table, the game
will "deal-in" each player. The players will each
be dealt four cards face down.
A round of betting will occur starting with the player seated
to the left of the large blind.
The position left of the big blind is always first to act
prior to the flop and is referred to as being "under
the gun".
Betting on Opening Deal:
The "under the gun" player seated to the left of
the large blind will always have the action on the opening
deal. This player may not check, but rather can only fold,
call, or raise the amount of the large blind.
The game will now advance to each player seated
asking to fold, call, or raise until we reach the large blind
for an action decision.
If no one has raised by the time the play comes
back around to the large blind, the large blind has the option
to "check" his own blind wager, or raise.
Once all players have completed the first round
of wagering, they will proceed to the flop.
Flop:
The next cards to be dealt into the game will be the third,
fourth and fifth cards in the game.
These three cards will not be dealt to each player, but rather
placed face up in the centre of the table and are referred
to as the flop.
These three cards are called "community
cards" are available to all players for potential use
to make a poker hand.
Now the flop has landed on the "board"
and all players now have five cards available to make their
hand, any two of the four "hole" cards that were
dealt on the opening round and now three "community cards"
which all players may use.
The order of play is as follows.
After the flop, the player who is seated closest
to the left of the button shall have the initial action for
the remainder of the game.
If the player who has the button folds, then
the button is still active and will remain in front of that
player's seat to keep position a constant throughout that
game.
The player that has the first action may check
or bet. As soon as one player chooses to bet, then the other
players in the hand can no longer check; they can only fold,
call or raise the amount that is proper for that round (the
lower betting limit on the first round and on the flop, and
the higher betting limit on the turn and the river).
The Turn:
The "turn" is the fourth card to be dealt onto the
board and the sixth card available to the player. Some players
call this "fourth street." However, the most common
term used for this round is the "turn".
At this point the players have access to the
four cards on the board and their any two of their four hole
cards.
The game will now declare who has the action,
which always begins with the player still remaining in the
hand who is closest to the left of the button.
The bet on the turn is the higher level of
the betting limit. In a $2-4 game, this would be $4.
All raise will be in $4 increments with a cap of three raises.
If there are just two players remaining, the number of raises
is unlimited at our real money tables.
However, in tournament play, the three-raise
limit applies even if there are only two players left in a
hand.
The River:
The dealer will then place the fifth and final card on the
board known as the river.
At this point, five cards are on the board and four hole cards
are in the players' hands. You are betting on the best possible
combination of; any two of your hole cards and any 3 of the
board or community cards.
The action again starts with the first player
still remaining in the hand who is closest to the left of
the button.
All checks, bets, raises, and folds will be
completed and then a showdown will begin.
Who shows first?
The determination of which players' cards will and must be
shown first will lie with the player who had initiated the
action or with the person who had initiated the last bet,
raise or re-raise.
This simply means that whoever had the last action on the
river must show his/her cards first.
Suppose a Player wins by default?
A player who has a winning hand does not have to show his/her
cards if his/her bet was not called.
Does a Player have to show their Cards if they call a bet
on the River?
A player is not required to show their cards if, and only
if, they are not the player who had the last action.
If a player calls a bet and sees that he/she
cannot win, he/she may fold his/her cards.
Players who are curious about the folded hand may request
a hand history to learn it.
Who wins?
In our poker room, as with all, "cards speak."
That means our dealer will find the best five-card hand using
three the five community cards on the board and two of the
four pocket cards in the player's hand.
The winner will be decided based on the universal
poker hand rankings.
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