Omaha High-Low Poker Strategy

Omaha Hi/Lo is an exciting poker variant that uses the split pot concept. Each player makes a high hand and a low hand, and the pot is split between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand.

Thus, the game requires a high level of skill and practice. Omaha Hi-Lo requires a player to have the skills of a high game and a Lowball game. This section lists some of the best strategies to excel at Omaha Hi/Lo Poker.

Omaha-Hi-Lo Strategies – The Main Components

Play to Scoop the Pot

The fundamental goal of playing Omaha Hi-Lo is to scoop the pot, i.e., win both the high and low hands of the game. You may have often experienced chopping the pot into two, but scooping is always better than chopping. It helps build a huge stack of chips in a short period.

In this poker variant, ace two-suited and ace three-suited are considered the best-starting hands because there is a foolproof opportunity to win both sides of the pot. Another hand that can scoop the pot in Omaha Hi-Lo is an ace king-suited and an ace jack-suited. This hand has the potential for a straight or a flush, and can be fruitful if there is no qualifying low hand at the showdown.

Determining the Low

In Omaha Hi-Lo, the most important task is to determine the nut-low. A low hand usually has five unpaired cards, with the highest card not greater than 8. In the same way, any hand of 5 cards that contains cards of 9 or higher do not qualify as a low hand. A-2-3-4-5 is the best-ranking low hand, and 8-7-6-5-4 is the worst. In Omaha Hi-Lo, straights and flushes do not apply to low hands.

Furthermore, low hands are known by their highest-ranking card. For example, 8-6-5-4-2 is called "an eight-six" and is lower than "an eight-seven"- 8-7-5-4-A. As a poker player, you should also know about a smooth low hand wherein the remaining cards after the highest are very low (8-4-3-2-A) and a rough low hand wherein the remaining cards are high (8-7-6-5-A).

Throw Away Starting Hands

Quads (four-of-a-kind) are considered good hands in Texas Hold’em, but in Omaha Hi-Lo, quads are the hands that a player does not play. Also, you can only use two if you receive three-of-a-kind hole cards. The third card of the same rank is not valuable because it cannot be used with community cards on the board.

For example, if a player is dealt 7♥-7♠-7♦-K♦, he can only use two 7♠, and the third 7 is of no value to him. In this situation, the player can throw away his cards. Hands like 8♥-9♥ are also considered weak hands because to make the high end of a straight, the cards you need are also qualifying low hands. You can fold hands with four of the same suit like 2♥-8♥-9♥-4♥. Here, you required three hearts as community cards to make a flush. The extra hearts in your hole cards do not help you anyway. Other starting hands that should be folded are the lowest cards from 4 through 9 paired or unpaired (4-5-6-7, 6-7-Q-Q, 4-7-J-K).

Manage your Bankroll

Omaha Hi-Lo is considered a high-variance game, and a player needs to be skilled in bankroll management to handle and survive. In Omaha Hi-Lo, even when strong players come across weak hands, they must ride them out. Following a strict bankroll helps you to play in a disciplined manner and master the game. For example, you started playing at Rs. 25 PLO. You should continue playing at this stake unless you build the bankroll of Rs. 2000. Later, you can move ahead and play at Rs. 50 PLO game. However, many times, you will find players who get into playing high stakes because they are losing at low stakes. This is an unworthy thing to do as you will lose everything and end up with nothing in hand. Therefore, you must rigorously follow bankroll management for a bright poker future with a steady income.

Avoid Playing High Hands

By high hands, we mean hands like K-K-Q-Q, K-Q-J-10. The value of these cards is low in Omaha Hi-Lo because players know they are playing for half the pot. Though in this poker variant, you may not come across a low hand at times, it is always worthwhile to play high hands if the flop dealt is competitive. For instance, a hand like 8-9-10-J double-suited is imperfect because it has no crack for the low hand. Or, if you hold 10-J-Q-A with no spade and flop runs 7♠-9♠-10♣, you will not qualify for a low draw or a flush draw. Moreover, high cards are always inferior to two low cards in a heads-up Omaha Hi-Lo game.

Counterfeit Lows & Backup Cards

Let’s say you have A-2-3-X, a strong hand, as A-2-3  is the best lowest hand. The board shows A-2-7-8-9. The lowest A-2 is no longer yours; everyone can use those cards. Hence, don’t rely on the A-2 low. Look for backup hands. A-2-3-4 is stronger than A-2-9-J because if A-2 gets counterfeited, you still have 3-4.

Limp! Limp! Limp!

Limping in Omaha means Calling the Big Blind instead of Raising. The idea is to save all your chips till showdown. If you know you have a strong hand, just go ahead and push those chips.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to win at Omaha hi lo poker?

To win Omaha Hi-Lo, you must scoop the pot, i.e., win both the high and low hands of the game.

What is the best Omaha hi-lo strategy?

The best Omaha hi lo strategy is to go for the low and back the high cards.

Conclusion

Omaha-hi low can be challenging with its split-pot format and diverse variants. Hence, requires skills and strategies to win. Along with learning the nitty-gritty of the game, practice these strategies in a home game.