Hi/Lo
The difference between Omaha Hi and Omaha Hi/Lo is that in Hi/Lo, the pot is split 50-50 between the person with the best hand and the person with the worst qualifying low hand. Omaha Hi/Lo is difficult and requires skill and a little practice in order to understand.
The structure of Omaha Hi/Lo is exactly the same as that of Omaha Hi, except the pot is split 50% to the person with the highest hand and 50% to the person with the lowest qualifying hand.
A low hand must be an “8 or less” in order to qualify. The low hand is determined by the person with the lowest high card. In the event of a tie the pot goes to the person with the next lowest high card. Example a one person has a low card hand of 8♣ 5♦ 4♥ 3♥ 2♥ and the other person has 8♦ 6♣ 5♦ 3♥ 2♥. Both of these players qualify for the low card hand, the winner is determined typically by the lowest high card, however both people here have 8s, so the next highest low card is used to determine the winner. In this case the first player has the lowest high card of a 5♦ so therefore they are the winner.
Any hand that is high card 9 or higher can NOT qualify as a Low Hand.
If there is no qualifying low hand then the high hand wins 100% of the pot.
- At the show down two cards can be used for the High Hand or players can use a combination of two cards for the Low Hand.
- A, 2, 3, 4, 5 is the best low hand. This will also count as a straight for high. Aces can be used for both high and low.
- Straights and flushes are not considered when evaluating a low hand.
- A player can “scoop” the entire pot with both the high and low having the combination of both the highest and lowest hands.
