Omaha Hold‘em Poker
Written by Geoff Gay
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Omaha hold’em poker is a game that’s similar to Texas hold’em. In this article, we’ll discuss the game of Omaha hold’em and give some general information about how it’s played.
An Omaha hold’em poker game begins with with a disc called the “button.” The button shows who is the dealer for a current hand. In an Omaha hold’em game, there is a “small blind” and a “big blind.” A blind is a forced bet made by the two players sitting clockwise of the button. According to the rules of Omaha hold’em, the small blind is usually equal to half of a small bet. The big blind is a full small bet. Here’s an example: In an $2/$4 Omaha hold’em game, the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2. Blinds in Omaha hold’em usually take the place of antes.
Then each player is dealt 4 hole cards. After a round of betting, the “flop,” a group of 3 cards, is dealt face-up on the board. After another round of betting, a 4th card known as the “turn” is dealt face-up on the board. After another round of betting, a 5th card known as the “river” is dealt face-up on the board. Another round of betting follows, as specified by Omaha hold’em rules.
After dealing the 5th card, players show their hands. The best five-card hand wins the pot. To make a hand, a player must use only 2 of their 4 hole cards and 3 of the 5 cards on the board, If two players have identical hands, the pot is divided equally between them.
An Omaha hold’em game is actually a variant of Texas hold’em with a couple of important differences. First, in a poker game of Omaha hold’em, players start with 4 hole cards instead of 2. Next, when players show their cards at the end of a hand, they can only use 2 or their hole cards to compose a hand.
If you’ve been playing a lot of Texas hold’em, you might want to try playing Omaha hold’em. It’s an interesting version of this monumentally popular game.