Omaha Card Rankings

Once you have studied Omaha Hi-Lo Poker Rules, the next step is to learn Omaha hi-lo hand rankings. In Omaha hi-lo, the pot is divided evenly between the high hand and the low hand.

Rankings
  • Before we start discussing the right methods of ranking starting hands, let us have a look at several wrong views widespread among beginners, used to playing holdem. Wrong opinions in ranking starting hands in Omaha poker 1) “A good four-card hand of good starting values in holdem is also a good hand in Omaha.”.
  • How To Play Omaha Poker. To play a game of Omaha poker you'll need a 52-card deck of French cards. Also, unless you are in for an old-fashioned game with beans, buttons, and pennies, you'll.
  • Omaha High-Low 8 or Better. Omaha is very often played in such a way that the pot is split between the players with the highest and lowest hands. Since a low hand has to have no card higher than 8 to win its share of the pot, the game is called Omaha High-Low Eight or Better or Omaha/8 for short.

Omaha Hi-Lo Preflop Hand Values. There are 16,432 different starting hands in Omaha Hi-Lo Holdem (considering equivalence relations). The table on this page shows the top 5% of hands dealt, click here to see all of the hands, the page is almost 2MB so may take a while to load. The table is generated using a java program which randomly deals 10 players and 5 community cards, finds the winner/s.

Omaha Card Rankings 2020

The high hand ranking is similar to Texas Holdem and Omaha. Keep in mind that the ranking reflects how rare it is to form a hand. Let’s take a look at all the high hand rankings.

High Hand Rankings (ordered by increasing value)

HandExampleExplanation
10. High cardUnrelated and unpaired cards
9. One pairTwo cards of the same rank
8. Two pairTwo different pairs
7. Three of a kind (or set)Three cards of the same rank
6. StraightFive consecutive cards
5. FlushAll cards of the same suit
4. Full houseThree of a kind with a pair
3. Four of a kind (or quads) Four cards of the same rank
2. Straight flushFive consecutive cards, all of the same suit
1. Royal flushAce-High Straight Flush

Low and the Eight or Better Qualifier

Omaha Card Rankings 2019

Omaha card rankings football

Not all hands qualify for the low. Furthermore, if no player makes a low hand, the high wins the entire pot. A valid low hand consists of five different cards, so no pair, ranked eight or lower, with the ace counting as the lowest card. Straights and flushes are ignored, so the following hands are valid low hands.

Omaha Card Rankings Baseball

Hands that contain any pair or any card nine to king do not qualify for the low. So the following hands do not count as low.

Low Hand Rankings

In a low hand, the lower the card denominations are, the stronger the hand is. Low hands are evaluated, starting from the highest rank card (remember, the ace counts as the lowest), in a top-down approach. The player with the lowest card from the top wins. If the cards are even, the second card from the top is taken into account, and so on.

For example, consider that Player A has 8♥5♠4♣3♥2♥, and Player B has 8♥6♠4♣2♥A♣. To determine who has the best low, we first compare the first cards starting from the top. As they both have an eight, the second card from the top is examined. Player A has the smallest, the five, so he wins. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Low Hand Examples (ordered by increasing value)

ExampleName
Worse qualifying low
Eight high low
Seven high low
Seven high low
Six high low
Six high low
The wheel, best possible low!

Do you have any questions about Omaha hi-lo starting hands? Or more tips to add to this post? Let us know in the comments section below!

6 Card Omaha poker is an exciting game derived from Omaha. Each player is dealt six private cards (‘hole cards’) which belong only to that player. Five community cards are dealt face-up on the ‘board’. In 6 Card Omaha games, all players use exactly three of the community cards together with exactly two of their hole cards to make the best five-card poker hand. No more, and no less. Follow this link to view the rankings of Omaha poker hands.

Types of 6 Card Omaha Poker Games

  • Pot Limit 6 Card Omaha Poker - A player can bet what is in the pot (i.e. $100 into a $100 pot). This is the most popular form of 6 Card Omaha Poker.

How to Play 6 Card Omaha Poker

In Pot Limit 6 Card Omaha, the games are referred to by the size of their blinds (for example, a $1/$2 Pot Limit 6 Card Omaha game has a small blind of $1 and a big blind of $2). If you like to play tournament poker, PokerStars offer 6 Card Omaha tournaments as well.

Each player receives six hole cards and betting action proceeds clockwise around the table, starting with the player ‘under the gun’ (immediately clockwise from the big blind).

Omaha

Pre-Flop

After seeing his or her hole cards, each player now has the option to play their hand by calling or raising the big blind. The action begins to the left of the big blind, which is considered a ‘live’ bet on this round. That player has the option to fold, call or raise. For example, if the big blind was $2, it would cost $2 to call, or at least $4 to raise. Action then proceeds clockwise around the table.

Betting continues on each betting round until all active players (who have not folded) have placed equal bets in the pot.

The Flop

After the first round of betting is complete, the ‘flop’ is dealt face-up on the board. The flop is the first three community cards available to all active players. Play begins with the active player immediately clockwise from the button. Another round of betting ensues.

The Turn

When betting action is completed for the flop round, the ‘turn’ is dealt face-up on the board. The turn is the fourth community card in a 6 Card Omaha game. Play begins with the active player immediately clockwise from the button. Another round of betting ensues.

The River

When betting action is completed for the turn round, the ‘river’ is dealt face-up on the board. The river is the fifth and final community card in 6 Card Omaha poker. Betting begins with the active player immediately clockwise from the button. A final round of betting ensues.

The Showdown

If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete, the last person to bet or raise shows their cards, unless there was no bet on the final round in which case the player immediately clockwise from the button shows their cards first. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot. Remember: in 6 Card Omaha, players must use two and only two of their six hole cards in combination with exactly three of the cards from the board. In the event of identical hands, the pot will be equally divided between the players with the best hands.

Omaha Card Rankings Football

After the pot is awarded, a new 6 Card Omaha poker game is ready to be played. The button now moves clockwise to the next player.

The minimum bet in Pot Limit 6 Card Omaha is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet up to the size of the pot.
Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of the pot, which is defined as the total of the active pot, plus all bets on the table, plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.
Example: If the size of the pot is $100, and there is no previous action on a particular betting round, a player may bet a maximum of $100. After that bet, the action moves to the next player clockwise. That player can either fold, call $100, or raise any amount between the minimum ($100 more) and the maximum. The maximum bet in this case is $400 - the raiser would first call $100, bringing the pot size to $300, and then raise $300 more, making a total bet of $400.
In Pot Limit 6 Card Omaha, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.

In the PokerStars software, it’s not possible to bet less than the minimum or more than the maximum. The bet slider and bet window will only allow you to bet amounts within the allowed thresholds.

Learn How to Play 6 Card Omaha for Free

If you want to learn how to play Omaha, then download the PokerStars software and join any of the free poker games where you can play online against other players. Unlike our real money poker games, since there is nothing at stake, you can be comfortable learning the ropes of the game and all the rules of 6 Card Omaha.

As well as 6 Card Omaha, we also offer many other poker variants. See our Poker Games page to learn more.

If you have any questions about 6 Card Omaha, please email Support.

Find out how the different hands compare in Texas Hold'em, Omaha and other games.

The poker dictionary is your reference for poker jargon and the language of poker.

Make your first real money deposit and start playing at PokerStars. Deposits are fast and secure.