Omaha High Poker

Card Values

• Cards 2 to 10 are worth their face value
• Jack, Queen and King are worth 10
• Ace is worth either 1 or 11, depending on what is better suited to the player’s hand.
• A hand’s total value is equal to the total of all the card values in it.

The Sit-down

A maximum of 10 players can be seated around each Omaha High table.

The Buy-in

All players must purchase a minimum amount of chips in order to play the game. This is called the “buy-in”, and it will always be valued at 10 times the lower betting limit of the table stakes of the game. For example, on a table worth £3/£6, the minimum buy-in will be £30. On all Pot Limit games, however, the minimum buy-in is set at 20 times the lower betting limit of the game. So if the stakes on a Pot Limit table are £0.25/£0.50, then the minimum buy-in will be equal to £10.

The Game

Omaha High follows this unique game structure:

0. The Blinds: a disc-like icon called the “Button” is what represents the dealer’s position on the table. Before the dealer deals out any pocket-cards, the player to his immediate left places a “Small Blind”, and the player next to the left places a “Big Blind”. These are live bets which contribute to the initial round of betting in the Pre-flop round.
0. The Pre-flop: the dealer deals out four pocket-cards to each player face-down. Then, players must make their bets in a clock-wise order beginning from the player sitting left of the Big Blind. This includes betting, checking, raising and folding as required. The last player to do so is the Big Blind, making his/her position beneficial because this allows for the opportunity to check or raise the last bet made. 
0. The Flop: the dealer deals out three community-cards face-up on the table for all players to use. This is followed by a round of betting, which as always, begins from the player left-most of the Big Blind, and continues in a clock-wise direction.
0. The Turn: the dealer deals out a fourth community-card for all players to use, and an additional round of betting takes place in the above-mentioned manner.
0. The River: a final community-card is dealt out by the dealer face-up to all players, and the last round of betting is begun in the same way as in previous betting rounds.
0. The Showdown: all players still in the game must now reveal their hands to the rest of the table. The hand must be made of two of the four pocket-cards and three of the five community-cards dealt. The hand with the highest hand ranking according to standard Poker hand rankings is awarded the pot, signifying the end of the game.

Any of the above stages can be read about in further detail below:

The Dealer Button

The dealer is indicated by a disc-like object called the “Button”, and this shows the players where the order of betting will start from. After each hand ends, the Button moves one player to the left so that each player can have the advantage of being the last betting player at some stage.

The Blinds

A Blind is a compulsory bet that is made before any of the cards are dealt. The Small Blind is made by the player sitting left-most of the dealer Button, and is worth half the amount of the lower betting limit. In a 10/20 game, for example, this would mean that the Small Blind is worth 5. The Big Blind is made by the player who is next left-most of the dealer, and is worth exactly the amount of the lower betting limit. So, in a 10/10 game, the Big Blind would be 10.

Pocket-cards

The pocket-cards are the four initial cards that are dealt out to each player face-down and are kept secret from other players. They are dealt after the Blinds have been made, and are followed by a round of betting beginning with the player who is left-most of the Big Blind.

Betting

The amounts that the bets in an Omaha High game are limited to are determined by the table stakes. In the first two rounds, betting is limited to the lower limit, whereas in the last two rounds, they are limited to the higher limit. In each round of betting, a bet can only rise up to 3 times, meaning one bet and three raises per round are allowed.

The Flop

One the pocket-cards are dealt and a round of betting has taken place, three community-cards are dealt face-up on the table. Called the “Flop” these card are available for all players to use as they wish. This is followed by a round of betting, which as always, starts from the player to the left of the Big Blind in a clockwise direction.

The Turn

The Turn is the fourth community-card that is dealt face-up on the table. It can be used by all players to improve their hand, and is followed by a regular round of betting.

The River

The River round is when the fifth community-card is dealt and the final round of betting takes place.

The Showdown

The Showdown is the point in the game where all players have to reveal their final hands. The final hand must be made up by two of the four pocket-cards and three of the five community-cards. This means that if a player is dealt a King trips in the pocket-cards, only two of those Kings can be used in the final hand and must be combined with whatever works best with them of the community-cards. The player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot. If there is a tie between players, the pot is split between them and any left-over amounts are awarded to the player sitting left-most of the dealer. This is the end of the hand and a new game must be started in order to play again.

Starting Again

When you have finished playing a hand, the Button moves a player to the left and a new hand will be started.

Bet Ahead Buttons

The buttons that appear when it is NOT a player’s turn to move are: fold, call, check, bet and raise. Once it is their turn to act, the buttons that are available to them are fold, check and raise.