Omaha Hi/Lo is a split pot game meaning that there are two winners if there is a qualifying low hand; the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand. The highest hand is determined just as it is in regular Omaha (also known as Omaha Hi). In order for a hand to qualify as a low hand, there must be no cards higher than 8 in the player’s five card hand. It is for this reason that Omaha Hi/Lo is sometimes known as Omaha Eight or Better. Should there be no qualifying low hand then the person with the highest hand takes the whole pot.

Omaha Hi/Lo is a great, fast-paced and exciting game. Due to the fact that you will have some players chasing the high hand, some players chasing the low hand and some player chasing both (see “Scooping The Pot” below); the pots can get quite large.

Low Hand
There are some very simple rules to remember when determining the lowest hand. Aces can be either high or low and flushes and straights are ignored. Basically, the only thing that does count is paired cards. That’s it. This makes the lowest hand [A][2][3][4][5], also called “the wheel.” The lowest hand among the qualifying lowest hands is determined by each person’s highest low card so that [3][4][5][6][7] would beat [A][2][3][4][8]. Players with the same low hand split half the pot; also referred to as getting “quartered” as each player is receiving only one quarter of the pot.

Scooping The Pot
In the event that a player makes the high hand with two of their hole cards and the low hand with their remaining two hole cards, they will win both the high and low hands and claim the entire pot. This is known as “Scooping The Pot.”