What's the difference between Omaha Hi poker and Omaha Hi-Lo?

Question

What's the difference between Omaha Hi poker and Omaha Hi-Lo?

Answer 1

Omaha Hi is much like Hold'em in that you have your hole cards and the community cards to make the best poker hand.  In Omaha Hi the hands you are trying to make are the same as in Hold'em.  Like a straight, a flush etc.  You get four hole cards instead of two, and you MUST PLAY two of them, and only two.  If you have four kings in your hand, you have a pair of kings, you DO NOT have quad kings.

Hi/Lo is a split pot game.  Half the pot is awarded to the player with the best low hand (if one exists).

A low hand is any five cards between ace and eight, inclusive.

The best low hand is known as the wheel, which is A2345.  The next best hand is A2346.  I've included a link of all the possible low hands.

So a player with a wheel could scoop (win both high and low pots) because their five high straight could be the best high hand, and also the best low hand.

In Omaha Hi/Lo you again have to use two of your four hole cards to make your hands, but you can use two cards for the high pot and two different cards for the low.

By having two ways to win the pot it radically changes the strategy for the game.  A hand like AAKK is not as good as it would be in regular Omaha because you have no chance to win the low pot.  So you are just hoping that a low pot would not be possible on that hand.

If you practice online for play money, the software will generally show you what hand you have, so you will understand it by playing it.  There are a lot of bad players out there who don't truly understand the game.  You will see a lot of very loose play.  So if you become proficient at the game you can make a lot of money.