Omaha High/Low
This offers insight to the game that is both very simular and yet very different from Texas Holdem.
General Strategy
In Omaha High/Low the high hand winner must split the pot with the player with the best qualifying low hand. There is always a high hand winner but not always a low. For your hand to qualify for low, it must have five denominations no higher than an eight. Any two of your your four down cards are played for high and any two are played for low. Players must play exactly two out of their hands for each direction. Aces are played both high and low. Straights and flushes do not disqualify a hand for low, so a player ending with 5 4 3 2 A would have an unbeatable low hand and a 5 high straight to play for high. A player with this hand would have a good chance of winning both ways. He or she could also have another high hand better than the straight.
The most important thing to keep in mind in split pot games is the big profit difference between winning half the pot and "scooping" it all. - It is a lot more than just twice as much. . Scooping the pot usually builds a healthy addition to your stack of chips. Getting half often puts you barely ahead of where you were before you started playing the hand. Expert Omaha High/Low players only play starting hands, like those recommended here, that have a good chance of winning both ways. Omaha is a game of "nuts". With so many players with so many cards, finding so many reasons to play, a final hand with a fairly good high and a fairly good low can easily get clobbered by better hands both ways. So after the flop or maybe the turn, if it looks like you don't have an almost certain winner for one end and a decent shot at the other, or the best high hand with no qualifying low probable, you should usually fold up and wait for the next hand.
Definitions: Four Basic Card Groups
ACES - A
LOW CARDS - 5, 4, 3, 2
MIDDLE CARDS - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
HIGH CARDS - K, Q, J
Other Definitions
WHEEL - (5 4 3 2 A). Can be played as the lowest possible hand, a straight for high or both.
SUITED PLAYER HAND (S) - Two of the players four cards of the same suit.
DOUBLE SUITED PLAYER HAND (DS) - Two of the players cards of one suit and two of another suit.
NUT HAND - An unbeatable high or low hand. Sometimes called a "lock".
FLOP, TURN. RIVER - The community cards in the order of distribution. See top illustration.
SCOOP - Win both high and low ends of the pot or win it all with a high hand when there is no low.
FAST PLAY - Bet, raise and re-raise to get as many other players out as possible.
SLOW PLAY - Just check or call along to keep other players in the game and increase the pot odds.
CHECK-FOLD - Check when you can and fold if you are bet into. Gladly accept all free cards offered.
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