Omaha poker games

Omaha is a term that can refer to more than one poker variations played in North American casinos. The name refers to a community card poker game, similar to the most popular Texas Hold’em, where each player receives a number of face-down cards and there are several community cards dealt face up on the table.

In Omaha, each player gets four cards facing down, called ‘hole cards’, and the number of community cards on the table is five. Players have to use two of their four hole cards and three community cards to make a hand.

Omaha was first introduced into a casino setting by professional poker player Robert Turner, who offered it to the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. The game was played there under the name of Nugget Hold’em.

Omaha is a popular game, as its similarity to Texas Hold’em makes it the perfect choice to switch to. Also, being a game of action – players are more inclined to call and play a game to the showdown – makes it interesting to beginners and experienced players alike.

Omaha is similar to Texas Hold’em, with only two big differences between the two games. First, the number of cards – every player in Omaha gets four hole cards, instead of two. Second, the rules for evaluating the value of the hands is a bit more complex, given the bigger number of cards.

Omaha can be played either as a normal poker game – Omaha High, or a high low split game called Omaha High – Low (or Hi-Lo) – in this case, the pot is divided between the player with the highest and the one with the lowest ranking hand at showdown.

Omaha can be played by a number of two to ten players. The goal of the game is, as usual, to win the pot, that can be done either by determining every other player to fold, or to have the highest, or – in case of a high-low split setup – the lowest hand possible.

Omaha uses blind bets rather than ante – the first player on the left of the dealer places the small blind bet, the next player on his left places the big blind bet. Once the blind bets are placed, the dealer deals the cards to each player, one card at the time, until each player has four cards in hand.

There are several online poker establishments to feature Omaha poker games, and playing this game online has its advantages – less players peeking at your cards, and more variable betting structure and bet limit than real life casinos.