Omaha 8 or Better Rules
Omaha 8 or Better is a popular split pot version of Omaha. As with all versions of Omaha, each player is dealt four cards. The final hand must be a combination of two cards in their hand and three on the board. The difference is that there is a potential for a low hand if there are three unique low cards on the board. A low hand is five unique cards that must be eight or below. Straights and flushes do not count against the low, and the play is not required to use the same two cards for both high and low.
The most common form of Omaha 8 or Better is Limit. Play begins by two players posting forced bets known as blinds. The 2 players to the left of the dealer button must post these bets before each hand. The first player to the left of the button posts the small blind and the 2nd player to the left of the dealer button posts the big blind. The big blind is equivalent to the small bet size. In a $2-$4 game, the big blind is $2. The small blind is ½ of the big blind, or $1 in our example. Betting preflop and on the flop occurs in the small bet amount.
Cards are dealt to each players starting with the small blind and finishing with the dealer button. After cards are dealt, the first player to the left of the big blind is first to act. Action then continues around the table until play returns to the blinds. If nobody has raised, the small blind may call the big blind amount, raise, or fold. After the small blind acts, the big blind has an option to act if the pot has not been raised. He may check or raise.
After the first round of betting is completed, the first three community cards are dealt in the center of the table. This is known as the flop. A round of betting occurs starting with the small blind and moving around the table. After betting is completed, a fourth card is dealt in the center of the table. This is the turn. On the turn, betting amounts increase to the big bet amount. This would be $4 in our example above. After the turn betting is concluded, a final community card is dealt. This is known as the river. One final round of betting commences. After the last round of betting is concluded, players show their hands to determine the winner.
The player that shows the best high hand wins the pot and if there is a qualifying low hand, that person will win the low pot. In Omaha 8 or Better there are times multiple players will tie for one side of the pot, typically the low pot. When this occurs, that portion of the pot is split and divided between the winners. This situation is known as being quartered, since a player typically only receives ¼ of the pot.