Omaha Hi-Lo
A community-card game related to hold'em: four hole cards, five community cards, and the pot splits between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand.
Coming soon — not yet playable
Rules
Omaha Hi-Lo (often called Omaha/8) is played with a dealer button and blinds, just like Texas Hold'em, but each player receives four hole cards instead of two.
Deal: Each player is dealt four private cards face down. A round of betting follows, starting with the player to the left of the big blind.
The board: Five community cards are dealt face up in the center of the table across three stages — the flop (three cards at once), the turn (one card), and the river (one card) — with a betting round after each stage, exactly as in hold'em.
The critical Omaha rule: at showdown, every player must use exactly two of their four hole cards, combined with exactly three of the five community cards, to make their best five-card hand — never more or fewer from either group. This is the single rule that most separates Omaha from hold'em, where any combination of hole and board cards may be used.
Hi-Lo split: The pot is divided in half. One half goes to the best high hand (built under the two-plus-three rule above). The other half goes to the best qualifying low hand, which must be made of five cards ranked eight or lower (the '8-or-better' qualifier), using ace-to-five low rules (aces count low, straights and flushes don't count against a low hand, and pairs disqualify a card from the low). If no player has a qualifying low hand (no hand of five cards eight-or-under), the entire pot goes to the best high hand instead — this is called being 'scooped.'
Declaring and splitting: A single player can win both halves of the pot (a 'scoop') if they hold both the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand simultaneously, which is common and highly valuable since it wins the whole pot rather than half.
Strategy notes: Because exactly two hole cards must be used, hands that look powerful at a glance (like four cards to a flush) may not actually play if the suits or ranks don't combine correctly with the board; strong Omaha Hi-Lo hands are typically 'nut-oriented' hands like A-2 double-suited, which can make the nut low and contend for the nut high simultaneously.
Common house rules
No qualifier (Omaha Hi-Lo, no 8)
Some home games drop the 8-or-better qualifier entirely, so the low hand always gets half the pot no matter how high its cards are, making the low side much more contested.
Double board bonus hands
For extra action, some tables run two boards simultaneously (double-board Omaha) after a big pot builds up, awarding a quarter of the pot to the best hand on each board, hi and lo.
Declare cards instead of best-hand-wins
A traditional cutthroat variant has players simultaneously declare (chip in fist for high, no chip for low, both for both) before showdown, with harsh penalties for a false declaration.
Related games
Based on shared category, origin, and rules that reference each other.
Big O
Omaha Hi-Lo's bigger sibling: five hole cards instead of four, still using exactly two at showdown, split between the best high and best qualifying low hand.
Learn the rules →Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo
Standard Seven-Card Stud with the pot split between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand, usually 8-or-better, Ace-to-Five.
Learn the rules →Chowaha
A Hold'em/Omaha hybrid popularized by the mixed-game enthusiast community: four hole cards combine with a nine-card community grid plus turn and river, using exactly two hole cards per hand.
Learn the rules →Crazy Pineapple
A Texas Hold'em variant where each player gets three hole cards instead of two, discarding down to two right after the flop.
Learn the rules →