Omaha poker is a poker variant similar to Texas Hold’em, and follows the flop, turn & river format of those poker games. The key difference is that each player is dealt four cards, and must construct their hand by using exactly two of these, plus three community cards.
Once the rounds of dealing and wagering are completed, players reveal their face-down cards, and the best five-card hand wins. In the event of a tie, the pot is equally divided among the players with the leading hands.
Most games follow one of three wagering formats: Pot Limit, No Limit, or Fixed Limit. Each of these three game types follow the same rules, with some slight variation.
Pot Limit Omaha Poker
The most popular form of online Omaha, in Pot Limit, wager size is limited to however much is in the pot (e.g. if the pot total is $100, maximum bet size would be $100.)
The minimum bet in Pot Limit, at most poker sites, is the same as the size of the big blind.
No Limit Omaha Poker
In No Limit games, as the name suggests, there are no limits to the bet sizes – players can wager the total amount of chips they have available.
Fixed Limit Omaha Poker
In Fixed Limit, bet sizes & amounts are structured and pre-determined. Similar to Fixed Limit Texas Holdem, bets & raises are the same amount as the big blind pre-flop and on the flop itself (e.g. if the big blind is $25, bet sizes are $25.)
After the flop – the turn & the river – the bet/raise size doubles (e.g. if the big blind is $25, bet sizes are $50.)
In this game type, players are allowed a maximum of four bets per betting round.
To start, every player is required to ante, and the dealer will deal everyone five cards face down. A player can only open the betting round if they have a pair of Jacks or better. If no players have a pair of Jacks, everyone has to fold, ante again, and will be dealt five new cards.
Omaha Burn
Each player is dealt four cards face down, and five community cards are dealt face down. After the first betting round, the dealer flips over the first three community cards, and after the second betting round the fourth card is flipped. Instead of flipping the fifth card, at this point, the dealer asks if players will be “burning”. If you don’t burn, you must fold. Then, the dealer will flip the fifth card and the final betting round will begin. The winner takes the pot, and the losing players match the pot for their burn. This becomes the pot for the next round.