Omaha Poker – Hold'em Rules

A close relative to the ever popular Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hold'em is a popular variant of the community card category of poker games. The game is played in both casino and tournament settings, and is relatively new to the poker scene, like the primary version of the game Omaha Poker.

Omaha Hold'em can be played at home too, if you don’t have the funds to head to a casino anytime soon. For starters, you just need a 52 card playing deck and a few other players to ensure you're just not playing Solitaire instead.

To start off, you're going to have to assign a dealer. Before you even start passing out the cards, the blinds are usually posted in Omaha Hold'em. Blinds are generally a forced bet, which start off the main action, so the game can get underway.

There are two players who post blind at the start of a game—the player to the dealer's left and the player seated next to the aforementioned player. The first player posts the first blind, a smaller blind that's typically half of the set minimum bet; the next player posts a big blind, a blind that's the full minimum bet.

After the blinds are posted, the dealer passes out four face down cards to each player—their hole cards. And then, the betting can begin.

The Betting Rounds: A Special Look

If you've ever wanted to know what goes down during a betting round, you're in luck—today, we're going to take a bit of a look into what goes into a betting round.

During the first betting round, the player to the left of the two, who posted the big and small blind, starts off. Each player is allowed to either raise, call or fold; these are actions performed in relation to their hand, during their turn each round. The majority of the betting rounds have each player calling, raising or completely folding their hands, meaning that not everyone will remain in the game by the time the showdown round takes place.

After each betting round, there's a short interval known as the flop. During this section of the game, the dealer discards the top card of the playing deck. This process, known as burning the card, ensures the active players didn't see the topmost card during the previous round.

The actual flop consists of the next three cards dealt by the dealer, placed face-up onto the playing table. Following the next few betting rounds, two more cards or the turn/fourth street and river/fifth street are added to the board.

And The Showdown?

Regarding the showdown—only a total of two of their hole cards and three of the community cards from the board can be used to complete the best possible hand for the remaining players. It's considered easier to win hands in Omaha Hold'em than that of Texas Hold'em, so don't get too discouraged when you finally give the game a try.