Like Texas Hold'em, online Omaha poker is a big favorite among players. With 4 hole cards dealt, it encourages more bluffing, more action and bigger pots.
The difference between online Omaha poker rules and traditional online Texas Hold‘em is instead of 2 pocket cards face down, each player starts with 4, and at showdown, players must use only 2 of their 4 cards in combination with only 3 of the community cards to create the best 5-card hand.
Omaha Stakes
Let’s start with how to pick the right table. The limit, or min and max bet and raise amounts for each round are preset. Look for the FL (Fixed Limit), PL (Pot Limit) and NL (No Limit) symbol alongside games posted in our Lobby to find the stakes or small and big bet.
Fixed Limit: Bet and raise amounts for each round are preset.
Pot Limit: The amount of the current pot.
No Limit: The minimum bet is the big bet and there’s no max bet.
Read more on Poker Game Limits.
Pre-Flop
The button is a graphic symbol that identifies who the dealer is. It moves clockwise after each hand to the next active player.
The blinds are mandatory bets posted at the start of each hand, before any cards are dealt, determined by the small and big bets for that game. Any player that wants to stay in the hand must match the big blind.
The player to the left of the dealer is the first player to get cards, the first to act and the one that posts the small blind. The big blind is posted by the second player, to the left of the small blind.
Example: $10/$20 Fixed Omaha poker game
Small blind: $10. Big blind: $20.
Any player has the option of sitting out and waiting for the big blind to reach them. If a player sits out and misses posting the big blind, they’ll have to post a big blind to get back in. This stops players from leaving the table before having to post the blinds.
Post-Flop
The dealer then turns over 3 community cards, called the flop. The player to the left of the dealer begins the betting. The action goes around the table as players choose to check, call, raise or fold, returning to the players who posted the blinds.
Then the fourth community card dealt is called fourth street or the turn, which starts another round of betting. In Fixed Limit games the bet increases to the upper stake. Betting continues until all bets are called.
The river is the final community card dealt face up, and begins the last round of betting. The bet amount for Fixed Limit games is the big stake.
Showdown
The showdown happens when all bets have been called. The last player to bet or raise shows their hand first. The best 5-card hand takes the pot, made up of 2 pocket cards and 3 community cards.
If all players checked through and nobody bet on the river, the player to the left of the dealer show first with action continuing clockwise, unless a hand is weaker than the winning hand shown. In this case, you can show, or fold without showing, called a muck. If you make a bet and all the other players fold, you ‘buy the pot’ and have the option to show or muck your cards. That’s where the bluffing comes in.