Omaha resembles another poker game, which uses the same rules but in which the player receives five cards instead of four. The history of Omaha poker begins in Detroit. It first appeared there in the early seventies and was called “Twice Three”. This game is widespread in big industrial cities of the Northwest and Midwest, especially in Chicago and New-York. The five-card form of Omaha has one drawback – the number of players is limited here to eight and nowadays it is replaced by a modern four-card form.

Omaha is similar to hold’em in using a three-card flop on the board, a fourth boardcard, and then a fifth boardcard. Each player is dealt four holecards (instead of two) at the start. In order to make a hand, a player must use precisely two holecards with three boardcards. The betting is the same as in hold'em. At the showdown, the entire four-card hand should be shown to receive the pot.

The best possible five card poker hand, using exactly two hole cards and three community cards, wins the pot.




Betting Rounds

1. The dealer deals each player their own four cards face-down (pocket cards)
2. 1st betting round
3. The dealer burns a card then turns over three community cards face-up
(the flop)
4. 2nd betting round
5. The dealer burns another card then turns over 1 more community card (the turn,4th street)
6.3rd betting round
7. The dealer burns another card then turns over 1 final community card (the river,5th street )
8. Last betting round
9. Showdown (Every remaining player shows hand with bettor showing first)

All remaining players must use their two pocket cards and the three boardcards.


RULES OF OMAHA

1. All the rules of hold’em apply to Omaha except the rule on playing the board, which is not possible in Omaha (because you must use two cards from your hand and three cards from the board).

OMAHA HIGH-LOW

Omaha is often played high-low split, 8-or-better. The player may use any combination of two holecards and three boardcards for the high hand and another (or the same) combination of two holecards and three boardcards for the low hand.

RULES OF OMAHA HIGH-LOW

1. All the rules of Omaha apply to Omaha high-low split except as below.

2. A qualifier of 8-or-better for low applies to all high-low split games, unless a specific posting to the contrary is displayed. If there is no qualifying hand for low, the best high hand wins the whole pot.

Omaha Poker - Play Omaha Poker Games and Tournaments Online
Omaha Poker - Advanced Strategy Guide - TopOmaha.com
Omaha Poker Guide - Part I: Why and How to Play Omaha Poker - Hi/Lo (8/b)
Omaha Odds Calculator - CardPlayer.com
How to cheat at online poker. - By Jonathan M. Katz - Slate Magazine
Omaha Poker Online

As with most poker games, the facts surrounding the birth of Omaha are somewhat murky, but we can tell you one thing with absolute certainty: The game was not invented in Omaha, Nebraska. Some things are deceiving. After all, lead pencils don’t contain any lead; they’re filled with graphite — and in any event, there are no truth-in-labeling laws where poker games are concerned.

It’s a relatively new game too. In fact, it’s so new that Doyle Brunson’s classic Super/System: A Course In Power Poker, one of poker’s seminal works, makes no reference to Omaha at all. David Sklansky’s 1983 masterpiece, Winning Poker (now called The Theory of Poker) contains an appendix with rules of play for various games. Those games were: Five-Card Draw, Seven-Card Stud, Hold’em, Five-Card Stud. Lowball, Razz, and High- Low Split. The latter did not refer to Omaha. Back in 1983, the term “high-low split” referred to five-card draw, five-card stud, or seven-card stud games in which the best high hand and the best low hand split the pot, not to the game we know today as Omaha/8. Indeed, Omaha was not included in Sklansky’s appendix at all. Moreover, each of the games listed in the appen¬ dix was defined in a glossary of poker terms that followed it. Once again, Omaha was among the missing.

So what happened? Did guys as astute as Brunson and Sklansky simply forget to include Omaha in their books? Not at all. The game simply hadn’t arrived yet. and a glance at the appendix to Sklansky’s Winning Poker showed us just how much things have changed in the poker world in but a few decades. Some of the games listed in that appendix are almost never played today, and others just occasionally. But Omaha, which was not even a blip on poker’s radar screen back then, has become one of the most popular games played in casinos today.
But despite Omaha’s lack of popularity in casinos thirty years ago, similar games were staples of home games for quite some time, and were known by a variety of names. There were versions in which players were dealt four private cards — just as they are in Omaha today — and others in which players received five cards. The five-card form of Omaha limits the number of participants to eight, and while that may not be a drawback for most home games, its an important issue for casino poker, where nine-player or ten-player tables are standard for most games.

Omaha — the four-card version we know today — was intro¬ duced to Las Vegas casinos in 1982. It was an instant success and soon became a staple of tournament play, side action games during tournaments, and regular casino cash games. Because of its reputation for creating plenty of action, and because many aficionados were hard pressed to find a four-card starting hand they wouldn’t play, Omaha was nicknamed ‘The Game of the Future.”

Back when Texas hold’em was first coming into prominence, there were a couple forms of the game. The most popular vari¬ ety — the game that’s still played today and is currently the most popular form of poker in the world — allowed players to use any combination of their two personal cards and the five communal cards to form the best five-card poker hand.

Another version of hold’em, not nearly as popular and never played in casinos today, required a player to use both cards in his hand in combination with three of the five communal cards to form the best possible hand. That game was referred to as “Omaha,” so when four-card hold “em was introduced in Las Vegas, it was called Omaha because the game required each player to use precisely two of his own cards in combination with three of the communal cards to form his hand.

Nevertheless, how that old version of Texas hold’em requiring players to use both hole cards came to be known as Omaha is still a mystery. You never know; it might just have been a rogue version of Texas hold’em played in a home game in someone’s basement in Omaha. Nebraska, and when it was introduced else¬ where, that city’s moniker just tagged along with the game. But there’s no way to know for sure.
In a way we’re lucky. Imagine if the game had been invented in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

Omaha poker is a game that many people love playing around the world. There are both amateur and professional players who enjoy a game of Omaha poker even on the internet. So here is an introduction to some professional Omaha poker players, whom you may meet in one of the many online poker sites.


Phil Ivey

Phil Ivey has several WSOP bracelets, and is considered to be one of the best Omaha poker players of the world. He is a member of the Full Tilt Poker team which comprises of famous poker players.



Phil Ivey was born on February 1, 1976 in Riverside, California but moved to Roselle, New Jersey at three months. This is where he was introduced to the game of poker by his grandfather, at the tender age of eight.

They would both play five-card stud; but to let Phil know the consequences of a game of poker, his grandfather would often cheat. And it was this introduction that Phil received that got him interested in playing poker.


Robert Williamson III

Robert Williamson III has made seven WSOP final tables, is a WSOP bracelet winner and is considered one of the top Pot Limit Omaha poker players of the world.

His native place is Texas, and he is famous for his friendly attitude. He is recently married, and has a queer fancy of hot sauce in his beer. He has once again proved his mettle by winning $205, 920 after being placed 10th in the H. O. R. S. E tournament.






Barry Greenstein

Though Barry Greenstein is one of many professional Omaha poker players, there is something special about him. He is a player who has the habit of donating huge amounts of his winnings to mostly children's charities.

He follows a methodical playing style, which helps him survive in poker. He had learnt to play poker with his father, and is the reason for his keen interest in poker.

Unlike most professional poker players, Barry does not have the habit of drawing attention to himself but is instead, a quiet and unassuming person. Barry is a regular at the 'Big Game' at Bellagio and his stepson, Joe Sebok is also a successful and professional poker player.


Joe Hachem

Joe Hachem was the winner of the WSOP Main Event in 2005, the then largest live poker tournament, where he totally earned $7. 5 million. He is an Omaha poker players so much in love with the game that even a rare blood disease that inhibited the use of his hands has not stopped him from playing poker.

His 'In the Money' finishes of the 2006 WSOP has helped prove him as a dangerous tournament player. He had nearly won another bracelet in the WSOP of 2006, had finished 2nd in the $2, 500 Shorthand ' event and was victorious at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

He had also made it to the final table of PokerStars. com EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final on April 2008 to win $150, 000 for ending up in the 11th place.


Tom McEvoy

Tom McEvoy is not only one of the many Omaha poker players, but is also the first person to win the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1983, after earning his seat via satellite.

He was responsible for organizing the first smoke-free major poker tournament in 1998 and in 2002, he promised Benny Binion Behnen poker lessons if he made the 2002 WSOP a non-smoking tournament. Tom is a highly acclaimed author, who has penned 14 books on different poker topics.






Chau Giang

Chau Giang fled Vietnam in the 1970s and arrived in Florida by boat where he had started working for minimum wages. It was when he left to Colorado to work as a chef that he had started to play poker.

It was with his wins that he realized he had a talent for the game, and thus moved onto Las Vegas to become a professional poker player. This proved right for him as he had managed to win $100, 000 in the first year in Las Vegas to join the professional Omaha poker players.

Below is a list of some common terms that other Omaha players will throw around without hesitation. If you want to be respected at the table, you better know what they are saying and know how to throw a few words of your own in. Most of these terms are more than specifically Omaha meanings but you'll no doubt hear them often when playing Omaha!

Flop – the flop is the term used to refer to the first three cards that the dealer puts into the shared cards in the center of the table

Turn Card – the turn card is the term used to refer to the fourth card that the dealer puts into the shared cards in the center of the table

River Card – the river card is the term used to refer to the fifth card that the dealer puts into the shared cards in the center of the table

The Nuts – the nuts refers to the best possible hand given the current state of the cards. For example, if the flop came up 3D 7D JD, then the person holding the ace of diamonds plus at least one other diamond would have the nuts.

Second Nuts – the second nuts refers to the second best possible hand given the current state of the cards. For example, if the flop came up 3D 7D JD, then the person holding the king of diamonds plus at least one other diamond would have the second nuts. Although this is not the best hand at the moment, it is not a guarantee that some player has the ace of diamonds paired with another diamond as above. You should always play a second nuts hand unless you are pretty certain someone has the nuts.

Third Nuts – you can probably guess what this means

The Wheel – the wheel is a special term to refer to the nuts low hand in an Omaha Hi Lo game. This of course is the lowest possible hand of A 2 3 4 5. If someone obtains the wheel, there is no way another player could beat their low hand, regardless of what other cards come up (though a tie is not out of the question)

Nut Draw – nut draw refers to the situation where a player may not have the best current hand, but that there is a card or cards that could come up on the turn or river card to push them into the lead. Second nut draw, third nut draw, etc.

Open Ended Straight Draw – open ended straight draw refers to having 4 of the five cards to make a straight in succession. For example, having 3 4 5 6 means that your straight could be completed by either getting a 2 or getting an 8.

Inside Straight Draw – inside straight draw refers to having 4 of the five cards to make a straight, but not in succession. For example, having 3 4 6 7 means that your straight could be completed only by getting a 5.

I hope these terms have been helpful. Don’t be afraid to throw these around as they are pretty common and will make you look more like a pro and a more serious player. It might even make the fish easier to catch!