How to play Omaha Poker - 118 Gambling

How to play Omaha Poker

Omaha Poker is generally regarded as a more difficult version of the Texas Hold’em poker game.  The game is usually played within casinos, however with the increasing amount of online gaming companies being set-up, it’s popularity has really taken off in recent years and it has become accessible to a wide variety of players.

Omaha Poker is played using a standard 52 card deck and can be played by a maximum number of ten players.  This particular version of poker is seen as slightly easier in that players have the ability to make their hands from 9 cards.  To get the game started, a special dealer “button” is passed round to the players.  This is used to act as a marker to show where the position of the player would be if they were dealing the cards themselves.  Therefore, at the end of each deal, the player holding the button will receive their cards last which puts them in a better playing position. 

Before play can begin the two players to the button’s left have to place “blind bets”.  These are bets that are placed without seeing the cards that have been dealt to them.  Once this has been done, all players are dealt four cards face down.  These cards can only be viewed by their relevant players and are known as pocket cards.   At this point, players will start to place their bets which are referred to as the pre-flop.  Next, three cards will be dealt face-up and are known as community cards, these are cards that can be used by all players to enhance their hand. 

This stage of the game is known as the flop and betting will continue again after this round.  Once the betting has finished, another community card will be dealt face up and is sometimes referred to as the turn card or fourth street.  Betting will again resume at this point before moving on to the next round, where the fifth community card will be dealt face up which is known as the river of fifth street.  At the point the players will place their final bets. 

Once the final bets have been placed by all remaining players, all the relevant hands will be turned over.    The player who has managed to gain the best hand throughout each stage is eligible for the winnings.  A winning hand is made up from 2 of the original pocket cards dealt in the first round and 3 of the community cards, making five cards in total.  The final stage of the game is often referred to as the showdown where all players reveal their hands to each other.