Omaha Hi/Lo is played with an ‘8-or-better’ qualifier, which means that a low hand must consist of five ♣ different cards - ranked eight or below - to be eligible to win the low portion of the pot. Low ♣ hands in Omaha Hi/Lo are determined in exactly the same way they're determined in 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. If there ♣ is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot. Omaha Hi/Lo uses the ‘Ace to Five’ or ♣ ‘California’ system for ranking low hands. Straights and flushes do not count against a hand, and Aces are always low ♣ in reading the low hand, so the best possible hand is a "wheel": 5, 4, 3, 2, A. To help ♣ understand the ranks of low hands, the following sample qualifying low hands (not a complete list) are ranked from least ♣ powerful (#1, will rarely win the low half of the pot) to most powerful (#10, the nuts):

8, 7, 6, 5, ♣ 4 8, 7, 6, 5, 3 8, 6, 4, 2, A 8, 4, 3, 2, A 7, 6, 5, 4, ♣ 2 7, 6, 5, 2, A 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 6, 4, 3, 2, ♣ A 5, 4, 3, 2, A

Note that a low hand is always ranked from its highest card downwards. So for ♣ example, hand #9 is known as a ‘Six-low’ because its highest card is a Six. Hand #5 is a ‘Seven-low’, ♣ and Hand #1 is an ‘Eight-low’. In poker slang, you distinguish between close low hands by going further down the ♣ ranks, so hand #9 would be called a ‘Six-Four low’, which beats hand #8, a ‘Six-Five low’. Also remember that ♣ straights and flushes do not count against your low hand, so making a qualifying low that is also a straight ♣ or a flush is a very powerful hand, that could win both the high and low halves of the pot. ♣ That’s called a ‘scoop’.

Types of Omaha Hi/Lo Games