Omaha Hi Lo Poker - The Blinds, Dealing, and Betting

Omaha Hi Lo Poker Blinds

If you've played Texas holdem, then you're familiar with the concept of blinds. But if you've only played penny ante, kitchen table poker, then blinds might be a new concept for you. Here's a quick explanation of the blinds.

Blinds are forced bets made by the first two players to the left of the dealer in community card poker games like Texas holdem and Omaha hi lo. Without blinds (or antes), there's no reason to ever place a bet in poker. Everyone could just fold forever or until they got dealt the nuts, and there would be no action. The battle over the blinds and/or the antes is what drives the game of poker forward.

Omaha hi lo poker is normally played at a certain limit, which determines the sizes of the bets, raises, and blinds. A common Omaha hi lo game might be played at the $4/$8 limit, which means that bets before the flop and on the flop are limited to $4 increments, and bets on the turn and the river are limited to $8 increments.

In a $4/$8 game, the small blind is $2 and the large blind is $4, and they're posted in that order. The dealer is the player with the button, and she acts last in all betting rounds except the first one. (In the first preflop round of betting, the blinds get a chance to raise.)

The blinds are posted before the cards are dealt.

Dealing & Betting in Omaha Hi Lo Poker

After the blinds have been posted, each player is dealt four face down cards. Those are the "hole cards." After all the players receive their cards, there's a round of betting.

The blinds are considered the first bets, so players have the following options during this betting round:

1. Calling
2. Raising
3. Folding

The number of possible raises is usually limited to three or four raises during a betting round, UNLESS there are only two players contesting the pot. (In that case, unlimited raises are allowed.)

After the preflop betting round, three of the community cards are dealt and flipped over simultaneously. These three cards are called the flop. This is followed by another round of betting.

After the betting round on the flop, another community card is dealt. This card is called the turn. After the turn is dealt, another round of betting occurs, but this time, the limits are higher. (In a $4/$8 game, the minimum bet changes from $4 to $8.)

The fifth card is dealt after this betting round. It's called the river. A final round of betting takes place after the river, again at the $8 increment.

So the gameplay for Omaha hi lo can be considered to take place over four rounds, as follows:

OmahaHiLoPoker.org. All rights reserved. Copyright 2010.