A
poker game that is a variation on the popular game
Texas Hold 'em. In this game, like Texas Hold 'em, you make the best 5-card hand out of your personal cards, or "
hole cards", and the 5
community cards which everyone uses. Omaha Hold 'em is different from Texas Hold 'em in that you get four hole cards instead of two. The part of the game that is really interesting and frequently confuses people is that you must use
exactly two cards from your hand. If you have three of a kind in you hand, you can't use it. Likewise you can't use one card from your hand and four from the table to make a full house.
Gameplay
There are two blinds in traditional Hold 'em games. Similar to an ante, the person to the dealer's left bets the first small blind and the person two seats left of the dealer ante's in the big blind. This gets betting started but many people will play with a traditional ante bet instead of the blinds.
Dealer will then deal out four cards to each player and the first round of betting happens.
The dealer then traditionally burns a card (takes one card off the top of the deck and puts it out of play) and then reveals "the flop". The flop is three community cards, all revealed at once. The second round of betting happens after the three cards are turned up.
Another card is burned and the fourth community card is turned up. The third round of betting happens.
Finally, the dealer burns a last card, and the fifth and final community card is turned up. This card is the "river" and the final chance to improve your hand. There is one final round of betting before the Showdown.
There is one other component of the game not yet mentioned. The game is frequently played high-low split, where the best high hand and the best low hand split the final pot. When high-low split is played, a low hand must be all cards 8 or lower to qualify. This means there must be three community cards that are 8 or lower for it to even be possible. Aces can be low in low hands.