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omaha hold'em poker basics
Updated In March, 2025 - Omaha Hold'em Poker is a poker game that is similar to Texas Hold'em; with the big difference being players have nine cards to use rather than seven, so the average poker hands tend to be higher. Omaha Hold'em Poker also has a rule that a player must use two hole cards (along with three of the community cards) in making their best five card hand. This difference from a Texas Hold'em game is the most common mistake Texas Hold'em players make in adjusting to the different rules (in Texas Hold'em a player can use any combination of cards, including all five community cards, in making their best five card hand). Omaha Hold'em poker is offered at every US poker room promoted on this site. How A Game Of Omaha Hold'em Is Played:
Before any cards are dealt the two blinds, the 'Small Blind' and the 'Big Blind', have to be posted. The person directly to the left of the dealer posts the 'Small Blind' while the person to the left of this player posts the 'Big Blind'. The size of the blinds is determined by the table limits of the table you are playing at with the Big Blind equal to half of the table limit (thus at a $2/$4 table the Big Blind is $2), and the Small Blind being half of the big blind.
- After the blinds are posted each player is dealt their 'hole' cards, four cards dealt face-down.
- The first round of betting takes place, the betting starts with the player to the left of whoever placed the "Big Blind" bet.
- After the betting is finished the dealer deals three community cards face up and places them in the middle of the table for all the players to use ('The Flop').
- The next round of betting takes place.
Pokerstars offers both Omaha poker variations, Omaha Holdem and Omaha HL. They boast more Omaha poker traffic than any other room and are the undisputed leader when it comes to tournaments and sitngos. Poker Stars has over 250,000 players during peak hours on just their main poker room. Pokerstars US player polcies have changed and they currently do not accept Americans. Read our 2025 Pokerstars review for more info.
Omaha Hold'em is a popular game at Bovada Poker and the action is notoriously soft. They offer ring table and tournament action both both Omaha poker games. Read our Bovada review 2025 for more details.
- After this round of betting is finished the dealer deals a forth community card face up and places it in the middle of the table with the other community cards ('The Turn').
- The next round of betting takes place.
- After this round of betting is finished the dealer deals a fifth community card (the last card to be dealt) face up and places it in the middle of the table with the other community cards ('The River').
- With all of the cards dealt a final round of betting takes place.
The game of Omaha Hold'em gives each player nine cards to choose among (four hole cards and five community cards) however, the players are only allowed to use five of them to make their best hand. Also, the players must use two of their hole cards along with three of the community cards to make their final hand. As with most poker games the player who makes the best five card hand is the winner.
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