Omaha Hold'em Rules

Within the culture that has sprung up around the game of poker, Omaha is the less popular middle child in relation to the more popular golden child that is Texas Hold'em. This does not mean that Omaha is not without its ardent supporters. In fact, if you get those who favor Texas Hold'em in a room with those who prefer Omaha Hold'em, you will probably get a bar fight that rivals anything the Miller brewing company provoked during the "Less Filling/Tastes Great" days. For those who are interested in learning the basic rules of this great, but often overshadowed game, the following will layout the basics of game play.

Omaha Hold'em is played with a standard 52-card deck. Each player will be dealt 4 cards face down. If you are playing this in a casino there is a designated dealer who never actually plays a hand. A round disc, referred to by most as the "dealer button", moves clockwise around the table, from one player to the next at the conclusion of each hand. The button symbolizes who would actually be the dealer if not for the fact that there is a casino designated dealer handling the cards. Despite this, the dealer button is very important to the game. This is because the person with this dealer button is the last to act during the betting rounds. The ability to act after everyone else has bet, with no worry of having your bet raised, is a strategic edge, thus in the name of fairness each player gets a turn as the "dealer".

The folks seated to the left of the person with the dealer button are called the "blinds". The pair of players who occupy the blind positions start the pot off with forced bets. The person to the immediate left of the dealer is called the "small blind". Usually this player contributes half the minimum bet. In other words, if the table minimum bet is $10, the small blind will start the pot with a $5 contribution. The person seated on the left of the small blind is the "big blind". The person who occupies this chair puts the full minimum bet into the pot. In the case of the example above, the big blind will be adding $10 to the pot After the blinds have started the pot off, each player will be dealt their four "hole cards". As it was stated earlier, these cards will be dealt face down.

Betting begins after each player has been dealt their hole cards. The player to the left of the big blind will be the first person to bet. As with most other games, players may call, raise, or fold when it's their turn to bet.

Once the first round of betting is complete, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called burning the card. The reason for this is to maintain the integrity of the game by making sure that a card that may have been accidentally exposed does not find its way into the field of play.

The dealer then deals the next three cards, face up, to the middle of the table. These community cards are called the "flop." By the end of the game there will be a total of five community cards. Players will use precisely three of the community cards in combination with exactly two of their hole cards to form the best possible five-card Poker hand.

The flop is followed by another round of betting. The player who starts this round of betting is the person who is seated to the immediate left of the player who possesses the dealer button. To be more precise, the person who posted the small blind begins all betting rounds after the flop.

The dealer burns another card and deals a fourth card, face up, to the middle of the table. This fourth community card is referred to as the "turn" or "Fourth Street." Another round of betting takes place.

The dealer burns yet another card before dealing the final face-up community card to the center of the table. This card is called the "river" or "Fifth Street."

Players now use exactly three of the five community cards and exactly two of their four hole cards to form the best possible five-card Poker hand.

The fourth and final round of betting begins. By the time the game reaches this point a number of players will have folded. After the final betting round, all players who remain in the game must show their hands. This is called a "Showdown". Traditionally the first player to reveal their hand is the player who made the initial bet or the player who made the last raise.

The player with the best five card poker hand wins. The dealer button is now moved clockwise to the next player.

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