Omaha Hi/Lo is a variant of Omaha. The betting, blinds, and postings are exactly the same as in Omaha. If you’re not familiar with Omaha, click here for a quick lesson. At the showdown, the pot is split between the holder of the highest hand, and the holder of the lowest hand, if the low hand qualifies.

To qualify for a low hand, you must have five distinct cards (no pairs), with no card higher than an 8. Remember, since you have to play two cards in your hand, the two cards in your hand and three on the board all need to be 8 or lower. Straights and flushes do not count against you. The best 5-card low hand is A-2-3-4-5 of any suit. The hand is “ranked” by starting with the highest low card. 7-4-3-2-1 would be considered a 7-low, and would lose to 6-4-3-2-1, a 6-low. If two players each have low hands with the same highest card, the next highest card determines the winner. 7-5-4-3-2 loses to 7-4-3-2-1. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot.

Just as in the high version of Omaha, each player starts with four hole cards, and then the dealer places five cards face-up in the center of the table. These community cards are part of each player’s hand, so each player has access to seven cards. The difference between Omaha high and Omaha Hi/Lo, is that in Omaha Hi/Lo each player can potentially have two different hands: a high hand and a low hand.

Each player forms a five-card high hand by using only two (no more, no less, but they can be any two) of his hole cards together with only three (no more, no less, but they can be any three) of the five community cards. Each player forms a five-card low hand (if possible) by using only two (no more, no less, but they can be any two) of his hole cards together with only three (no more, no less, but they can be any three) of the five community cards. Both the high hand combination and the low hand combination can use the same set of cards, but they don’t have to; in fact, usually they would not.

Because of the qualifier restriction, if at least three cards 8 or lower do not appear among the community cards, a low hand is not possible.

Did you ever wish your “bad” hands could make you money? Then Razz could be the game for you. Part lowball, part 7-card stud, the goal is to make the best five-card low hand from seven cards.

Each player starts with two hole cards and one upcard; there are then three more rounds of upcards, with betting after each card, and a final downcard, just as in stud. Each player ends up with seven cards: four face up and three face down.

The player holding the best low hand using any five of their cards wins the pot. Aces are always low, and flushes and straights have no effect on the value of a hand. Also, it’s good to remember that drawing a pair will not hurt your hand. The best possible hand is A-2-3-4-5.

Each new hand begins with every player putting an ante into the pot. For example, in a $2/$4 limit game, each player would ante 40 cents. The ante is not like a blind, and does not count toward any future bets.

In the first round, the betting starts with the player having the highest upcard. This is a forced bet, and the software will automatically put the specified minimum bet (called the bring-in) into the pot.
Each player can then fold, call the bring-in, or complete the bet (that is, raise to the lower limit). Once the bring-in bet has been completed, there is a limit of three reraises. All future rounds have a three raise limit, as well.

The betting on fourth street always proceeds at the lower limit. Unlike 7-card stud, an open pair does not affect the betting limit. All bets and raises on fourth street will be increments of the low-limit bet. For example, if the low limit bet is $5, it can be raised to $10, and then reraised to $15. On fifth street, the bets start at the higher limit, and remain at that limit through the final round of betting.

After the last round of betting, the software will award the pot to the best low hand.