Texas Hold'em Poker – Omaha

Player: 2–10 (ideally 6–9) · Cards: French deck, 52 (no jokers) · Type: Comparing/betting game (poker family)

Play Texas Hold'em Poker against the computer

Objective

Win chips: take the pot either at showdown with the best hand or earlier when all opponents drop out (fold).

Equipment & setup

Dealer button, small blind and big blind as in Texas Hold'em. Starting with the small blind, each player receives 4 face-down cards one at a time.

Card ranking & card values

Card ranking: A (high; also low in the straight A-2-3-4-5) > K > Q > J > 10 > … > 2. Suits are equal. Hand ranking (high→low): royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.

Gameplay

1) Preflop: the betting round starts left of the big blind. Options: fold, call, raise.

2) Flop: one card is burned, 3 community cards face up, betting round.

3) Turn: burn, 1 card face up, betting round.

4) River: burn, 1 card face up, last betting round.

5) Showdown: everyone makes their best 5-card hand from EXACTLY 2 of their 4 cards and EXACTLY 3 community cards.

Special rules & special cards

Omaha is mostly played pot-limit (PLO): at most the current pot size may be bet. In Omaha Hi-Lo (Omaha/8) the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand (five different cards up to 8 at most).

Scoring & points

The pot goes to the best hand. With equal combinations, the side cards (kickers) decide, up to the 5th card. Completely equal hands split the pot (split pot); an indivisible odd chip goes to the first winner left of the button.

End of game & winning

Cash game: players can leave at any time. Tournament: blinds rise in fixed levels; players without chips are eliminated until one player holds all the chips (payout by finishing position).

Origin & history

Poker emerged in the early 19th century around New Orleans/Mississippi, influenced by the French Poque and the Persian As-Nas. Texas Hold'em is said to have originated in Robstown (Texas) in the early 20th century, came to Las Vegas in 1967 and has been the main event of the World Series of Poker since 1971. Worldwide boom from 2003 thanks to online poker and TV broadcasts with hole-card cameras.