Best Starting Hands for Omaha Hi Lo

In Omaha Hi-Lo Poker the pot is split at showdown between the player with the highest poker hand and the player with the lowest hand comprising 5 cards 8 and below. Starting hands in this form of the game should be selected for their potential to ‘scoop’ both sides of the pot. This can be achieved in 2 ways, either by making both the high and the low hand or by making the high hand where nobody holds a low.

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This article looks at the best starting hands in Omaha hi-lo starting with the ‘premium hands’ for this form of poker and moving down through playable hands into the marginal hands category. In Omaha poker you must use 2 of your 4 hole cards with 3 cards from the board to make a poker hand, the low and high hands are determined independently. Therefore the hands with the best potential to scoop pots have multiple ways of hitting the flop.

Premium Hands

Premium hands in Omaha hi-lo are small suited or connected cards – particularly when suited with an ace. These hands have the best possible chance of scooping both the high and the low sides of the pot, by making flushes or small straights at the same time as the best possible low. Hands which contain back up for the low as well as these qualities will help you the time that your low gets counterfeited.

For example, you start with A-2-4-J with the ace suited with another card. The flop comes 3-5-9 with 2 of your suit, giving you a draw to the nut flush and a small straight as well as to the best possible low. However if a 2 comes on the turn any hand containing only the A and 2 is no longer holding the nut low – an A-4 holding becomes the best hand as exactly 2 cards from your hand must be used at showdown. In this case the additional 4 has provided the backup for your low.

The Key

The key card in Omaha Hi-Lo starting hand selection is an ace, this can go to make a high pair and is also the lowest card in the nut low. Many hands containing an ace are playable before the flop in addition to the premium hands noted above. Ensuring that these hands have other low cards (preferably a 2 or 3) and potential for the high via a pair or suited cards is an important help in trying to scoop the pot.

High only hands may be playable in Omaha hi-lo under the right circumstances. 30% of the time the community cards will not contain 3 low cards 8 and under – meaning that the highest hand takes the whole pot. If you are in late position in a multi-way pot then the strongest high-only hands can be played. Connecting well with a flop that contains zero or one low card will let you profitably continue with the hand. Be careful with overplaying high hands, as the combination of these with good low hands can lead you to play too loosely in a game where only nut hands are likely to win at showdown.

Conclusion

A bare A-2 or 2-3 with no help from the other cards is the last hand which is sometimes playable. The danger with these hands is that you can easily end up winning just one quarter of the pot. Play of these hands should be from late position and against timid opponents only.

Finally a word about common trap hands in Omaha hi-lo. These are hands which contain medium low cards such as 6-7-8-K. The danger with these hands is that you may end up making the second best hand in both sides of the pot. For example the worst low at the same time as the losing end of a straight – avoid these hands at all costs!