April 10th20+5 Pot Limit Omaha/8
For the blind structure we used last year, click
here. We'll probably use something similar, but with a slightly larger starting stack.
Omaha/8In case you've forgotten, there are a few important differences between Omaha/8 and Hold'em.
- Each player is dealt four hole cards, not two.
- You must use exactly two of your four hole cards along with exactly three of the five community cards to make a five-card hand.
- The game is played high-low, meaning the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand.
- A player may have two different hands at the end: the cards used to make the low hand may or may not be different from the cards used to make the high hand.
- Low hands must "qualify"; some players will not have a qualifying low hand, in which case they participate only in the high hand. If no players have a qualifying low hand, the entire pot is awarded to the best high hand.
But for these exceptions, most of the other game mechanics proceed as in Hold'em: the two players to the left of the dealer post blinds, the dealer passes out the hole cards, there's a round of pre-flop betting, the dealer burns a card then deals three community cards (flop), another round of betting, the dealer burns a card then deals a fourth shared card (turn), a third round of betting, the dealer burns a card and deals the fifth and final community card (river), a final round of betting, finally followed by the showdown.
At the showdown, you must use exactly two of your four hole cards to make a high hand, which is ranked as in other poker games, ranging from a Royal Flush down to 7-5-4-3-2. If your hole cards contain, for example four aces, you can only use two of the aces to make your hand. Likewise, if the board is all clubs, you can only use three of them (that is, you would still need at least two clubs in the hole to make the flush).
If one or more players can make a five card hand in which
none of the cards are paired or higher than an eight, the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand. Straights and flushes do not count for low, so the best possible low hand is 5-4-3-2-A. The worst possible qualifying low hand is 8-7-6-5-4. Low hands are compared one card at a time from the highest card to lowest, so 8-6-4-3-2 beats 8-6-5-2-A because the second hand's third card [4] is worse than the first hand's third card [3]. Aces can be counted high or low. The two hole cards you use to make your high hand may or may not be the same as the ones you use to make your low hand. In order for you to have a low hand, you must have at least two low cards in your hand, and the board must have at least three more low cards. For example if the flop comes 9-J-K, no one can make a low hand because the board cannot supply enough low cards. Likewise, if your hole cards are 2-2-9-K, you cannot make a low hand because your hand can only supply one low card.
Split pots: If there's a qualifying low hand, half of the pot is awarded to the high hand, even if two players tie for low. When the low pot is split, the low half of the pot is shared equally by the winning low hands. Odd chips are awarded to the high hand over the low hand, and to the eldest hand (the one closest to the left of the dealer) if the high or low pot is split.
Pot Limit
The maximum allowed raise is the size of the pot after any previous bets have been called.
For instance, if the pot is 300 after the flop, two players remain, and the first player bets 100, the second player can raise as much as 500 (300 already in the pot + 100 bet by the first player + 100 called by the second player), making the total bet 600 (call 100 + raise 600).
For the purposes of calculating pot size before the first raise in the first round of betting, it can be assumed that the small blind will call the big blind. For example, if the blinds are 25/50 and the button wants to raise the pot, the total bet will be 200 (Small blind 25 + assumed small blind completion 25 + Large blind 50 + raiser's call 50 = raise of 150; 50 call + 150 raise = 200 to go).
April 10th
