Omaha or Omaha Hold'em is a very popular game that is deceptively similar to Texas Hold'em. If Texas Hold'em is the Cadillac of poker then Omaha is the Hummer of poker. The betting rounds and the layout of community cards are identical. There are really, only two differences.

In Omaha each player is dealt four cards to his private hand instead of two. That is why it is said that one should always expect the best. If the board includes three card to a royal flush such as: K[heart] Q[heart] J[heart]. It is simply much more likely that someone has made the hand above than in Texas Hold'em.

The second difference is that although each player gets nine cards to choose from in Omaha, players can not choose freely among the cards. Instead each player's best five-card hand must be constructed from exactly three of the five cards on the board, plus exactly two of their own cards. So if the board showed A[heart] K[heart] Q[heart] J[heart], then a royal flush would no longer be possible as two of each player's cards must be used.

Still with four cards in the hand the possibilities are great. In Omaha it is possible to hold the nuts on the flop and yet for a good reason fear being out drawn. That is why the game is better played as pot-limit than no-limit. The eight or better hi/lo split pot version suits this game very well.