Omaha's two-hole-card check: four board spades do not make a royal flush
Before showdown in Omaha, name the two hole cards you are using; if you cannot make the hand you imagine, do not bet as though you have it.
Author: PokerSlate · Editor: PokerSlate
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The board comes K♠Q♠J♠T♠, you hold A♠ among your four hole cards, and four big spades run across the board. In Texas hold'em, A♠ plus those four board cards is a royal flush, using one hole card; in Omaha, as the example below shows, four board spades can leave you with only ace-high. The difference is not luck but the structure: you are dealt four hole cards, and at showdown you must use exactly two of them with exactly three community cards.
PokerNews, in a guide to five popular poker games, states the rule plainly: each player is dealt four hole cards and must use exactly two hole cards with three community cards to make a five-card hand. It is not "at least two," and it is not "you may use only one." It is exactly two. Texas hold'em allows one, two, or no hole cards; Omaha does not.
The two-hole-card check
Before every value bet, call, or showdown, do the same thing: choose any two of your four hole cards, then choose any three of the five board cards, and make the hand you are about to claim. If you cannot make it, revalue it as a different hand. Omaha Hi-Lo (also called Omaha 8 or Better) also splits the pot between the best high hand and the best low hand (if a low exists), so run the check twice: once for high, once for low.
A purely hypothetical example: you hold A♠2♦7♣8♥, and the board is K♠Q♠J♠T♠3♦. You see A♠ and the four big spades on board and easily think you have a royal flush. But a royal flush requires A♠K♠Q♠J♠T♠, all five cards spades; you hold only one spade, A♠. To use four board cards would mean using only one hole card, which the rules do not allow. The best legal five-card hand is A♠8♥ with K♠Q♠J♠: ace-high, not even a pair. An opponent holding 9♠8♠ can combine them with Q♠J♠T♠ for a queen-high straight flush; even a pair of nines beats your ace-high. In this example, the first task is not to calculate pot odds but to admit that you do not have the hand at all.
Exercise: You hold A♥2♣K♦K♠, and the board is 3♦4♠5♥Q♣9♠. Before calling, run the two-hole-card check for the high half: can you make a legal five-card hand? Write down the five cards you would actually show down, and state which two hole cards you used.
Answer: Yes. A♥2♣ with 3♦4♠5♥ makes a five-high straight, using exactly two hole cards. K♦K♠ are in your hand, but this hand does not use them; they can only make a pair of kings, which is weaker than a straight. Making a legal five-card hand does not mean you will win; you still have to compare opponents' ranges and the hand's relative strength. If a low half exists, run the same check separately.
- Before betting: make the five-card hand first, then discuss sizing.
- Before calling: if you cannot make the hand you imagine, downgrade it.
- At showdown: before you name your hand, name the two hole cards you are using.
Local reading context
Omaha deals four hole cards to each player; at showdown, a player must use exactly two hole cards with exactly three community cards to make a five-card hand. This is one structural difference from Texas hold'em: hold'em allows one, two, or no hole cards, while Omaha does not. Omaha Hi-Lo (also called Omaha 8 or Better) splits the pot between the best high hand and the best low hand; if no qualifying low exists, the high hand takes the whole pot.
Original sources and verification
- PokerNews
PokerNews's guide to five popular poker games says Texas hold'em is played with two hole cards and five community cards, and players may use any combination of hole and community cards to make their best five-card hand; Omaha deals four hole cards to each player, who must use exactly two hole cards with three community cards to make a five-card hand; Omaha Hi-Lo (Omaha 8 or Better) splits the pot between the best high hand and the best low hand, if a low exists.