How to Play Omaha Hi-Lo (PLO8)

Hi-Lo is Omaha with two prizes in every pot. You can win the high half, the low half, or both (a scoop). Hands that can go both ways are gold.

Every game here uses Dojo Coin: play money with no real-world value. You can buy it with Buy Coin (not sold in Washington state), but you can't cash it out. It's just for practice.

How a hand plays

1. Button and blinds. The dealer button moves one seat left each hand. The two players to its left post the small and big blind. No antes. In tournaments everyone starts with 5,000 chips at blinds of 10/20, and the blinds go up every set number of hands.
2. Deal. Everyone gets 4 cards face down.
3. Preflop. The player left of the big blind acts first. The big blind acts last and may raise even if everyone just called.
4. Flop, turn, river. Three shared cards, then a fourth, then a fifth. A betting round follows each, starting with the first player still in to the left of the button.
5. Showdown. The pot splits in half. The best high hand wins one half and the best qualifying low wins the other.

If everyone else folds, the last player wins the pot without showing. Heads-up: the button posts the small blind and acts first preflop; after the flop the big blind acts first.

The low hand

• A low is five cards of different ranks, all 8 or lower. Aces count as 1.
• Straights and flushes don't count against a low. 5-4-3-2-A (the wheel) is the best possible low.
• Compare lows from the top card down: 7-5-4-3-2 beats 8-4-3-2-A.
• You choose your high and low separately. Each still uses exactly 2 hole cards + 3 board cards, but they can be different cards.
• If no one has a qualifying low, the high hand wins the whole pot.

Splitting the pot

• Half to the high, half to the low. An odd chip from halving goes to the high half.
• Ties within a half split that half (that's being quartered). Odd chips go to the first tied player left of the button.

Betting rules

On your turn you can check (if nobody has bet), bet, call, raise or fold. If you could check for free, the site checks for you instead of folding.

• Smallest bet: one big blind. Smallest raise: at least the last full bet or raise this round.
• Biggest bet or raise: the pot. Picture yourself calling first; your raise can be as big as the whole pot after that call. The Pot button does the math for you.
• Short all-ins don't reopen the betting for players who already acted, unless they add up to a full raise.

Example: blinds 50/100, pot 150, you're first in. Call 100 (pot is now 250), then raise 250 more. Your pot-size raise goes to 350.

Hand rankings

Same high-hand rankings as Hold'em, from royal flush down to high card. See the full hand rankings table.

Tricky spots

No low possible. Board K♠ Q♦ 9♣ 8♥ 2♠ has only two cards 8 or lower. Nobody can make a low, so the best high scoops.

Two-way hand. Board 3♥ 5♦ 7♣ K♠ J♥, you hold A♠ 2♣ 4♦ K♦. For low, A♠ 2♣ + 3♥ 5♦ 7♣ makes 7-5-3-2-A. For high, A♠ K♦ + K♠ J♥ 7♣ makes a pair of kings. Different card pairs for each half, and a shot at scooping.

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