Omaha Poker Hands

The possible hands in Omaha are very much similar to every variety of poker. The difference in Omaha is that these 5 card hands must be created using exactly 2 cards out of the 4 cards dealt to the player and exactly 3 cards of the 5 that are shared on the board. Keep this at the forefront of you mind when starting to play, Omaha Poker strategy is greatly influenced by this.

Before we get to the possible Omaha Poker hands and a few examples, let me explain some notation.

The Cards - J = Jack, Q = Queen, K = King, A = Ace
The Card Suits - C = Clubs, D = Diamonds, H = Hearts, S = Spades
As an example, 2H is the 2 of Hearts and KD is the King of Diamonds.

So, you want to try and make the best possible hand of those listed below. They are ranked from worst to best, with examples of the hands.

Pair - Hand 2D 3D 4H 5C, Board: 4C KD QC 7S 8H. This hand has 2 of a kind in 4’s.

2 Pair – Hand 2D 3D 4H 5C, Board: 4C 5D KD QC 8H. This hand has 2 pair, 4’s and 5’s.

3 of a Kind – Hand 2D 3D 4H 5C, Board: 5D 5S KD QC 8H. This hand has 3 of a kind in 5’s.

Straight - Hand 2D KS 4H 5C, Board: 6C 7C 8S KC QD. This hand has a straight, 4 5 6 7 8.

Flush - Hand 2D 3D 4H 5C, Board: 7D 9D KD KC AS. This hand has a flush, 2D 3D 7D 9D KD.

Full House - Hand 2D 3D 4H 5C, Board: 5D 5S 3S KD AC. This hand has a full house, 3 of a kind in 5’s and 2 of a kind in 3’s.

4 of a Kind - Hand 2D 2S 4H 5C, Board: 2H 2C KD QS 7C. This hand has 4 of a kind in 2’s.

Straight Flush - Hand 2D 3D 4H 5C, Board: 4D 5D 6D KH QD. This had has a straight flush, 2D 3D 4D 5D 6D.

Royal Flush - Hand 2D 3D 10C JC, Board: QC KC AC 7D 9S. This hand has a royal flush, 10C JC QC KC AC.

Ok, now let’s look at a sample hand and see if we can’t figure out what the best hand is in each scenario. Remember you must use 2 cards from the hand and 3 from the board.

Example: Hand 6C 7D 9D 10D, Board 8D JD 6S KS AH.

The best Omaha Poker hand for these cards is a pair of 6’s. Although there are 5 diamonds in total, only 2 of them are on the board, so a flush is not possible. Also, although 7 8 9 10 J all appear, only the 8 and J are on the board, this a straight is not possible either. This is a situation when the actual hand is much worse than it may look!

Also remember that 3 of a kind of 4’s is higher than 3 of a kind of 2’s. Similarly a full house of 3 K’s and 2 5’s is higher than a full house of 3 Q’s and 2 10’s.