Omaha Hi-Lo Regular

It’s like Omaha Hi-Lo, except the low doesn’t have to be good

Omaha Hi-Lo says a low only counts if it’s 8-or-better, and if nobody has one, high takes the whole pot. Omaha Hi-Lo Regular deletes that clause. The WSOP’s entire rule is: all the rules of Omaha High-Low 8/O apply, “except that there is no qualifier for low.” So there’s always a low half, and somebody wins it, even if the best low is a 10-high ugly mess.

30-second cheat sheet

• Four hole cards, flop, turn, river, four betting rounds. Same as Omaha Hi-Lo.
• Exactly two hole cards and exactly three board cards for each hand.
• Half the pot goes to the best high. Half goes to the best ace-to-five low, whether or not it’s 8-or-better.
• Ace-to-five: aces low, straights and flushes don’t count against you, the wheel is best, and you compare from the highest card down.
• The pot is split nearly every hand. The high hand only scoops if the same player also owns the best low.
• Rare. This lives in the WSOP’s live-action rule sheet and Dealer’s Choice, not in a normal rotation.

Full rules

The deal

Identical to Omaha Hi-Lo. Dealer button, blinds or antes, four hole cards each, betting, burn and flop, betting, burn and turn, betting, burn and river, final betting round. The WSOP spreads Omaha Hi-Lo as limit, pot-limit or no-limit, and this game uses the same options.

Building your hands

You make a high hand and a low hand, each from exactly two hole cards and exactly three board cards. They can use different hole cards.

• High: best five-card poker hand.
• Low: the best ace-to-five low you can make. Aces are low, straights and flushes are ignored, and A-2-3-4-5 is the best possible. You compare from the highest card down, so 9-6-3-2-A beats 9-6-5-4-2.

No qualifier

In regular Omaha Hi-Lo you need five different ranks, all 8 or lower, to have a low at all (eight-or-better). Here you don’t. Every player has to use two hole cards and three board cards, so every player has some low hand, and the best one wins half the pot. A board of K-Q-9-T-4 means O8 high takes everything, but here the low half still gets paid.

Ties, quartering, and the odd chip

Tied hands split their half. One high winner and two tied lows means half and a quarter each. The odd chip works the same as in Omaha Hi-Lo.

Rooms disagree

• Only one room writes this rule down. The WSOP live-action sheet is the only room document we found that defines this game by name. The WSOP’s tournament rules and Golden Nugget’s list a Stud version (“Seven Card Stud Hi/Low Regular”) but no Omaha one. This page uses the WSOP sheet.
• How paired lows rank. The WSOP’s Omaha text doesn’t say how a hand with a pair ranks against hands without one, because in O8 a pair is never a qualifying low. By analogy with ace-to-five lowball, the likely reading is that any unpaired hand beats any paired hand. That is our inference, not a quoted rule. If the board is paired and it matters, ask the floor.
• What “no qualifier” means. If someone says “Omaha 8 with no qualifier,” confirm they don’t mean a 9-or-better qualifier, which a few casinos use as a house rule. That’s a different game.

Worked examples

An ugly low gets paid

No 8-or-better low on board, and the low still gets paid

Board

Alice

• High:Ace high
• Low (A-5, no qualifier):T-9-4-2-A low✓ wins

Bob

• High:Three Kings✓ wins
• Low (A-5, no qualifier):T-9-5-4-3 low

Alice takes half · Bob takes half

The board is K-Q-9-T-4. Only one card is 8 or lower, so in regular Omaha Hi-Lo high would take the whole pot. Here, Alice’s A-2 with the board’s 4-9-T makes T-9-4-2-A, which is the best low. Bob’s 3-5 gets T-9-5-4-3, which is higher. Bob wins the high half with three kings.

Winning both halves with a 9-high low

A 9-high low scoops the pot

Board

Alice

• High:Three Kings✓ wins
• Low (A-5, no qualifier):9-6-3-2-A low✓ wins

Bob

• High:Pair of Queens
• Low (A-5, no qualifier):9-6-5-4-2 low

Alice scoops the whole pot.

Alice’s A-3 plus the 2-6-9 on board make 9-6-3-2-A, which would not qualify in regular O8 but wins the low half here. Her pair of kings with the board’s king makes three kings for high. She scoops. Bob’s 4-5 low, 9-6-5-4-2, is close but loses.

Quartered on a bad low

Two players tie for a 10-high low and take a quarter each

Board

Alice

• High:Ace high
• Low (A-5, no qualifier):T-9-4-2-A low✓ wins

Bob

• High:Ace high
• Low (A-5, no qualifier):T-9-4-2-A low✓ wins

Carol

• High:Queen-high straight✓ wins
• Low (A-5, no qualifier):T-9-8-5-4 low

Alice takes a quarter · Bob takes a quarter · Carol takes half

Alice and Bob both have A-2, and the best they can do is T-9-4-2-A. They tie, so they split the low half and each get a quarter. Carol’s Q-8 with the board’s J-T-9 is a queen-high straight, which takes the high half.

How you’ll embarrass yourself

• Folding because the board has no low. Someone always owns the low half. A 9-high or 10-high low wins money.
• Counting the high hand’s scoop as a sure thing. The high hand takes the whole pot only if the same player also has the best low.
• Forgetting the two-and-three rule. You still need two hole cards and three board cards, so you can’t dodge a paired board for your low.
• Paying off a mediocre high because “I can’t lose the low.” If you hold the low, you’ve won half the pot and no more.
• Assuming the room knows this game. Confirm there’s no qualifier before the deal.

Lore and reputation

This is a rarity. A PokerChipForum thread about a no-qualifier Big O has its author saying he never sees anyone play it. Replies argue the qualifier is a big part of the game’s appeal, and one poster claims there’s no low about 60 percent of the time. That claim is unverified forum chatter, not a rule source. Treat the game as a Dealer’s Choice option rather than a staple. The WSOP’s sheet lists it right under Omaha 8/O.