Omaha Hi-Lo

Continuation

Preflop - The player to the immediate left of the dealer button is forced to post the small blind. The player to the left of him, or two to the left of the dealer button, is forced to post the big blind. Two cards are dealt to every player face down, starting with the small blind. The action begins with the player to the immediate left of the big blind, who must decide to fold, call (by putting in the low limit bet), or raise (by putting in twice the low limit bet). Action proceeds clockwise around the table. The small blind may call (assuming nobody has raised) by adding the other 1/2 of the low limit bet he was already forced to put in. The big blind may simply check (assuming nobody has raised), as he has already put in the full size of the first round bet or may take the option of raising.  

The Flop - Three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. In this round, and in the following two rounds, the player to the immediate left of the dealer button is the first to act. Play proceeds in a clockwise manner around the table. All bets and raises must be equal to the low limit bet size.  

The Turn - A fourth card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. Play proceeds as in the previous round, except now all bets and raises must be equal to the high limit bet size.  

The River - A fifth and final card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. Play proceeds as in the previous round. All bets and raises must be equal to the high limit bet size.  

Showdown - Anyone who has not folded after the last round of betting will now have the option of showing their hand and possibly winning the pot. The person who bet last is the first to show their hand, and then it proceeds clockwise from there, with each remaining player either choosing to show their hand, or muck it. Often times a player will muck their hand if they aren't going to win the pot, and don't want their opponents to see what they played. 

In the Derby Lane Card Room, we use a slight variation on this in our Omaha Hi-Lo games.  Instead of running a small and big blind, we run one big blind of $2 that is equal to the maximim bet for that round.  Each player may then call $2, raise in increments of $2, or fold.  Also, the minimum and maximum bet for each betting round (pre-flop, flop, turn, and river) is $2 with a maximum of three raises.

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