Poker Variations You Can Play on Ventury Games

Omaha Hi-Lo

This game is very similar to regular Omaha, but the pot is split between a high hand and a low hand. Players are dealt four “hole” cards face down and five community cards are dealt face up that everyone can see and use with their hand. Each player must use two of their hidden cards, as well as three of the community cards to make their hand.

The game is split into four rounds of betting. Betting starts from the player position next to the dealer button (in online games, the dealer button replaces the real dealer) and moves clockwise after each hand. The game works as follows:

1. The Blinds

Before the game begins, the two players “seated” to the left of the dealer post blind bets. These are called blinds because they are made before the players have seen any cards. The player to the left of the dealer posts the “small blind”, and the player positioned to his left then posts the “big blind.” The blinds ensure that there is some money in the pot at the start of the game.

2. The Pre-Flop

Once the blinds are made, each player receives four hidden cards that only they can see. After that, the first round of betting is started by the first player to the left of the big blind. This first player, known as the “under the gun” player, can do one of the following actions:

• Call: Match the amount bet in the big blind.
• Raise: Increase the amount bet.
• Fold: Give up his/her cards and quit the hand.

Eventually the betting will return to the player who made the big blind (the first full bet.) That player can check or choose to stay in the game without adding anything further to the pot. However, if an opponent has raised, the big blind player has three options: fold, call, or re-raise.

3. The Flop

After the first betting round is finished, three community cards are dealt face-up on the table. These cards can be seen by all players and used to make their hand. The second round of betting follows.

4. The Turn

The fourth card is dealt face up on the table. The third round of betting follows.

5. The River

The fifth and final community card is dealt faced up. This is followed by the fourth and final round of betting.

6. The Showdonw

If there is more than one player left in the game, there is a “showdown” (confrontational moment) in which the players reveal their cards. In this game, the player with the highest hand wins half the pot and the player with the lowest low hand wins the other half. The same player can have both the best high and low hands and win the entire pot. However, if none of the players has a low hand, then the highest hand wins the entire pot.