Omaha – Introduction

Omaha is a “community card” poker game, and is a fairly modern variation of poker. It is believed to have derived from Texas Hold'em Poker. Omaha is becoming increasingly popular and is now played in most poker tournaments alongside Texas Hold'em Poker.

The exact origins of poker are uncertain, but the game does have a long history. Some believe that card games were originally developed in China over 1,000 years ago, and then spread throughout the world.

Some claim that poker developed from a 16^th century Persian card game known as “As Nas”, but others believe that the game derived from more modern European card games such as the French card game “poque”, the Spanish card game “primero”, the German card game “pochspiel” and the English game of “Brag”.

The modern game of poker, however, was developed in America. French settlers in New Orleans during the nineteenth century appear to have introduced poker to the US, and the game has continued to develop and become increasingly popular since that time.

Numerous variations of poker began to appear during the early twentieth-century. Texas Hold'em poker developed out of the original “community card” poker games that are first recorded in around 1919. Omaha is believed to have developed from Texas Hold'em Poker around 25 years ago.

In Omaha, each player is initially dealt four cards face-down, and the dealer then deals five “community cards”, which can be used by all players to form their hands.

The aim of Omaha is to make the strongest five-card hand that you can out of the nine cards that you have been dealt, using three of the community cards and two of your own cards. The player with the strongest hand at the end of the game wins the pot (the pile of chips that gradually builds up during the game from the players' stakes).

To learn how to play Omaha poker and to find out the rules of the game, visit our How to Play Omaha page. You can also learn more about some of the terms used in Omaha in our bet365 Omaha Glossary, and find some useful hints and tips on how to improve your game on our Omaha Poker Strategy page.

You can play Omaha with bet365 either as a 1-on-1 poker game, in a multi-player poker game or in a poker tournament. To find out more about these different ways of playing Omaha, visit our Types of Poker Game with bet365 section.

With bet365, you can also play another version of Omaha, known as Omaha Hi-Lo. You can find out more about how to play this type of poker in our Omaha Hi-Lo section.

To start playing Omaha with bet365 now, go to our Main Site. You can set up an easy-to-use bet365 account in just a matter of seconds and play your first online Omaha game for cash prizes with us.

If you want to learn about the other types of poker we offer, visit our Types of Poker at bet365 page.