Omaha High-Low looks confusing. Not sure why, maybe people aren't so flexible in their thinking, but to be honest people that play Hold-em should pick up Omaha in minutes. Are there differences, sure. The biggest difference is most people have crap in Hold-em and look like they have something in Omaha. It may still be crap, and likely is, but it looks better than that.

The Basics

Like Hold-em, Omaha is a game where you make the best five out of the pocket cards (dealt face down to each player) and the community cards (dealt face up). The difference being that, in Omaha. you get four pocket cards (you can only play two). The betting is the same, the hand values are the same. The hook in High-Low is the possibility of two winning hands: A high hand and a low hand. The high hands are the same as Hold-em or any other standard poker game where you need five cards to win. The low hands can't have a card higher than an 8 and are judged numerically with an Ace replicating the number 1. Thus a hand with A,2,3,4,5 would equal the number 12345. This is the mother hand and beats all low hands.

Strategy - Toss Away Crap

The simplest part of Omaha strategy to understand is there are many more crap hands pre-flop than there are in Hold-em. In Hold-em, almost anything can win if there's a good reading of the other players, good positioning and enough bravado. In Omaha, that isn't true. Can you bluff, sure. But with four cards to choose from the possibilities are greater that someone feels good about their hand. Of course, that may not be as big an issue as you think. People play more hands in Omaha than they should. Omaha is a game more of mathematical chance than of bravado. There are only so many combinations that can win outright once the flop hits the table. And having hands that don't fit the model should be tossed. Trying to bully your way in when you don't have the nuts may work with less experienced players, not with quality.

The more fitting idea is to get money in pre-flop. Weak players think they're in every hand; they want to play. Good players sit and wait looking for the moment they have the nuts and a big pot. Problem is, making a big pot might be incumbent on tossing coins in pre-flop. Sure, it could run players out but many players will jump the hand holding KJ78 looking for some play. The percentages, and Omaha is a game of percentages, will hold for the better player. Making Money The best time to make money in Hold-em has sailed. Yes, new people get in but at a slower rate than before. The time to make money in Omaha is now. Players bored with Hold-em always stumble in looking for a new game. They will play with a Hold-em mentality, maybe scare a few pots but always lose in the end. The best bet is Omaha.