Key facts
- Each player gets four hole cards and the board has five community cards. Your hand must use exactly two hole cards and exactly three board cards, as the ACT and Queensland rules both state.
- That gives every player 60 possible five card hands per deal, so big hands are common and draws are strong.
- In pot limit Omaha, the largest raise is the size of the pot after you call: facing a $20 bet into $40, you can make it $100.
- Pocket aces are far more common than in hold'em: at least two aces in four cards comes 1 in 39 hands (2.57%), against 1 in 221 for A-A in hold'em.
- Pre-flop edges are small: in our exact calculation, A-A-K-K double suited beats J-10-9-8 double suited only 61.5% of the time.
Omaha poker in a nutshell
Omaha poker is a community card game like Texas hold'em, with two changes: each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two, and your final hand must use exactly two of them with exactly three of the five board cards. It is usually played pot limit, where no bet can exceed the size of the pot. The ACT has approved rules for "Poker - Omaha" at Casino Canberra, and Queensland's Casino Gaming Rule covers Omaha in the same schedule as hold'em.
Omaha rules, step by step
- Blinds. As in hold'em, the two players left of the dealer button post the small and big blinds.
- Four hole cards. Each player receives four cards face down, one at a time.
- Preflop betting. Starts with the player left of the big blind.
- Flop, turn, river. Three community cards, then one, then one, each followed by a betting round. There are at most four betting rounds in all.
- Showdown. Each player makes the best five card hand from two hole cards plus three board cards. Equal hands split the pot.
Hands rank in the standard order (see poker hand rankings), and the house takes a commission from the pot under the same rules as hold'em, which our texas holdem rules guide works through with examples.
The two-card rule, and the hands it ruins
The ACT approval puts it plainly: a completed hand "shall consist of two of the four hole-cards and any three of the five communal cards". Queensland's rule says the same. These are the situations where hold'em habits cost money:
| Board | You hold | Hold'em reading | Omaha reality |
|---|---|---|---|
| A♥ K♥ 7♥ 4♥ 2♣ | Q♥ J♠ 10♠ 9♦ | Queen-high flush | No flush: you have only one heart. Best hand: ace high |
| 9♣ 10♦ J♥ Q♠ K♣ | A♠ A♦ 2♥ 2♣ | Straight on the board | No straight: A-A with K-Q-J is just a pair of aces |
| 8♠ 8♦ 8♥ K♣ 3♠ | K♥ Q♦ J♣ 10♠ | Full house, eights full of kings | Three eights with K-Q: one king in hand is not enough; you need two hole cards that work with three board cards, such as K-K, 7-7 or an 8 with a king |
| 5♠ 5♦ 5♥ 5♣ K♦ | A♥ Q♣ J♦ 10♠ | Four fives with an ace kicker | Three fives with A-Q: you can use only three of the board cards |
The rule cuts both ways. You can never "play the board", but four hole cards give you six two-card combinations to work with. Each player effectively holds 60 different five card hands on every deal (6 pairs of hole cards times 10 sets of three board cards), which is why Omaha pots are often won by straights, flushes and full houses.
Pot limit Omaha: sizing the maximum raise
In a pot limit game, the biggest bet you can make is the size of the pot. The ACT rules define this as a "full pot" limit, equal to all bets in the pot, and tell the dealer to include the amount you need to call before working out your limit. In practice:
maximum raise to = (pot before the bet + the bet + your call) + your call
| Situation | Pot before | Bet facing you | Your call | Pot after call | Your maximum total bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening bet, no one has bet | $30 | none | none | $30 | $30 |
| Facing a $20 bet | $40 | $20 | $20 | $80 | $100 |
| Facing a $50 bet | $50 | $50 | $50 | $150 | $200 |
A half pot game uses the same steps with half the pot. Some casinos also run Omaha hi-lo: the ACT rules allow a high/low split, where the best high hand and the best low hand share the pot, the low must be eight or lower to qualify, and straights and flushes do not count against a low hand.
Omaha by the numbers
Four cards from 52 can be dealt 270,725 ways. Some exact counts from our calculation:
| Starting hand feature | Chance | About 1 in |
|---|---|---|
| At least two aces | 2.57% | 39 |
| Exactly two aces | 2.50% | 40 |
| At least one pair among your four cards | 32.4% | 3.1 |
| Double suited (two cards in each of two suits) | 13.5% | 7.4 |
| All four cards in one suit | 1.06% | 95 |
Compare hold'em, where pocket aces come once in 221 hands. In Omaha you will hold aces almost six times as often, and they will be worth much less.
Pre-flop equities are close
We dealt out every possible board (all 1,086,008 of them) for some classic match-ups:
| Hand | Against | Winning share (ties split) |
|---|---|---|
| A♠ A♥ K♠ K♥ (double suited) | J♦ 10♦ 9♣ 8♣ (double suited) | 61.5% |
| A♠ A♣ 5♥ 4♦ | A♥ K♥ Q♦ J♦ (double suited) | 61.1% |
| A♠ A♦ 7♣ 2♥ (rainbow) | K♥ Q♠ J♦ 10♣ (rainbow) | 59.3% |
| A♠ A♥ K♦ Q♣ | J♥ 10♥ 9♠ 8♠ (double suited) | 53.3% |
In hold'em, pocket aces against pocket kings win about 81% of the time. In Omaha, even the best possible starting hand is only a moderate favourite against a strong connected hand, and A-A with a weak side can be barely ahead. The money is won and lost after the flop, where Omaha draws can have 15 to 20 outs; our poker odds table shows how often those come in.
Pundit tip: before you put money in on the river, name your exact five cards out loud in your head: two from your hand, three from the board. It stops the one-heart flush mistake every time.
Omaha poker in Australia
You can play Omaha for money in person where a casino has approved rules for it, as at Casino Canberra under its ACT approval or in Queensland's casinos under the state's rule book. Real money Omaha online is covered by the same federal ban as other online casino-style games: providers cannot offer it to people in Australia, although players are not committing an offence by using an offshore site. See online poker Australia for what that means in practice. Pot limit swings can be large, so decide your buy-in before you sit down, and use our gambling help australia page if you need support.
Our partner sites
Terms checked 8 to 9 October 2026We earn a commission if you join through these links; it pays for the site and does not change the facts we show. Listed in no particular order. Every detail comes from the casino's own terms, except ACMA notes, which come from ACMA's blocked list. These are offshore casinos without an Australian licence, so BetStop and Australian dispute services do not cover them: read whether online pokies are legal in Australia and our affiliate disclosure.Commission links. Offshore sites with no Australian licence or BetStop cover: is it legal?
LuckyOnes
Partner · termsTerms checked 9 Oct 2026- Withdrawals
- AUD 6,000 a day
- Max bet (bonus)
- AUD 8
- Min deposit
- AUD 30
- Names no licence or operating company in its terms or footer
- luckyones.com, luckyones1.com and luckyones7.com are on ACMA's blocked list (8 Oct 2026)Main domain on ACMA's blocked list
Wild Tokyo
Partner · termsTerms checked 8 Oct 2026- Withdrawals (entry)
- AUD 800 a day
- Max bet (bonus)
- AUD 8
- Monthly cap (entry)
- AUD 13,000
- States a Curacao eGaming licence (no number shown)
18+ Offers and terms change often; the casino's own terms always apply. Never gamble money you need. Free help: Gambling Help 1800 858 858, 24/7.
Frequently asked questions
What are the rules of Omaha poker?
It plays like Texas hold'em, with blinds, a flop, turn and river and four betting rounds, but each player gets four hole cards. Your final hand must use exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three of the five community cards.
Do you have to use two cards in Omaha?
Yes, exactly two, never one, three or four. The ACT rules say a completed hand consists of two of the four hole cards and any three of the five community cards. So one heart in your hand with four hearts on the board is not a flush.
How does pot limit Omaha betting work?
The maximum bet or raise is the size of the pot. When you raise, the amount you need to call counts first: call, then raise by the new pot size. With $40 in the pot and a $20 bet, calling makes the pot $80, so the maximum raise takes your total bet to $100.
Is Omaha harder than hold'em?
It is less forgiving of weak hands. With four hole cards each player has 60 five card combinations, so strong hands and multi-way draws appear far more often, and preflop favourites rarely win much more than 60% of the time.
Can you play Omaha poker online in Australia?
Not legally for real money. Online poker is a casino-style game that cannot be offered to people in Australia under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Omaha is played in casinos with approved rules, such as Casino Canberra.
Related reading
Casino games Texas holdem Texas hold'em takes a minute to learn: two cards each, five shared, four betting rounds. We follow the casino rule books, show how the rake is worked out and give exact odds for famous starting hands. Read more 
Casino games Craps Craps looks like chaos, but the core game is two rolls of logic: a come-out roll, then a point. Learn the line bets first, add odds, and leave the centre of the table alone. Read more 
Casino games Poker odds Poker odds come down to two numbers: your chance of making the hand, and the price the pot is offering. Here are both, calculated exactly for hold'em, with an outs table that shows where the rule of 4 goes wrong. Read more 
Casino games Pai gow poker Pai gow poker gives you seven cards to split into two hands that must both beat the dealer. Here are a regulator's rules, how to set your hands, what the commission and joker do, and a side bet costing about 8%. Read more 
Casino games Blackjack strategy How to play blackjack, what it pays and the complete basic strategy chart for the most common shoe game, computed with our own solver. Plus what each mistake costs and which table rules quietly raise the house edge. Read more 
Casino games Martingale strategy Double after every loss and one win gets it all back. That part is true. What the Martingale never tells you is how often the ladder runs out, and what it costs when it does. Here are the numbers at $5 a bet. Read more Sources
Official pages we relied on. If anything here has changed, tell us via the contact page and we fix it.