Gambling terms, explained straight

Poker

Omaha poker hands

In Omaha, a player makes a hand by selecting exactly two of their four private cards and exactly three of the five community cards to form the best possible five-card poker hand.

Hole cards
4 per player
Community cards
5 on the board
Hand formula
2 hole cards + 3 board cards = 5-card hand 12

Key points

  • Each player receives four private cards; five community cards are dealt face up. 3
  • To make a valid hand, you must combine exactly two hole cards with exactly three board cards. 1
  • In Omaha/8, a qualifying low hand must also use exactly two hole cards and three board cards, with an 8-high or lower. 3

Where this term is used

Poker Boat (poker hands) Explains a full house, a five-card hand category that can be made in Omaha. Poker Check poker hands Covers the general concept of verifying a poker hand's rank. Poker Omaha poker hand rankings Lists the hierarchy of hand categories as they apply to Omaha. Poker Poker hand rankings Describes the standard ranking of poker hands from high card to royal flush. Poker Poker hands probability Shows the odds of being dealt each hand category in poker. Poker Poker hands quads Explains four of a kind, a hand category possible in Omaha.

Sources

  1. Omaha Poker - card game rules - Pagat pagat.com Defines the Omaha hand-formation rule of exactly two hole cards and three board cards.
  2. ROBERTS RULES OF POKER pagat.com Reinforces the hand-formation rule and the number of hole cards.
  3. Omaha hold 'em en.wikipedia.org Provides the number of hole cards and community cards, and the low-hand rule for Omaha/8.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.