Q&A for How to Play Omaha Poker

Yes, you are allowed to pick up your cards and hold them in your hand, but you take the risk that a card might fall out of your hand and become visible to the other players at the table. Most professional poker players will leave their cards face down on the table so no one around them can peek at their hand.

In Omaha poker, you don't need a pair in your hand to call a pair on the board. You must use exactly two cards from your hand and three cards from the board to form your best five-card hand. If there's a pair on the board, you can use that pair along with two other cards from your hand to make your best hand.

In Omaha Hi-Lo, an Ace to 5 straight flush can win both the high and low pots. The straight flush wins the high pot, and the Ace-5 low qualifies for the low pot because all cards are 8 or lower. As long as no one else has a better hand, you can win both pots.

Yes, in Omaha Hi-Lo, you can have a mixed suit for your low hand. The key requirement is that the hand consists of five cards with values of 8 or lower, with no pairs. The suits don't matter, so a hand like A-2-3-4-5, with mixed suits, would qualify for the low pot.

In Omaha High, the player with the trip Q and Ace kicker (QA) wins the pot. The best hand is Q-Q-Q-A-7, beating two pair (K-K-Q-Q-7).

In Omaha poker, the middle cards are the community cards dealt face up. You must use exactly two of your hole cards and three community cards to make the best five-card hand. You combine your hole cards with the middle cards to form your hand, which can lead to pairs, straights, or flushes.