Omaha Poker is very similar to Hold’em but there are some differences that get Hold’em players into trouble when they first begin.  Omaha is more about how the cards fit together rather than playing position to your advantage as in Hold’em. In Texas Hold’em players start off with two hole cards but in Omaha you begin with four cards.  Many times have Hold’em players stepped in a game thinking they knew how to play Omaha but have made themselves look like fools when they get confused with this rule.  Experienced Omaha players are capitalizing on these common mistakes new players are making.  The Omaha rules say that you can not play the board because you must use two of your hole cards.  This rule is the trickiest part of Omaha and gets just about every Hold’em player confused when they first play.  In Omaha the chances are much slimmer that one of your opponents has a flush, your opponent will need to have 2 hole cards containing diamonds to make that flush because they are forced to use two hole cards.  Pay attention to the flush and full house trickiness Playing Position in Omaha.  In Omaha you want to make your opponents pay for any draw they are on.  Any newbie can sit down at a Hold’em table and win short term but in Omaha those types of players will get torn to shreds. 

Omaha shares many rules with Texas Hold'em, with a few important differences. Each player in Omaha is dealt 4 cards face-down, instead of 2 as in Hold'em. Players use their four face down cards and the five community cards that are eventually dealt in the middle to form their best poker hand possible.

That said, the way you form your best hand is another key difference between Omaha and Hold'em emerges. In Hold'em, you use any combination of your two face down cards and the five community cards to make your best hand. You can use one card from your hand and four from the board, two from your hand and three from the board, or play the five cards on the board.

In Omaha, though, you must use both of your hole cards when forming your best five card hand. You don't have the option of using just one.

Omaha is also slightly different in that it's commonly played as a high/low split game (called Omaha HiLo or Omaha/8), in which the highest hand and the lowest hand split the pot.

To begin the game, players post a small blind and a big blind before any cards are dealt. There are no antes in Omaha as there are in games like 7 Card Stud, as the forced small and big blind bets take the place of antes. The blinds and dealer button rotate around the table, so that players take turns being the small blind, big blind, and dealer. 

After the blinds are placed each player in Omaha is then dealt 4 cards face-down, instead of 2 as in Hold'em. The action after that is exactly the same as in Hold'em. There's a round of pre-flop betting, followed by a three card flop being dealt, which are community cards shared by all players.  After the flop is dealt, another round of betting ensues. When this is completed, a fourth community card dealt, which is called the "turn" card. Another round of betting occurs after the turn card is dealt.   A fifth and final community card ("the river") is then dealt. Players complete one last round of betting after the river is dealt, with all players remaining in the hand going to showdown.

At showdown all remaining players at showdown after the last round of betting then turn over their hands, with the best five card hand winning.