Omaha Hi Poker is just one of many card games available at 888poker. In this section, I’ll go through my personal experiences in playing this exciting variation of poker at the 888poker site. Let’s get started!!
An Overview of 888 Omaha Hi Poker
If you’re new to the game of Omaha Hi Poker, it’s easy to become confused at the different rules of Omaha compared to other poker games like Hold’em – at least it was difficult for me at first.
My favourite thing about 888 Omaha Hi Poker is that you can use their helpful demonstrative video to view a walk-through of the process of playing Omaha. As a beginner to Omaha Hi Poker, it was a great relief to see the steps in motion without having to join a game.
I even found free training games where you can test your skills before deciding to play with your hard-earned money. While most gambling sites care about taking your money instead of helping you learn to improve your game, I feel that isn’t the case with 888poker.
Although the hands are the same as other poker games, there were some differences between Omaha and its competition Texas Hold’em that I had to learn. In Hold’em, each player gets two pocket cards to hold for themselves and five community cards on the table for everyone to use.
But in Omaha, each player gets four pocket cards. But that doesn’t mean you get to use all of these to make a winning hand. Omaha has a rule that players can only use two of their hole cards. The other three cards for your hand must come from the community cards. For me, that took some getting used to.
Like Texas Hold’em, Omaha has multiple rounds, starting with the pre-flop, when players receive their four pocket cards, but the community cards have not gone down. Next comes the post-flop action, which is a round of betting after three community cards – the flop – go down on the table.
Then, the post-turn action, which is a betting round after the fourth card – the turn – goes onto the table. After that is the post-river action, the last betting round once the fifth and final card – the river – goes down.
The final stage is the showdown, where all the remaining players show their cards to determine the hand’s winner. The player with the highest hand rank wins the pot. It seems like a lot of work but the automated process made it seem much faster, especially once I got into the rhythm of bet, raise, check, or fold.
Main Features
Now that we’ve looked at 888poker’s business let’s look at why I think this brand is the best site for playing 888 Omaha Hi Poker. There’s plenty of great features to love.
Interactive Poker Guide
For me, one of 888 Omaha Hi Poker’s best features is the eight-step interactive guide that walks you through the various steps that make up a hand. Similar to Texas Hold’em, multiple cards are dealt throughout a hand, with a round of betting between each deal.
The guide walks you through the table positions, explains the two mandatory bets – a small blind and a big blind – and explains the round’s various steps. It even teaches you essential Omaha poker vocabulary, like UNG – under the gun. Players that are UNG must open the betting round after the pre-flop. Newbies like me will find this portion very valuable.
I even found that 888poker offers helpful newbie tips, like, even though you have four hole cards (individual cards that you hold and no one else sees) instead of two like in Texas Hold’em, you shouldn’t try to create multiple hands. Pick a strategy for a poker hand and stick with it.
Hand Rankings
I also liked 888 Omaha Hi because it makes it easy to understand which hands score the best. Since Omaha is a confusing game when you first start, you may need to refer to a cheat sheet to remember the rankings.
The good news is that the hands are the same as other poker games. The best hand to get is a Royal Flush. The lowest hand that can win is a high card. Given that I had to learn some new rules, this similarity to a game I already knew was a benefit.
Site Design and Functionality
When I visited the 888poker site, I wasn’t bombarded with glitzy flashing lights and dozens of advertisements, which I appreciate as a customer.
I loved that the site has an easy-to-navigate layout, and it’s easy to pick your game selections. Although I wasn’t too sure about having to download the 888poker software. Turns out, I was worried for nothing.
While you may have concerns about adding unfamiliar software to your computer, you can feel safe doing so, as 888poker uses high-security measures to keep your information and funds safe and secure. And there are no harmful viruses, spyware, or other creepy malware issues attached.
Sitting at a “table” gave me a taste of being back in a bustling casino, minus the loud noises, busy, unpredictable crowds, and unfortunately, the helpful cocktail waitresses. Sorry folks, but we’re now responsible for getting our own drinks.
These private rooms keep out spectators and operate in the same rotation as in person, so there was no confusion on how to play or when it was my turn. The design is simplistic and maybe a bit boring, considering it’s a casino game. A cheering crowd or a round of applause when I won would have made it more realistic and exciting, but it doesn’t exist here.
Pros and Cons
I found many different benefits and a few downsides of using 888poker to jump into the action of an Omaha Hi Poker game.
Pros:
- Easy to set up an account, fund it, and start playing
- Interactive guides help you understand the steps before you play
- All processes are automated, so you can’t skip turns or forget it’s your turn to deal or set the blinds
- Simple site setup makes navigation easy
- Variety of tables with varying Fixed-Limit, No Limits, and PLO
Cons:
- You have to download software to your device to play a game; can’t play on the website
- $30/$60 (small blind/big blind) fixed limit is the highest table bet for Omaha Hi
Conclusion
As a regular poker player, I love discovering various poker games and researching new places to play them. 888poker’s Omaha Hi Poker game is a unique experience with many fun additions to the traditional poker game that made the card play fun, exciting and unique.
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