Qualifying Low
For those of you not familiar with high-low poker variations the "low" aspect of Omaha-8 may seem confusing at first. Here is the bottom line on low hands in Omaha-8:
A low hand consists of five different cards that are eight or lower. Three of these come from the board and two must come from your hand.
There are some implications of this:
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There must be three cards eight or lower on the flop for any low to qualify since you must play exactly three low cards from the board.
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There must be at least two cards eight or lower in your hand for you to qualify for a low.
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A low straight or flush still qualifies as a low. The best possible low is A2345, the worst possible low is 45678.
Let's look at some examples:
On the board:
There is a low possible because there are three different cards that are eight or lower.
If you hold
then you do not qualify for a low because you can not form a hand of five different low cards with the two low cards in your hand and the three on the board. The two of clubs on the board has "counterfeited" your two of hearts.
If you hold
then your hand does qualify for low because the two low cards in your hand (Ace Three) can be combined with three low cards on the board (Two Five Eight) to form a hand that contains five different cards eight or lower.