6 Card Omaha Poker is a community card poker variant that grows out of the Omaha family, only with a deeper deal. Every player receives six private cards, known as hole cards, and five community cards are dealt face-up on the board for the whole table to share.
Six hole cards apiece, and every last one of them convinced it belongs in the final hand. Only two of them get the nod.
The defining rule is strict: your five-card hand must be built from exactly two of your hole cards plus exactly three of the community cards. No more, no fewer. For anyone who has played 4 Card or 5 Card Omaha, this variant is presented as the livelier member of the family.
Bets, Payouts & Rules
The most widely played format is Pot Limit 6 Card Omaha Poker, where a player may bet up to the size of the pot. Tables are identified by the size of their blinds, and the action moves clockwise, starting with the player under the gun, immediately clockwise from the big blind.
Each hand runs through the following stages:
- Pre-Flop: Players look at their six hole cards. Action begins to the left of the big blind, which counts as a live bet for the round, and each player in turn may fold, call or raise.
- The Flop: The first three community cards are dealt face-up. Play starts with the active player immediately clockwise from the button, and another round of betting follows.
- The Turn: The fourth community card is dealt face-up, with betting again starting from the active player immediately clockwise from the button.
- The River: The fifth and final community card is dealt face-up, followed by the last round of betting.
- The Showdown: If more than one player remains, the last player to bet or raise shows their cards first. Where there was no bet on the final round, the active player immediately clockwise from the button shows first.
Betting continues on every round until all players still in the hand have matched one another in the pot. The best five-card hand takes the pot, always made from two hole cards and three board cards, with Omaha hand rankings applying throughout. Identical hands divide the pot equally between the players holding them.
Under Pot Limit rules, the minimum bet matches the size of the big blind, and any raise must be at least as large as the previous bet or raise in that same round. The maximum is the size of the pot, worked out from the active pot, all bets on the table, and the amount the raising player must first call. There is no cap on the number of raises a round can hold.
Once the pot has been awarded, the button moves clockwise to the next player and a fresh hand is dealt.
Features & Bonus Rounds
This is a pure poker variant rather than a game of bonus rounds, so its character comes entirely from its structure.
Two Hole Cards And Three Community Cards
Using exactly two hole cards with exactly three board cards is the heart of 6 Card Omaha. It shapes how every hand is put together and how each showdown is read, and it applies from the first hand to the last.
Pot Limit Structure
Pot Limit is the standard and most popular way 6 Card Omaha is played, with the pot itself setting the ceiling on any bet.
Tournament Play
As well as the regular tables, 6 Card Omaha is also offered in tournament form for players who prefer a structured field.
Taste & Feel
Six cards in hand makes for a thoughtful table. There are more combinations to weigh up, and rather more consideration given between the flop and the river than in variants with fewer hole cards.
The rhythm is classic online poker: a rotating button, betting rounds in clockwise order, and community cards that turn over at their own unhurried pace, entirely unbothered by whatever anyone was hoping for.
Whenever you fancy a look, the tables are there, and other poker variants sit alongside them on the Poker Games page.