Omaha is played exactly like Texas Hold’em, except that you get four hole cards instead of just two. But, contrary to Hold’em, when you put together a five card hand in the showdown, you have to use exactly two of your hole cards with three cards from the board.

The first betting rounds

Omaha is usually played with a small and a big blind, which are posted before the cards are dealt and considered as live bets. Four cards are dealt face down to each player and the first betting round takes place as usual. When all players have either folded or called the last bet, the flop is dealt: three cards face up on the board. These cards are community cards, which mean that all players can use them to build the best possible five-card poker hand. 

Then the second and third betting rounds take place just like in Hold’em. Omaha is mostly played with fixed limit or pot limit, but no-limit Omaha also occur.

The river and the turn

When the fifth board card has been dealt (the river), the last betting round takes place. If more than one player remains in the hand when the betting is over, there's a showdown. The player who put in the last bet or raise and was called shows his or her cards first. The other players then show their cards in clockwise order. If they don't want to compete for the pot, they can fold their hands without showing. The player who can build the best possible five card hand using two hole cards and three board cards wins the pot. If several players have the same hand, they split the pot equally.