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How does Omaha poker differ from Texas hold’em?

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Five playing cards showing a flush in clubs: king, ten, eight, seven, and five of clubs. — poker A poker hand containing five cards of the same suit but not in sequence is called a flush.

While Omaha and Texas hold’em share similar betting structures and gameplay, they differ significantly in how players construct their hands.1

The primary differences include:

Hole Cards: In Texas hold’em, players are dealt two hole cards. In Omaha, players are dealt four hole cards.12
Hand Construction: In Texas hold’em, players can use any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards to make the best five-card hand. In Omaha, players are strictly required to use exactly two of their four hole cards and three of the five community cards to form their hand.12

Omaha is also frequently played in variations not common to standard Texas hold’em, such as lowball—where the best hand is A-2-3-4-5—and high-low split pot games, which award the pot to both the best high hand and the best low hand.1