On this page
Super Omaha
Introduction
Super Omaha is a poker variant based on the poker game Omaha. The game was invented by Jeff Hwang of High Variance Games and marketed by Galaxy Game. As of the time of this writing (January 2025) I am aware of placements in Hialeah Park Casino in Miami and the Oxford Downs in Summerfield, Florida.
There is a knockoff of this game called Alligator Omaha, for which this page will also apply. Alligator Omaha can be found at the Casino Miami.
Rules
The following rules assume the reader already knows standard poker rules, including hand order. In classic Omaha, each player gets four hole cards in addition to five community cards. The player must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards as the poker value of his hand. The following are the specific rules to Super Omaha.
- One standard 52-card deck of playing cards is used, shuffled before every deal.
- Play begins with the player making the mandatory Ante wager. The player may also make the optional High Hand side bet at this point.
- The player and dealer each receive four cards, face-down, and five community cards are placed face-down. Players may not exchange information about their hole cards.
- Three of the community cards are then revealed, and the player makes one of the following choices:
- Fold, forfeiting the Ante wager (although the High Hand wager remains in play until the end of the round)
- Make a Flop wager equal to any amount between 1x and 3x the Ante wager.
- The dealer then reveals his hole cards, and then exposes the final two community cards.
- The player and dealer will then make the best possible five-card poker hand, using exactly two of their hole cards and exactly three of the community cards, and these hands are compared as follows:
- If the dealer’s hand beats the player’s hand, the player loses and their Ante and Flop wagers are collected.
- If the dealer’s hand ties the player’s hand, the Ante and Flop wagers push.
- If the player’s hand beats the dealer’s hand, the Flop wager is paid even money and the Ante wager is resolved according to the pay table below.
- Finally, the High Hand wager is resolved by comparing the player’s hand to the desired paytable, according to the pay table below.
The following table shows three known pay tables for the Flop bet.
| Player Hand | Pay Table 1 | Pay Table 2 | Pay Table 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 50 | 50 | 25 |
| Straight flush | 15 | 10 | 10 |
| Four of a kind | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Full house | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Flush | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Straight or less | Push | Push | Push |
The following table shows three known pay tables for the High Hand bet.
| Player Hand | Pay Table 1 | Pay Table 2 | Pay Table 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 200 | 200 | 150 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 40 | 40 |
| Four of a kind | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Full house | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Flush | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Straight | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Trips or less | Loss | Loss | Loss |
Base Game Analysis
The following table shows the probability and contribution to the return of all possible outcomes, assuming optimal strategy, under Flop pay table 1. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 1.175%.
| Flop Bet | Player Hand | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loss | 0.206701 | -0.413402 |
| 1 | Tie | 0.004966 | 0.000000 |
| 1 | Trash | 0.000250 | 0.000250 |
| 1 | Pair | 0.020665 | 0.020665 |
| 1 | Two pair | 0.056662 | 0.056662 |
| 1 | Three of a kind | 0.015541 | 0.015541 |
| 1 | Straight | 0.030568 | 0.030568 |
| 1 | Flush | 0.012219 | 0.024438 |
| 1 | Full house | 0.008617 | 0.017234 |
| 1 | Four of a kind | 0.000288 | 0.001150 |
| 1 | Straight flush | 0.000098 | 0.001565 |
| 1 | Royal flush | 0.000006 | 0.000327 |
| 3 | Loss | 0.159766 | -0.639064 |
| 3 | Tie | 0.007513 | 0.000000 |
| 3 | Trash | 0.000058 | 0.000175 |
| 3 | Pair | 0.021396 | 0.064187 |
| 3 | Two pair | 0.099834 | 0.299502 |
| 3 | Three of a kind | 0.039363 | 0.118088 |
| 3 | Straight | 0.048017 | 0.144052 |
| 3 | Flush | 0.044052 | 0.176206 |
| 3 | Full house | 0.049071 | 0.196282 |
| 3 | Four of a kind | 0.004439 | 0.026637 |
| 3 | Straight flush | 0.000671 | 0.012075 |
| 3 | Royal flush | 0.000081 | 0.004270 |
| Fold | n/a | 0.169160 | -0.169160 |
| 1.000000 | -0.011750 |
On average, the player's final wager, including both the Ante and Flop, will be 2.779360 units. The ratio of the expected player loss to the total amount bet, known as the Element of Risk, is 1.175%/2.77936 = 0.42%.
The following table shows the house edge and element of risk, assuming optimal player strategy, for all three Flop pay tables.
| Pay Table | House Edge | Element of Risk |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.18% | 0.42% |
| 2 | 1.52% | 0.55% |
| 3 | 1.79% | 0.64% |
Strategy
I'm afraid you are mostly on your own when it comes to strategy. As far as I know, nobody has developed one, including me. The figures for the base game in this report are based on optimal strategy, which is very difficult to express in writing.
However, I can say that under pay table 1 of the Flop bet, the following are the overall probabilities at the only decision point.
- Fold = 16.92%
- 1X Raise = 35.66%
- 3X Raise = 47.43%
Note the player should never raise anything between 1x and 3x, much like the player should never double for less in blackjack.
High Hand Analysis
The following table shows the number of combinations, probability and contribution to the return for pay table 1 of the High Hand side bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 3.16%.
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 200 | 42,806,600 | 0.000092 | 0.018468 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 368,486,160 | 0.000795 | 0.039745 |
| Four of a kind | 20 | 2,225,270,496 | 0.004800 | 0.096007 |
| Full house | 5 | 29,424,798,576 | 0.063475 | 0.317376 |
| Flush | 2 | 31,216,782,384 | 0.067341 | 0.134682 |
| Straight | 1 | 52,289,648,688 | 0.112799 | 0.112799 |
| All other | -1 | 347,995,707,496 | 0.750697 | -0.750697 |
| Total | 463,563,500,400 | 1.000000 | -0.031619 |
The following table shows the number of combinations, probability and contribution to the return for pay table 2 of the High Hand side bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 3.96%.
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 200 | 42,806,600 | 0.000092 | 0.018468 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 368,486,160 | 0.000795 | 0.031796 |
| Four of a kind | 20 | 2,225,270,496 | 0.004800 | 0.096007 |
| Full house | 5 | 29,424,798,576 | 0.063475 | 0.317376 |
| Flush | 2 | 31,216,782,384 | 0.067341 | 0.134682 |
| Straight | 1 | 52,289,648,688 | 0.112799 | 0.112799 |
| All other | -1 | 347,995,707,496 | 0.750697 | -0.750697 |
| Total | 463,563,500,400 | 1.000000 | -0.039568 |
The following table shows the number of combinations, probability and contribution to the return for pay table 3 of the High Hand side bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 4.42%.
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 150 | 42,806,600 | 0.000092 | 0.013851 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 368,486,160 | 0.000795 | 0.031796 |
| Four of a kind | 20 | 2,225,270,496 | 0.004800 | 0.096007 |
| Full house | 5 | 29,424,798,576 | 0.063475 | 0.317376 |
| Flush | 2 | 31,216,782,384 | 0.067341 | 0.134682 |
| Straight | 1 | 52,289,648,688 | 0.112799 | 0.112799 |
| All other | -1 | 347,995,707,496 | 0.750697 | -0.750697 |
| Total | 463,563,500,400 | 1.000000 | -0.044185 |
Methodology
The analysis on this page was done by Charles Mousseau and provided by me with permission to publish by the game owner. Charles' method of analysis of the base game was to simulation 20 million starting hands and then to play each one according to optimal strategy. The High Hand side bet was analyzed by looping through all 463,563,500,400 combinations of four player cards and five community cards.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Jeffrey Hwang, the game owner and inventor, for supplying me the math report by Charles Mousseau on which this page is based.
Links
- High Variance Games — Explanation of the game by the owner.
- Demo game
- YouTube — Video of somebody playing the game.