PokerToast · study tools for mixed-game poker
Omaha 8 (Omaha Hi-Lo, eight or better) strategy and study tools
Limit Omaha 8: four cards each, and you must use exactly two of them with three from the board. The pot is split between the best high hand and the best low of 8 or better, if there is one.
PokerToast is a study tool for mixed-game players: you practice decisions and see what a trained solver does. There is no real-money play.
Omaha 8 starting hands: what the solver does
The heads-up solver's most frequent play in 6 common spots (5 before the flop, 1 on the flop). "How often" is a mix: the solver plays some hands more than one way. "Not settled" means another play measured better, so treat that answer as uncertain. Each row opens the full answer: the solver's numbers, how they were made, and the common advice where we found one.
Numbers from PokerToast's own trained solver (version Y-19095762-20261005180715): trained by self-play, not a solved game; heads-up limit only; similar hands are grouped, so a number is for the group, not your exact cards. All of these spots in one table, with what each play is worth.
What PokerToast's solver knows about Omaha 8
PokerToast trained its own Omaha 8 solvers for limit betting (at most four bets per street) by self-play (Monte Carlo counterfactual regret minimization). A solver learns how often to fold, check, call, bet or raise in each situation, and then each play's value is measured by playing the situation out many times.
- Heads-up (2 players): Trained and in use (93,573 situations learned, 19,095,762 training iterations). Before the flop it groups your four cards by their low cards (A-2, A-3, other aces, 2-3), how many low cards you hold, suits (including a suited ace), pairs and high cards. After the flop it groups by your high hand and low hand on that board, the board itself, the pot and the betting so far on this street.
- 3-handed: Trained and in use (582,245 situations learned, 16,678,240 training iterations). Uses the same hand grouping, plus your seat before the flop, how many opponents are left, how many act after you, and whether you made the last bet on the street before.
Limits, honestly: the solvers group similar hands together, so their numbers are for the group, not your exact cards; they play limit only; there is no solver for 4 or more players yet; and every "worth" number assumes an opponent who plays like the solver, not like the players at your table.
Real example spots
These are recent Daily Spots for Omaha 8: hands dealt by the Bot Lab engine, with the decision picked and graded by the trained heads-up solver. The answers are hidden until you open them.
Example 1: Omaha 8, river
Daily Spot #11 (2026-10-15)
Omaha 8, heads-up, limit 20/40. River. You: (6h) (9s) (Kd) (Ks) (big blind). Board: 7s Jh Jc 5c 7h. Before the flop: opponent raises, you call. Flop: you bet, opponent calls. Turn: you bet, opponent calls. River: you check, opponent bets. Pot 240. Your move: Fold / Call / Raise.
What would you do? Decide first, then open the answer.
Show the solver's answer
| Play | How often | Worth (chips) |
|---|
| Call | 98% | +6.9 |
| Fold | 2% | +0 |
| Raise | <1% | -21.3 |
The solver calls 98%, folds 2% of the time.
In plain words: you have two pair and no low.
Why call: calling is worth about 28.2 chips more than raising, so putting more chips in does not pay here; folding would give up the 6.9 chips that calling wins on average, so the 240-chip pot is worth fighting for.
"Worth" is what each play wins or loses on average from here on, compared with folding (0), measured in 21,328 play-outs of this situation, against an opponent who plays like the solver.
Example 2: Omaha 8, river
Daily Spot #10 (2026-10-14)
Omaha 8, heads-up, limit 20/40. River. You: (Kc) (Qh) (Th) (Ah) (big blind). Board: 2d 7c 5h 6c 8h. Before the flop: opponent raises, you raise, opponent calls. Flop: you check, opponent checks. Turn: you check, opponent checks. River: you check, opponent bets. Pot 160. Your move: Fold / Call / Raise.
What would you do? Decide first, then open the answer.
Show the solver's answer
| Play | How often | Worth (chips) |
|---|
| Call | 100% | +4.8 |
| Fold | <1% | +0 |
| Raise | 0% | -18.8 |
The solver calls 100% of the time.
In plain words: you have no pair and no low.
Why call: calling is worth about 23.6 chips more than raising, so putting more chips in does not pay here; folding would give up the 4.8 chips that calling wins on average, so the 160-chip pot is worth fighting for.
"Worth" is what each play wins or loses on average from here on, compared with folding (0), measured in 13,724 play-outs of this situation, against an opponent who plays like the solver.
Example 3: Omaha 8, flop
Daily Spot #8 (2026-10-12)
Omaha 8, heads-up, limit 20/40. Flop. You: (7h) (Jh) (4d) (Jd) (big blind). Board: Kh 4s 5d. Before the flop: opponent raises, you raise, opponent raises, you call. Flop: you check, opponent bets. Pot 180. Your move: Fold / Call / Raise.
What would you do? Decide first, then open the answer.
Show the solver's answer
| Play | How often | Worth (chips) |
|---|
| Call | 100% | +31.9 |
| Raise | <1% | +24.6 |
| Fold | 0% | +0 |
The solver calls 100% of the time.
In plain words: you have a pair and a low draw (one more low card on the board makes your low).
Why call: calling is worth about 7.3 chips more than raising, so putting more chips in does not pay here; folding would give up the 31.9 chips that calling wins on average, so the 180-chip pot is worth fighting for.
"Worth" is what each play wins or loses on average from here on, compared with folding (0), measured in 486 play-outs of this situation, against an opponent who plays like the solver.
The Bot Lab for Omaha 8
- Play Omaha 8 against bots at a table of 2 to 6 players (log in first): every Bot Lab game is on the Study plan.
- Heads-up at the default limit stakes, the bot plays the trained solver strategy.
- 3-handed at the default limit stakes, the bots play the 3-handed solver strategy. Bigger tables use simple rule bots.
- Bot personalities: shark, fish, rock and maniac (or a secret mix), to practice against different styles.
- Hints (Pro plan): while you play, how often the solver takes each action and what each is worth, where a solver exists for your table size (free accounts: 1 a day).
- My hands (Pro plan): your decisions compared with the solver (every spot it has learned), a skill score (chips lost per 100 hands compared with the solver) and your playing style.
- Table read: each opponent's likely style, the plays that gave it away, and how to adjust.
The Calculator for Omaha 8
- The Research Calculator (PC site): lists every hand an opponent could hold in Omaha 8, lets you narrow them down into a range, and works out your equity against it, street by street.
- Its Solver tab: for a heads-up limit spot you set up, how often the solver takes each action and what each is worth (free accounts: 3 lookups a day; the Study plan has no limit).
- The free Omaha 8 equity calculator: your cards against your opponents' up cards or the board, worked out on the server, no sign-up.
- The free equity calculator: your cards against your opponents' cards, no sign-up: open it for Omaha 8.
Try it
Today's Omaha 8 Daily Spot Free equity calculator Open PokerToast
Bot Lab: open PokerToast, log in, choose Play Bots, then pick Omaha 8 and the number of players.
Other games: Razz · Stud · Stud 8 · Hold'em
Solver answers to common Omaha 8 questions: the Omaha 8 Reference.