northcoastcoffee.net– Four players is a sweet spot for Omaha. The table moves fast, everyone gets involved often, and you have enough action to make the community cards feel meaningful without turning every hand into a traffic jam. The only catch is that Omaha has one rule that must be respected every single time—or the game becomes an argument generator.
If you’re here for How To Play Omaha Poker for 4 people, this guide gives you the clean setup: what you need, how to deal, what choices exist each round, and how showdowns work. It’s written for a friendly home setting, not a casino vibe.
What you need for a 4-player Omaha game
Keep it simple:
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A standard 52-card deck
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Something to represent chips (real chips, coins, paper points)
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A way to mark the dealer position (a button, coin, or any object)
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A clear agreement on the betting format (most commonly Pot-Limit Omaha)
You can play Omaha as “high only” (best high hand wins) or as “hi-lo” (split pot). If you’re new, start with high only because it’s easier to read.
The single most important Omaha rule
In Omaha, each player gets four hole cards. At showdown you must make a five-card hand using:
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exactly two of your hole cards, and
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exactly three community cards.
Not one hole card. Not all four. Exactly two.
This is the rule that changes everything compared to Texas Hold’em, and it’s the reason Omaha is fun: more combinations, but stricter construction.
Table positions and why they matter with four players
With four players, position rotates quickly.
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The dealer button moves one seat clockwise after each hand.
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The two players to the left of the dealer post forced bets called small blind and big blind (you can also play with an “ante” format, but blinds are easiest).
Because there are only four seats, the dealer position is strong. You’ll act later more often, which makes decisions easier.
Dealing: step-by-step for 4 people
Here’s the full dealing rhythm:
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Post blinds
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Player left of dealer posts small blind
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Next player posts big blind
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Deal hole cards
Deal 4 cards face down to each player, one card at a time around the table until everyone has four. -
Pre-flop betting round
Action begins with the player left of the big blind and moves clockwise. -
Flop
Reveal 3 community cards in the middle of the table. -
Flop betting round
Action starts with the first active player left of the dealer. -
Turn
Reveal 1 more community card (the 4th board card). -
Turn betting round
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River
Reveal the final community card (5th board card). -
River betting round
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Showdown
If more than one player remains, hands are revealed and the best legal Omaha hand wins.
Optional but standard: “burn” one card face down before flop, turn, and river. If you’re playing casually and everyone trusts the deal, you can include it for authenticity; it’s not the learning priority.
What you can do on your turn
Just like Hold’em, your options depend on whether a bet exists in the current round:
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Check (if no bet yet)
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Bet (if no bet yet)
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Call (match a bet)
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Raise (increase a bet)
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Fold (quit the hand)
If you’re playing Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO), the maximum raise is based on the size of the pot. For a beginner home game, many groups simplify by choosing a fixed raise structure (like “bet = 1 unit, raise = +1 unit”) until everyone is comfortable.
How to read hands at showdown (the beginner-proof method)
This is the easiest way to avoid misreads:
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Each player points to two hole cards they are using.
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They point to three community cards they are using.
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They read the final five-card hand.
Example: If the board has three hearts, you still need two hearts in your hand to make a flush. Having one heart isn’t enough. This catches the most common mistake immediately.
Why 4 players changes the feel of Omaha
With fewer players:
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Pots are often contested heads-up or three-way, so bluffs and semi-bluffs feel more meaningful.
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You’ll see more flops, so learning accelerates.
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Strong hands hold up slightly more often than in full-ring chaos, but draws are still everywhere.
If your group is learning, four players is ideal because you get repetitions without waiting.
One small home-game insight that keeps it fun
Because the table is small, it’s easy for one confident player to dominate the pace. Don’t let speed become pressure. Give each player a consistent “thinking beat” before they act. In friendly games—especially with noisy rooms or people multitasking—most mistakes come from acting too fast, not from not knowing rules.
If you remember the deal sequence and the one defining rule—use exactly two hole cards and exactly three community cards—you already know the core of How To Play Omaha Poker at a 4-person table. With four players, the game runs smoothly, decisions come often, and you’ll learn faster simply because you’ll see more hands and more showdowns in less time.