A river board of 9♠ 9♥ 9♦ 9♣ 2♣ looks decisive. In four-card Omaha High, neither player can put all four nines into a legal hand. Each five-card combination must contain exactly two private hole cards and exactly three community cards, as PokerStars' Omaha rules specify.
That restriction changes the result below. These are three separate, invented showdowns using a standard deck. Both players have live, properly shown hands after betting has ended and are eligible for the same pot. The cards illustrate hand selection, without calculating fees, contributions or a betting decision. The examples concern four-card Omaha High, not the low half of Omaha Hi/Lo.
Four nines can leave a player with only trips
Keep that board: 9♠ 9♥ 9♦ 9♣ 2♣. A holds A♠ K♦ Q♦ J♥. B holds 3♥ 3♠ 5♣ 6♣.
Each player must leave at least one of the board's nines out. A's ace and king supply the strongest two private cards for three nines. B can combine the pair of threes with three nines instead.
| Player's four hole cards | Best legal five-card hand | Hand category |
|---|---|---|
| A: A♠ K♦ Q♦ J♥ | 9♠ 9♥ 9♦ A♠ K♦ | Three nines, ace and king |
| B: 3♥ 3♠ 5♣ 6♣ | 9♠ 9♥ 9♦ 3♥ 3♠ | Nines full of threes |
B wins with a full house against three of a kind. The ranking follows traditional high-hand categories; the unusual result comes from which cards may enter those categories. Adding the fourth board nine would break the Omaha selection rule before any kicker comparison began.
Our Hold'em five-card comparison allows both, one or neither of the player's hole cards. Applying that freedom to this Omaha hand would produce the wrong result.
One heart cannot complete this flush
Use a new deal. The board is A♥ K♥ 9♥ 4♣ 2♦. A holds Q♥ Q♣ J♠ 10♦; B holds 8♥ 7♥ 6♠ 5♠.
A's queen of hearts cannot be used alone with four board cards. Nor do the three board hearts and Q♥ make a flush: that is only four hearts, and a legal hand still needs a second private card.
A's best hand is Q♥ Q♣ A♥ K♥ 9♥, one pair of queens. B uses 8♥ 7♥ with A♥ K♥ 9♥ for an ace-high flush. B wins. The queen is a higher heart than either of B's private hearts, but A cannot build a five-heart hand under the required two-plus-three selection.
The board's full house is not a shared result
For a third independent showdown, deal A♠ A♦ A♣ K♠ K♦ on the board. A holds Q♣ Q♦ J♥ 9♠. B holds K♣ 7♣ 6♦ 5♥.
A uses Q♣ Q♦ and the three board aces: aces full of queens. B's strongest legal selection is K♣ 7♣ with those three aces, giving three aces with king and seven. A wins.
The visible aces-full-of-kings board cannot be claimed as either player's five-card hand. It contains five community cards, two more than Omaha permits. A's pocket queens turn three board aces into a legal full house; B's single private king cannot bring both board kings along with all three aces.
