Omaha poker is really not that difficult to learn, with a little effort. Like most variations on the game of poker, Omaha's first requirement is learning the ranking of hands. Once you have mastered the ranking of hands, learning to play Omaha is simply a matter of getting accustomed to the specifics of the game.

Regular Omaha poker, as opposed to Omaha Hi Lo, is a fairly simple variation on the popular Texas Hold'em-style poker game. Each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two, and then there are five community cards dealt in the center of the table. Players must use exactly two of their hole cards and exactly three of the community cards to form the best possible hands.

Whoever has the best five-card hand wins the entire pot. There is no splitting of the pot as there is in the Hi Lo variation. Like online Texas Hold'em, there is both a big blind and a small blind to the left of the dealer "button." The big blind always puts in the sum total of the small bet at a given table: for example, at a $3/$6 table the big blind would be $3.

What makes Omaha such a fun game is that with four hole cards there are many more possible hands to draw to for each player. Additionally, the fact that each player must use two of his hole cards also adds to the excitement. Learning how to play Omaha is truly best accomplished by simply playing several hands. VIPpoker.com is a safe and highly secure site that offers micro-limit and even free poker play online. Sign up now at VIPpoker.com to play Omaha poker today!