All games, particularly games of chance give rise to myths and legends in terms of the way they are played and why. For some uncanny reason, Omaha Poker Hi-Lo seems to be shrouded in more mystery and fantasy than many of the other variations of poker with more coming out of the woodwork daily. It is in fact a very straightforward version of poker and the one overriding myth is that, it is a complicated game.

Nothing could be further from the truth and while all types of poker contain layers of complexity Omaha is in actual fact a very close cousin to Texas Hold 'em and is really simple to play. At this juncture there is one thing which needs to be said, and that all poker players should understand; experts would not be trying to have poker re-classified a game if skill, if it were not a game of skill. Playing poker is not like playing a slot machine!

The decisions which need to be taken when playing Texas Hold 'em are by contrast far more complicated than the decisions which need to be made when playing Omaha. In virtually every Texas Hold'em hand dealt, the player hold nothing, and has to make something of their cards with the community cards in the centre of the table. Winners of this game are often simply lucky; they are regularly determined by the craftiest player from the flop onwards.

Omaha is seldom played heads-up on the flop, and at any time there are three players or more in a pot, one will hold a better hand than any of the others. Omaha hands have more ways to hook up with the flop, players win the pot more easily with a bluff and they have double the amount of ways; probably more, to hit a three card flop. In Omaha Hi-lo you can also win on either hand, giving the player more choices and it all comes down to calculating the chances to win a part or even all of the prize pot by betting.

Common situations in Omaha Hi-Lo poker are exactly that "common" and much uncomplicated. There are very rare occurrences where any situation in this game is complicated. Yes, they do come up and the player must learn to be able to deal with these, but this separates the good players from the great players. You won't find these rare situations in every hand, perhaps even as little as one in ten.

Every game of skill you play comes with some complex situations otherwise it would not be a game of skill. Managing complex aspects is part and parcel of fully understanding its basic simplicities. Omaha players may run into trouble when they screw up and make things more complicated for them but it is a complete myth that playing Omaha HI-Lo poker is more difficult than playing Texas Hold 'em, don't believe anyone who tells you this. Because of this one myth, a ton of other myths spring out, like snakes from a Medusa's head, it does not make them any more true; most are simply gibberish. With a proper approach to the game all the myths soon fade into the mist.