With a board of K-Q-J-4-3, what is the best possible low hand? No qualified low hand is possible with this board.
A Lot of Times You Can Just Add A-2 to the Three Lowest Cards on the Board
With a board of K-4-Q-6-7, what is the best possible low hand? Add A-2 and you have 7-6-4-2-A. Add A-3 and you have the next-best possible low, 7-6-4-3-A. Add 2-3 and you have the third-best possible low, 7-6-4-3-2. Add A-5 and you have the fourth-best possible low, 7-6-5-4-A.

Adding A-? Works Again
With a board of 3-5-Q-8-7, what is the best possible low hand? Add A-2 for 7-5-3-2-A. Add A-4 for the second-best possible low hand, 7-5-4-3-A. Add 2-4 for the third-best possible low, 7-5-4-3-2. Add A-6 for the fourth-best-possible low, 7-6-5-3-A.
OK, I hope you're now beginning to see the light. First, you need the three lowest cards eight or lower on the board, and then you just figure out what two cards from your hand you need to add in order to make the best possible low hand.

Remember: You Have to Use Exactly Two Cards from Your Hand
It is crucial that you remember this rule. I have often seen people misread their hands because they've forgotten it. They might think, for example, that if the board reads 0 and they have in trieir hand, then they have a wheel. They sometimes misread their hands, thinking they can use the 2-3-4-5 from the board combined with the ace from the hand for a five low. In reality, they have a seven low—the A-7 from the hand combined with the 2-3-4 from the board (7-4-3-2-A). Hold'em players who are switching over to Omaha often make this sort of miscalculation.

Remember that you may use two cards for high and two different down cards for low in the same hand. Of course, you may also use the same two cards for high and low if you choose.

• When No Low Poker Hand Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)
• Poker – Adding A-3 Works Again (0)

With a board of 3-5-Q-8-7, what is the best possible low hand? Add A-2 for 7-5-3-2-A. Add A-4 for the second-best possible low hand, 7-5-4-3-A. Add 2-4 for the third-best possible low, 7-5-4-3-2. Add A-6 for the fourth-best-possible low, 7-6-5-3-A.
OK, I hope you're now beginning to see the light. First, you need the three lowest cards eight or lower on the board, and then you just figure out what two cards from your hand you need to add in order to make the best possible low hand.

• When No Low Poker Hand Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)

With a board of K-Q-J-4-3, what is the best possible low hand? No qualified low hand is possible with this board.

A Lot of Times You Can Just Add A-? to the Three Lowest Cards on the Board
With a board of K-4-Q-6-7, what is the best possible low hand? Add A-2 and you have 7-6-4-2-A. Add A-3 and you have the next-best possible low, 7-6-4-3-A. Add 2-3 and you have the third-best possible low, 7-6-4-3-2. Add A-5 and you have the fourth-best possible low, 7-6-5-4-A.

• When No Low Poker Hand Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)
• Poker – Adding A-3 Works Again (0)

With a board of 2-3-5-6-8, what is the best possible low hand? How about adding an A-4 to that board? If you do, you make a wheel, the best possible low hand in the game, 5-4-3-2-A. What is the second-best possible low hand with that board? By using an A-2, A-3, A-5, or A-6 from your hand, you'll make a 6-5-3-2-A low. Remember that you must use two cards from your hand and three from the board. So add the A-2 from your hand to the 6-5-3 from the board; with the A-3 from your hand, add the 2-5-6 from the board; with the A-5 from your hand, use the 2-3-6 from the board; with the A-6 from your hand, use the 2-3-5 from the board. Note that in this case the A-2, A-3, A-5, and A-6 all combine with the board cards to make the same 6-5-3-2-A low. Make sure that you see this remarkable outcome clearly before you move on to the next paragraph.

What is the third-best possible low hand with this board? The 6-5-4-3-2 low is possible (a "straight six"). You can make a straight six by using a 2-4, 3-4, 4-5, or 4-6 from your hand. What is the fourth-best possible low hand with this board? The 7-5-3-2-A low is possible, when you use an A-7 from your hand. To make the fifth-best low, add a 7-4 from your hand to make a 7-5-4-3-2 low.
Are you getting the hang of this stuff about qualified lows yet? Let's try three more examples.

• When No Low Poker Hand Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)

Let's take a look at some best possible low hands, on the basis of a few sample boards. Why do we need to figure out what the best possible low hands are in 08B? Because when we conclude that we hold the best possible low hand, then we should be putting in as many raises as we can. When we have the best possible low hand, then of course we will usually win at least half of the pot, and we want our half to be as big as possible.

There are some situations in which you may want to stop raising on the end when you have the best possible low, primarily when there are only three players left, you have only a low, and the betting indicates that you're probably up against at least one other player with the same low. If that turns out to be the case, you'll win only one-quarter of the pot (this is called "getting quartered"), and thus you'll lose a small percentage of your own last bets and raises, but don't worry too much about this uncommon outcome yet.

• When No Low Poker Hand Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)

Remember that the low hand gets only half of the pot (if it qualifies). This means that if no one in the pot makes a low, the entire pot is awarded to the best high hand. And if the board is such that there is no possible low, the pot will be awarded to the high only. For example, if the board is 6-6-7-7-9, then no low is possible. This outcome arises because there are not three unpaired cards eight or under on the board. Likewise, if the board is 4-4-5-5-4 no low is possible. Even though there are five low cards on the board, only two of them are unpaired, just one of the fours and one of the fives. Confused? Don't feel bad about it: lots of experienced Omaha players get confused in this situation too. It's easy to see that no low is possible when the board looks like 9-10-J-Q-K; it's when the board is full of low cards that it's easy to get confused when you're new at this.

To avoid confusion, look at it this way: you can use only two cards from your hand, so if the board is the 4-4-5-5-4, which three allow you to make a low? The 4-4-5? The 4-5-5? The 4-4-4? None of these combinations will work to make a low. So a board of 2-3-5-9-J or A-6-K-Q-4 or 3-2-Q-Q-A all potentially qualify while boards like 3-3-4-4-3 or Q-K-A-5-J or 2-3-2-Q-K or 8-8-7-7-Q don't qualify, no matter what your hand holds.

• Poker – Adding A-3 Works Again (0)
• Back To The More Usual Low Poker Hands (0)
• Poker – No Low Is Possible (0)