Rules
Five cards, one draw, and a pot that pays twice.
Drawmaha is a split-pot draw and Omaha hybrid, played here heads-up and pot-limit. Each player holds five cards, a board is dealt as in Omaha with one draw after the flop, and at showdown the same five cards are read twice: half the pot to the best Omaha hand, half to the best five-card draw hand.
Figure 1
Five streets and three betting rounds, then a showdown read twice
The order of one hand; the accent marks a betting round
- 1DealFive cards to each player, face down. Both ante: a bomb pot, so there is no betting before the flop.no betting
- 2FlopThree cards to the board, face up and shared.a betting round
- 3DrawEach player discards none to all five and takes as many back. A player who draws exactly one card gets it dealt face up; keep it, or take the next one face down.no betting
- 4TurnA fourth card to the board.a betting round
- 5RiverThe fifth and last board card.a betting round
- ShowdownHalf the pot to the best Omaha hand, half to the best draw hand. A tie for a half splits that half.
One hand, read twice
The same five cards make a king-high straight flush one way and a pair of sevens the other
Dealt A♠ K♠ 7♥ 7♦ 3♣. The flop comes Q♠ J♠ 7♣; the 3♣ is thrown and the 10♠ drawn; the turn is the 4♦ and the river the 9♠.
Figure 2
One holding takes the Omaha half and loses the draw half
The hand after the draw and the full board, scored by both rules
Hand after the draw
A♠K♠T♠7♥7♦Board
Q♠J♠7♣4♦9♠| Omaha half | Result |
|---|---|
| K♠ 10♠ + Q♠ J♠ 9♠ | King-high straight flush |
| Exactly two from the hand and exactly three from the board. The A♠ cannot join: only two held cards may play. | |
| Draw half | Result |
|---|---|
| A♠ K♠ 10♠ 7♥ 7♦ | Pair of sevens |
| The five held cards as they stand after the draw, no board. Against 9♦ 8♥ 7♠ 6♣ 5♦, a nine-high straight, this half is lost. | |
Why it is unsolved
Two rankings on one pot, and a draw that multiplies the tree
2,598,960five-card holdings a player can be dealt, against 1,326 in hold'em and 270,725 in Omaha
32ways to discard from each holding at the draw, each opening onto fresh cards off the deck
2rankings on one pot: an Omaha hand and a draw hand, read from the same five cards
The solver works up to the full game through smaller ones with known answers. Mini-drawmaha keeps the draw and the split pot on three cards and a fifteen-card deck, and it is solved: read the research, see the benchmarks, or play the solver.