There is little doubt that the huge surge in interest in gambling on poker in Ireland is the most obvious effect of the widespread availability of online casino gambling in the country. The profile of poker gambling was initially raised by the televising of some poker tournaments, but it was the arrival of the online casinos which propelled poker gambling in Ireland to a new level. The top poker format for serious poker players is of course Texas Hold’em, primarily because it is now the version of poker played in almost every poker tournament in the world, but there are also a number of alternative poker gambling formats available online which are just as enjoyable. Many poker gambling fans argue that it is the use of community cards in the Texas Hold’em format that makes gambling on poker so exciting, so why not take a look at Omaha poker for a change. Omaha poker also uses five community cards, but each player is dealt four cards face down instead of two in Texas Hold’em. We have detailed the rules of Omaha poker gambling in our casino games pages, but the main differences between these two versions of community card poker is in how the showdown hand is made up. When gambling on Omaha poker each player must use two and only two of their hole cards in the showdown hand. This simple rule can be very important when assessing the value of a hand in the initial betting phases. For example a player holding three of a kind in their hole cards can only use two of them in their final hand, and there is only one remaining matching card in the deck to make up three of a kind. It is also worth pointing out that that it is not possible for there to be two flushes of different suits in the final showdown, because at least three of the community cards must be used by every player. Provided you understand these two major differences, gambling on Omaha poker is just as exciting and rewarding as Texas Hold’em gambling. Why not give it a try.