A “top and bottom” in poker is a term which is often used in Omaha hold ‘em and means that a player has two pairs of cards in their hand, and one of these pairs is the “top” pair, and the other is the “bottom” pair. In Omaha hold 'em, each player receives four hole cards, and they must use two of these to create a hand with the five community cards on the table.

An example of a “top and bottom” in Omaha hold 'em:

Imagine that a player is holding the following cards:

Top pair: The king of hearts (K♥) and the king of spades (K♠)

Bottom pair: The queen of clubs (Q♣) and the queen of diamonds (Q♦)

The following community cards are on the table:

The ace of hearts (A♥)

The ten of hearts (10♥)

The jack of spades (J♠)

The jack of diamonds (J♦)

The nine of clubs (9♣)

The player may use two of the four cards they're holding (for example, the two queens) and three of the community cards on the table (for example, the ace, a jack, and the ten of hearts) to create their poker hand. In this case, their “top and bottom” combination will be made up of a pair of kings (the top pair) and a pair of queens (the bottom pair).

A “top and bottom” is one of many possible hands in Omaha hold ‘em and can be strong if it works well with the cards on the table and other players’ actions.