Pot Limit Omaha Betting
Omaha Hi Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or Omaha Eight or Better) is a “split pot” version of the popular Omaha poker game. In this version of the game, there are two winning hands in each round: the high winner and the low winner.
In Pot Limit Omaha (most popular form of Omaha Poker), the maximum a player can bet is the amount that is in the pot. For example, a $100 bet into a $100 pot. Omaha High is often played with a pot limit betting structure, though other limits are possible - see betting limits for details. 'Pot Limit Omaha' is often abbreviated to PLO. The cards are shuffled and cut, the dealer 'burns' one card and then deals the cards one at a.
The high hand winner is the player with the highest value winning hand – the same as in the standard version of Omaha. The low hand winner is the player with the best hand featuring five unpaired cards valued 8 or lower. Flushes and straights are ignored in the low hand. If you know the basics of Pot Limit Omaha Hi strategy, you should have no problems getting to grips with Omaha Hi Lo strategy, so here are some tips to get you started.
Be prepared to fold on the flop
An essential Omaha 8 strategy is to recognize when you have a weak hand early on and get out quickly. The game favors the highest value hands so if the flop offers you little, it’s time to fold. Betting on average hands is a flawed Omaha Eight or Better strategy that will quickly end your game.
Forget about bluffing
If you are planning on bringing your Texas Hold’em bluffing skills to the Omaha Hi Lo table, think again. The game is driven by strong hands so when the betting starts, the chances are you are going up against players with high-value combinations. Bluffing in this situation is a sure-fire way to get beat. There are some Omaha Hi Lo strategy advanced situations where bluffing may be useful, but it takes time and experience to understand such nuances of the game. Until you reach that point, bet the hand you have.
Don’t commit too early
If you are dealt a strong early hand such as A-A-2-3 double-suited, don’t be tempted to raise early. You will reduce the field while committing a lot of money before you have seen the flop. It’s much better to keep as many players in the game as possible if you have the potential to hit the “nuts”. Some players may raise early if they have a good but not strong hand to try and force other players to fold but this strategy can backfire after the flop.
Remember, the key decision you need make after being dealt with your hole cards is whether to play your hand or not. If you have a premium hand, you should play but avoid raising until after the flop when there is a multi-way pot there to be scooped.
Omaha Hi Lo 8b Strategy
- How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8-or Better — Clear And Concise Guide – The Rules Of How To Play Omaha Hi-Lo.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hands Guide — Starting Hands Guide For Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better and PLO8
- PLO8 Poker – Ace-Two Errors & How To Spot Them — Every PLO8 Player Enjoys The Sight Of A2 As Part Of Their Starting Hand, However There Are Times When A2 Errors Can End Up Costing You Chips.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count Systems For Starting Hand Selection — Dr Hutchinson’s Omaha Hi-Lo Point Count System Reviewed – Useful For Online Play??
- High Only Hands In PLO8 Poker – For The 30% Of The Time A Low Is Not Made, An Introduction To Profitable High-Hand Play.
- How To Avoid Being Quartered In O8 Poker – Avoiding Being Quartered In Certain Situations Can Make A Big Difference To Your Bankroll.
- Playing Static Flops In PLO8 – Cardrunners Coach Dan ‘CampFireWest’ Deppen takes us though some advanced strategy ideas.
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- All-Ins Pre-Flop In No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo — No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Strategy Should Include Defense Against The Constant All-In Overbets Pre Flop in NL08.
- Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo, A Closer Look! — Straights, Draws To Straights and When To Play Straights In Omaha Hi-Lo… A Closer Look!
- Omaha Hi-Lo Probability Math – How Often Will You Make A Low? — How Often Will You Make A Low For Different Starting Hands.
- Scooping PLO Hi-Lo Pots – The Why And The How! — Lets take a look at taking the high and low splits of the pot in O8 games.
Pot Limit Omaha is perhaps the second most-played format of poker in the world, trailing only No Limit Hold'em in terms of popularity. Proponents like the action and the strategic complexity that comes along with Pot Limit Omaha, but new players can sometimes get tripped up on the basic mechanics of the game. If you're looking to learn the game, you've found a solid place to start with our guide to the rules of Pot Limit Omaha.
Before we talk about how to play the game, here are some key terms and definitions that will help make our discussion more efficient:
- PLO: The standard abbreviation for Pot Limit Omaha.
- Bet the pot: Since you can only bet up to the size of the pot in PLO, saying 'I bet the pot' or 'I raise the pot' is saying 'I want to make the maximum bet possible.'
- Blinds: Like No Limit Hold'em, PLO forces two players to put in 'blind' bets before anyone gets cards. These forced bets are called the small blind and the big blind, or SB / BB. Some PLO games (especially live games) are played with a forced third blind called a straddle, but this blind is not a part of the standard rules for PLO.
- The button: A disc or other symbol that represents the rotating dealer position.
Pot Limit Omaha: Basic Gameplay
Pot Limit Omaha plays just like No Limit Hold'em except for two crucial differences:
- In PLO, you get four hole cards instead of two.
- In PLO, your maximum bet at any point is limited to the current size of the pot. You can't go 'all-in' in PLO unless your stack size is smaller than the size of the pot.
Otherwise, the mechanics of the two games are identical, so you can refer to this guide to the rules for No Limit Hold'em for a more complete breakdown of PLO gameplay. Abridged version: Players receive four cards each, face down followed by a betting round. The remaining players move to the flop, where three shared cards are revealed followed by betting. Next comes a fourth card (the turn) and a third round of betting, followed by a fifth card (the river) and a final round of betting.
Pot Limit Omaha: How You Make a Hand
Players used to hold'em often have trouble internalizing this aspect of PLO. When you're playing Pot Limit Omaha, you must use two cards from your hand and three cards from the community cards to make your five card hand. You can use any combination of cards following this rule, but the rule itself is rigid. A common situation where players become confused about this rule: Let's say you hold the ace of hearts in your hand and the board has four hearts on it. You have no other hearts in your hand besides the ace. Do you have a flush?
In hold'em, you would have a flush, but in PLO you cannot make a flush in the situation described above. Remember - two from your hand and three from the board. For this reason, it's actually terrible to be dealt three of a kind of four of a kind to start in PLO - you can only use two of those cards.
Pot Limit Omaha: Betting Rules
Pot Limit Omaha Betting Rules
Thanks to a technicality that new players often overlook, betting and raising the pot can be a trickier task than you might think. Let's say you're playing PLO and are in a hand with just one opponent remaining. The size of the pot is $100, and your opponent bets $100. How big a raise can you make? If you said $200, you're wrong - but don't feel too bad about it, as everyone struggles with this part of PLO at the outset. Your actual raise size is $400 total.
Pot Limit Omaha Betting
Why? Because the size of the pot when you make your raise isn't actually $200. The sequence of betting goes like this: Your opponent bets, you first call that bet and then you raise. Your call counts toward the size of the pot for the purposes of figuring out how big a bet you can make. That means there's actually $300 in the pot, so your total bet would be ($100 call + $300 pot-sized raise) $400.
Pot Limit Omaha Betting Rules
With the basics of PLO firmly under your belt, it's time to visit some of our top site lists to find your best option for playing Pot Limit Omaha at an online poker room.