What is the Pot Limit Omaha?
To this day, Texas Hold'em is still the most popular poker variant on the planet, but the Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) follows close behind. Several high-stakes players took up this variation as Hold'em games were becoming more and more difficult
The popularity of the PLO has been growing steadily over the past decade or so. Among the reasons for its popularity is that the PLO is a variation in which there is more action than in Hold'em games. One explanation for this is that equity in the hands of PLOs is closer together. Indeed, at the PLO, you will very rarely be 80%-20% favourite as you might be at Hold'em. Most of the time you will be on flips (50%-50%) or in situations of 45%-55%. For this reason in particular, PLO games are very popular. It's a variant with a lot of action
If you've never played PLO, but know Hold'em, the good news is that the flow of a Hold'em game is very similar to the flow of a PLO game. First, we will give you the basics of the game, then we will explain the flow of a PLO hand and for a better understanding of the game, we will highlight the similarities and differences between Hold'em and PLO. This article will conclude with a few notions to remember about the best and worst hands to play
The basics and the unfolding of a Pot Limit Omaha hand
In order to lighten this text, let us simply say, without going into all the micro-details, that a part of Pot Limit Omaha is played in much the same way as a part of Hold’em (the tables have between 2 and 10 players, there is a dealer, 1 big blind, 1 small blind, the action runs clockwise, there are different betting periods, etc.)
Blindes
The armour is determined by the position of the dealer. The player immediately to the left of the dealer will be the small blind and the player immediately to the left of the small blind will be the big blind. The big blind will always be (barring exceptions) twice the size of the small blind
Distribution of cards
Each player is dealt 4 cards. The distribution is clockwise, starting with the small armour. Cards are dealt one by one until all players have received 4 cards. The private cards of each player must of course remain hidden
Tour de parole
After the cards are dealt, the floor is given to the Under The Gun player (the player to the left of the big blind). The turn to speak is clockwise. The last player to speak after the cards are dealt is the big blind (this is the preflop action)
Flop and post-flop
The action takes place exactly as in Hold'em games. The dealer is always the last player to speak on all streets (flop, turn, river). After the river, there will be the felling to determine the winning hand. The rank of the hands is the same as in Hold'em
How to determine the best hand?
A player must absolutely make the best possible hand using no more and no less than two of his face-down cards and no more and no less than three of his community cards. A player with A-A-A-A in hand would not have a square since he can only use 2 of his hidden cards. Furthermore, unlike Hold'em, a monochrome common board will not give him a flush because he can only use a maximum of 3 of the common cards
Similarities with Hold'em
- There are the same streets (preflop, flop, turn, river, slaughter)
- There is a dealer and 2 blinds, small and big
- The big blind is almost always twice the size of the small blind
- The action always runs clockwise
- The rank of the hands is the same as a Hold'em
Differences with Hold'em
- Each player receives 4 preflop cards instead of 2
- At the PLO, one must absolutely use 2 of his hidden cards (no more and no less) and 3 of the common cards. Contrary to Hold'em, one cannot appropriate the 5 common cards
How do Pot Limit reminders work?
As the name implies, PLO reminders are limited to the size of the pot. As this detail is not always well understood by players, we will give an example
Here is a hand between Heroes and Villain that is played on the flop. You are Heroes, in position on Vilain. The total pot at the flop is $20 and Naughty bet $10 in $20. The floor is yours and you want to make a maximum raise (pot). What will be the total size of your reminder?
The answer: $50
Even though the pot is currently $30, the maximum raise is calculated after a hypothetical call. To better understand, even if the relaunch is done in one step, let's imagine that it is done in 2 steps
Step 1, we call the $10. The result? The pot is now $40. We then raise $40. This $40 is in addition to our "call" for a total of $50. Naughty will therefore have to pay $40 if he wants to continue in the hand
The best and worst starting hands in Pot Limit Omaha
The best hand of Pot Limit Omaha is A-A-K-K double matching (heart-heart-stick for example). Usually matching double pairs, when high, are very strong. Rundowns are also very strong when they are double-matched. A hand like J-T-Q-K double-matched will also have good equity against just about any hand
The worst hands are the squares you receive in your hand. For example, if you receive a hand like 2-2-2, it is a very weak hand. Remember that you cannot use your four private cards to make a hand. Therefore, 2 of your four cards will be lost. Even a hand like A-A-A-A loses value. Obviously, you have a pair of aces and that's something to consider, but A-A-A-A will have about 12% less equity overall than a hand like A-A-K-Q
