How To Play Pot Limit Omaha (PLO)
Also Known as The Great Game!
Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) is the first game in the weekly mixed games cash game rotation at Portomaso Casino, Malta. This is a guide to where you can learn how the game is played and pick up some strategy tips.
PLO is very similar to Texas Hold Em, the main differences that players only used to the two card game will need to learn to adopt to are:
The bet size is Pot Limit, not No Limit
A hand is formed using exactly two cards from the four in the player’s hand, and three from the board. For example, if the flop, turn and river come AKQ/J/T do not assume everyone in the hand has the nut straight because it is necessary to hold two of the cards that match the cards on the board in order to make that straight.
A good example of how a player can be confused is provided by a hand I played over twenty years ago when I first played PLO. My four cards included KhQhJh (I don’t remember my fourth card) and the flop came 4c9hTh - and I thought I had a straight flush! I was happy to get all my chips in and show down my hand, only to be told I only had a king-high hand - but I had a huge number of outs to win the hand. My opponent had flopped top set and I could win by hitting a heart, an 8, J Q or K and needed to avoid the board pairing. I missed everything! It was a quick and effective lesson in reading a PLO hand, both from the point of view that I had to use exactly two cards from those dealt to me to make my hand, but also that it is possible to have a huge number of outs to win in this game even against someone who flopped the nuts.
Now, lets look at some resources for learning Pot Limit Omaha - aimed at beginners:
Here is the podcast episode of Poker: All The Games where Shawn Grigas discusses PLO.
Daniel Negreanu has a video on his YouTube channel devoted to this game.
The Cardplayer Lifestyle website has plenty of content on PLO, including this article for beginners.
Apart from the above, there is a huge amount of information available online to help you learn how to play this game well and I would encourage you to have a good look around to find resources to suit your own learning style!