How to Play Omaha Poker: Rules, Hand Rankings, and Strategy

So you are ready to learn about the popular poker variant Pot Limit Omaha! 

If you are already familiar with the rules of Texas Hold’em Poker then great, but if not, don’t worry, our OMAHA poker rules guide can help! 

PLO Formats & Rules

The rules of Pot Limit Omaha are very similar to Texas Hold’em Poker rules, but with a few key differences. 

Firstly, Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) is a poker variant with two popular formats, PLO4 and PLO5.

• In PLO4, each player is dealt four hole cards.
• In PLO5, each player is dealt five hole cards.

You will remember from our Texas Hold’em rules guide that each player is only dealt two hole cards in Hold’em. The overall rules of Pot Limit Omaha remain the same as NLH, such as the aim of each hand being to make the best 5-card poker hand based on the poker hand rankings.

However, unlike in Texas Hold’em game rules, where a player can use any combination of their 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards to make the best 5-card hand, in Pot Limit Omaha game rules, players are restricted to using exactly 2 hole cards and 3 community cards to make their 5 card hand.

Poker Hands Example

If you held Ah Kc as hole cards in Texas Hold’em and the board was Kh Qh Jh 2h 2c, you could use your Ah and the 4 community heart cards to form a Flush ranking hand.

In PLO, this would not be possible as you HAVE to use both hole cards; therefore, your final ranking hand would be Ah Kc Kh 2h 2c, which would only be Two Pair.

This is the most important rule to remember, as many players forget this when transitioning from playing Texas Hold’em to PLO.

POT Limit Omaha Poker Hand Rankings

POT Limit Omaha Betting

The second cruical difference between Texas Hold’em and PLO is the betting. 

Texas Hold’em is commonly played as a no-limit game. Which means a player has no-limit to the maximum amount of chips they can bet when it is their action. A player may choose to move all-in in any of the betting rounds. 

However, in Pot Limit Omaha, the key is the ‘Pot Limit’. 

Just like in Texas Hold’em, the minimum bet allowed in PLO is always the equivalent of the Big Blind. 

For example, in a $5/$10 PLO poker game, the minimum a player can bet is $10.

• When raising, the maximum the raise amount can be is equalivant to the current pot amount. 
• PLO Hand: If the pot is $30, the first player to act is allowed to raise to a maxium of $30. 

This is simple enough, but it can be tricky to calculate as the hand action continues. 

PLO Poker Hand Pot Calculation Example

The pot is currently $50. Player A bets $25. Player B decides to ‘raise pot’. 

How is this calculated? 

Firstly the amount to call is considered, which is $25. Therefore the pot is now $100 ($50 + $25 + $25). Which means Player B is able to raise to pot amount of $100. 

So, their total bet would be $125. ($25 to match and $100 to raise). 

Top Tip: Practice PLO in the KKPoker cash and tournament games, and our easy betting slider will show you the maximum you can raise! Easy!

PLO Game Strategy

Like in Texas Hold’em game strategy, your position and hand ranges are vital to understand. 

If you are familiar with how position plays an important role in NLH game strategy, then you can use the same principles in your PLO games. 

However, it is also important to consider changing your hand ranges. 

Being dealt 4 hole cards in PLO4 and 5 hole cards in PLO5, will obviously make selecting your starting hands more complex. 

You will want starting hands that are more likely to connect with the 5 community cards to make strong hands like a Straight or Flush. Therefore, double suited hands, such as Ah Ac Kh Kc. 

A hand such as Jc 7d 4h 3s would be low down in your starting hand range. 

PLO Poker Terms

PLO: Acronym for Pot-Limit Omaha.

PLO4: Acronym for Pot-Limit Omaha game with 4 hole cards per player.

PLO5: Acronym for Pot-Limit Omaha game with 5 hole cards per player.

BET POT / BET THE POT: This is announced by a player when they want to bet the maximum amount in a live poker PLO game, which would be equal to the current pot value. The dealer will then calculate exactly how much the player must bet based on the pot size.

DOUBLE SUITED: An Omaha starting hand that contains 2 suits only, such as 2 Hearts and 2 Clubs, and therefore has the potential to make two flushes.

WHEEL: A-2-3-4-5 poker hand.

WRAP: A term to describe when a player in an Omaha game has a straight draw with more than 8 outs.

PLO FAQ

Can I Use Only 1 Hole Card in PLO?

No. In Omaha poker formats, players must always use exactly two hole cards and 3 community cards to make their 5-card poker hand.

Can I Go All-in Pre-Flop in PLO?

This will depend on your position in the hand and your chip stack size. The maximum bet in PLO is the current pot size. Therefore, if the pot is currently $100 and you are first to act with a $200 stack, you can only bet $100. 

Do I Have to Discard in PLO?

No. Omaha (PLO) is not a discard game, meaning once your hole cards are dealt, you will not need to choose one to discard at any point of the game.