Poker Decadence Conference

Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) is a different animal to Holdem. It seems an easy change to those who are bored of Texas Holdem. ‘I just have more cards,’ I hear you cry. NO. Stop now. Many of the things you have learned from playing Hold’em or NLH online will not help you with playing Pot Limit Omaha.

Let’s start with the basics. You are dealt four hole cards and there are five community cards.

Phase 1 - Each player is dealt four cards (Hole Cards)
Phase 2 - A chance to bet
Phase 3 - Three community cards are dealt face up on the table (The Flop)
Phase 4 - A chance to bet
Phase 5 - One more community card is dealt face up on the table (The Turn)
Phase 6 - A chance to bet
Phase 7 - The final community card is dealt face up on the table (The River)
Phase 8 - A last chance to bet.

You must make the best hand you can from two hole cards and three community cards.

The pot limit game limits betting and raises to a maximum that is currently in the pot. If the pot holds $100, you can not bet more than $100. If you are raising a player’s bet, your call is included in the pot already. So the pots can get very big very quickly and if you don’t know what you are doing it can be a costly mistake. Three raises in a row can turn a $1 pot into an $18 pot so think before you pot your bankroll at risk.

Trying Pot Limit Omaha without first understanding the game properly could be a costly mistake but with less really skilled Omaha players than Texas players you may just make a killing.