Omaha is one of the fastest growing types of poker in terms of popularity. In Omaha, players are dealt four cards, compared to two in Hold’em. The betting rounds are done in the same way, except the betting is usually done differently. What this means is that Omaha is usually played in Pot-Limit style. So players can only bet at max, the amount of money that is in the pot at the time of their bets. The most important thing to know when playing Omaha though, is that you can only use TWO of your four cards. You can’t use more than two, and you can’t use fewer than two. There is a small and big blind in Omaha as well, and the player directly to the left of the big blind begins the betting. After the first round of betting, the flop is dealt and players continue to another round of betting. Then comes the turn, followed by a round of betting, and then the river. At that point, any players remaining in the hand go to showdown and the best hand takes the pot.
One of the biggest differences in Omaha is the starting hands that players should play. Of course hands like pocket Aces are still great starting hands, but you have so many different ways to be able to hit the flop. But also, with each player being dealt four cards, it makes certain hands much less valuable than in Hold’em. Things like flushes and straights happen much more often in the game of Omaha then in the game of Hold’em. Pot-Limit Omaha cash games popularity is growing quickly, and some would even consider PLO to be the most popular type of cash game today. We’ll look at both cash games as well as tournament style pot limit Omaha here though.
Cash Game Pot Limit Omaha
If you were to sit and watch players play Pot Limit Omaha online, you would be amazed at the amount of action that hands get. You’ll typically get some big pots quite a bit in Omaha, mainly because players will have so many different draw opportunities with four cards, and will also flop pairs/two pair/three of a kind fairly often. These constant big pots result in a lot of swings for Omaha cash game players though, which is something to take into account when playing it. Some of the best Omaha cash game players have both won incredible amounts of money in one day, and lost incredible amounts of money as well.
The general idea behind playing cash games in Pot Limit Omaha, is to look for suited connectors matched with big pairs, or high connecting straight cards and flush cards. Hands like Ad/Kd/10d/Jd and 9c/Qs/10c/Js are both great starting hands. Double suited aces are an excellent starting as well though, meaning that if you get the Ac/Ad and the 9c/10d, you are sitting in a pretty good spot. It is definitely recommended to do some research and read up before jumping into a Pot Limit Omaha cash game.
Pot Limit Omaha Tournaments
Omaha tournaments aren’t nearly as popular as cash games, but if you are a strong Omaha player; you can be very profitable in the tournaments. Pot Limit Omaha tournaments will typically only draw in a couple hundred, possible a thousand to two thousand players (for more popular events). Just like Hold’em tournaments though, they are a grind. Players need to pick their spots and find good times to get involved in hands that they hope to look for a double up in. Tournament play in Pot Limit Omaha features some huge pots just like in the cash games, due to players chasing straights and flushes quite a bit more often.
Omaha may take players a bit more time to adjust to, mainly due to the fact that there are so many different ways to look at hands; but if you study up and work on your game at lower limits before jumping to the higher limits, it can be one of the best games out there. A lot of professional poker players say that they prefer Pot Limit Omaha, partially due to the large amount of action that the cash game tables get in the game. Hop over to our strategy section and do some research, and then check out the PLO games on your favorite online poker site and give it a go!