Pot Limit Omaha Rules
Omaha Poker Overview
Omaha is like Texas Hold'em. Each player receives four cards dealt face down. These cards are also called pocket cards. Like in Texas Hold'em, five cards are dealt face up on the table. The players can make combinations using only two of their four pocket cards and three of five common cards on the table.
In Omaha hi/lo, the pot can be a split pot if there is a qualifying low hand. To qualify as a low hand, the player must have five unpaired cards that are 8 or lower. An ace counts as the lowest card in a qualifying low hand, and flushes and straights do not effect the low value. The best 'low' hand would be an ace through five straight (A2345). The Cap In Omaha, each round of betting can consist of one bet and has a maximum of three allowable raises, known as the cap. So, if a bet is made, that bet can only be raised three times, after which all players must call or fold. However, if only two players remain in the hand the cap is increased to a maximum of five raises. Omaha Hi - Just as it sounds, in this version, the highest five card hand takes the pot; Fixed Limit - In this version, a pot can only be raised a maximum of four times and the bet or raise must be equal to the size of the blinds. Not a lot of folding takes place in this version, as it.
Omaha Game Rules
Omaha can be played with as little as two players, up to a max of ten players. It is played with 52 card deck without joker. Each player receives 4 (four) cards, face down. These cards are known as pocket cards. Then, dealer hands out five community cards face up. The players can make combinations using only two of their four pocket cards and three of five common cards on the table. The best five-card poker hand wins the pot. The combinations and their ranking are the same as in Texas Hold'em.
Omaha High/Low Rules
Omaha High/Low rules are very similar to the rules of regular Omaha with only one exception: a pot is split equally between the best High and the best Low hands. A player is considered a winner if he has the best High hand. However, a player having the best low hand consisting of 5 cards of different values ranked 8 or lower can win half a pot.
The player play can make their combinations using only two of their four pocket cards and three of five common cards on the table.
If only one player has the best low hand, a pot will be split between him and a player with the best high hand. If there are several players with low hand, a winner is determined by the high card of the combination which is lowest card in this case then, the second high card, etc. If there are several players with equal low hands, their pot share is split between them evenly.
A player may play high and low hands simultaneously using two of his pocket cards and three of the common cards on the table. The best low hand consists of five, four, three, two and ace of any suits. The same ace may simultaneously be a part of high hand and low hand.
Game Types
Limit poker
In Limit poker Bet as well as Raise is agreed in advance. For example, in a 1/2 Limit game, both Bet and Bet Raise must be equal to 1. Not more or less. In last two rounds Bet and Raise must be equal to 2.
Pot Limit
In a play with Pot Limit the maximum value of Bet or Raise shouldn't exceed the current total amount in the pot.
For example: if the total amount in the pot in the middle of the table is 10 the first player to act in the betting round bets 10, the second player could bet a total of 30 - 10 for his portion of the call and raise by 20, the total amount of money in the pot when the action got to him, including his call. There is no cap to the number of raises in Pot-Limit poker games.
No Limit
In No Limit game there is any bet limit.
Every player makes any bet in any betting round. Minimum bet is equal to Big Blind.
Game Stages
The game is divided into four rounds of betting. Initial pot is forming by Blind Bet. The first player who takes place at the table becomes a dealer. The game starts from the position next to the dealer button, a round disk marks would be the dealer.
If players take place at the table simultaneously, on tournaments for example, each player receives straight one card face up. In this case the deal begins from the player to the left of the virtual dealer, and that player who receives the card of maximum value first, becomes a dealer. A dealer button moves clockwise from player to player with each round.
Blinds
Before a game starts, the two players to the left of the dealer make Blind Bets, so-called because they are made before the players have seen any cards. This is called 'posting the blinds'. The Blinds ensure that there is some money in the pot to play for at the very start of the game.
The player to the left of the dealer posts the Small Blind. The second player to the left of the dealer posts the Big Blind which is equal to the double Small Blind.
If player does not have enough chips to make Blind Bet, he stakes everything he has at once. Please see All-In.
If there are only two players in the game, Small Blind and Big Blind are posting also. In that case dealer posts Big Blind.
After that the first round begins.
Pre-Flop
Every player receives two cards back up. Each player can see his cards only. The player to the left of the player who posted Big Blind begins a round of betting. This player can:
- Call - match the amount bet in the big blind,
- Raise - increase the amount bet, or
- Fold - surrender his cards and stake in the game.
The same action can make each player when it is their turn to bet. When the betting returns to the player who made Big Blind, that player can not to increase the bet – Check – if it is equal to Big Blind in case if no one player doesn't Raise. However, if an opponent has raised, Big Blind has three options: he must call, raise or fold.
When all bets get equal, the initial pot is formed and the game turns to the next round Flop.
Flop
In this round dealer is facing up three of Community Cards, which players can use to make their five-card hand. These cards are called 'Flop'. Player who makes Small Blind begins the betting round. If he flop the cards, the betting round begins from the first player to the left of him who does not flop the cards. When all bets get equal, the game goes to the next round (Turn).
Turn
A fourth Community Card is dealt face up on the table. The third round of betting begins.
River
The fifth and final Community Card is dealt, and the final betting round is beginning.
Showdown
When all bets get equal, it is time to show the cards.
The last player to bet or raise during the final betting round shows his cards first.
If during the last betting round all the remaining players are checking nobody betting, the first player to the left from dealer who did not discard is to show his cards first.
How To Play Plo Poker
The other players reveal their cards moving clockwise around the table. If player's current hand is weaker than winning hand shown, he has the option to show or muck his cards.
In Omaha:
The best five-card hand takes the pot.
Pot Limit Omaha Hi Lo Rules
In Omaha High/Low:
A pot is split between best high hand and best low hand evenly. If no player has low hand, the entire pot goes to the player with High hand.
If two players share an identical hand, the pot is split.
Each player may claim the pot in forming of which he took part. Please see All-In.
Game-specific
Missed Blinds Policy
To prevent players from entering games in a late position to avoid placing blinds, you will have to post an initial fee, equal to Big Blind, or you can sit out and wait until Big Blind reaches your position.
Player can choose to:
- post Big Blind, or
- wait for Big Blind.
- Fold - surrender his cards and stake in the game.
If the player chooses to wait for Big Blind he will be sitting out and won't be able to join the action until Big Blind comes around to his position.
If the player were at the table and then sat out for a while and missed his Big Blind, he will also have to miss Small Blind and the dealer's button. If you missed the small and big blind, you will be required to post an amount equal to the big blind plus a 'dead' bet equal to the small blind.
All-In
If the player finishes his chips he may not to fold the cards. The player can go All-In and bet all his chips. In this case the pot is divided into the Main pot and the Side pot. All the next bets are included to the Side pot. If the player which goes All-In did not win, the winner receives all chips (both the Main and Side pots). If the player who goes All-In wins, he receives the Main pot, but the Side pot is passed to the player having the second highest ranking Poker hand. If several players go All-In, the several Side pots can be created. If the player who accepted all All-In bets does not go All-In by himself, but appears to have the highest ranking hand when cards were revealed, he takes the Main pot as well as the all Side pots. If the highest ranking hand has the player who went All-In, he takes the pot or all pots which were created until he went All-In. Every All-In player having highest ranking hand can take only the pot (or pots) in forming of which he took part.
The Basic Rules of Pot Limit Omaha (PLO)
Omaha is a poker variant in which each player is dealt four “hole” cards (cards that the other players can’t see) and then share a five card board. It is similar to Hold’em in its play, with flop, turn, and river cards dealt in succession on the board, interspersed with betting rounds. The most common betting structure for Omaha is Pot Limit, in which players can only bet the size of the pot, including their call.
The play begins with each player being dealt four cards. Unlike Hold’em, players must play exactly two cards from their hand and exactly three from the board. Hand rankings are the same in Omaha and Hold’em, with a high card being the worst and a royal flush the best possible hand.
In PLO, the play starts with a small and big blind, which rotates each turn. The first player after the big blind (Under the Gun – UTG) may fold, call the big blind, or raise up to the “pot limit.” If the blinds are $1 and $2, the UTG player can bet up to $7. Things then get a little tricky. The second player can now fold, call the $7 or bet up to $24. This betting structure takes a while to get used to. See our How to Calculate Pot Limit article for more examples. When in doubt, if you would like to bet the maximum, you can always announce that you bet “pot” and the dealer will figure out the amount for you.
Note that starting hand values are quite different than in Hold’em, so you’ll want to familiarize yourself with these differences before playing Omaha. The “Advice” button in our PLO simulator can help you with this.
Hand equities run much closer together in Omaha, and thus more players will generally stay to see the flop than in Hold’em. With the ability to select the best two of a four card hand, winning hands in Omaha also tend to be quite strong. Single pairs and two pairs are rarely likely to take down the pot, and players should be drawing to nut straights and flushes if they decide to draw.
As you might imagine, Omaha pots can grow quite big, and with pre-flop hand equity advantages rarely larger than 60% variance swings in PLO can be big as well. The PLO player will need a larger bankroll than the typical No-Limit Hold’em player for that reason.