A key factor to consider when you are playing PLO, or Pot Limit Omaha, is whether or not you are going to get into the pot pre-flop. The nature of pot-limit betting is that the bets are very small before the flop compared to the size of the pot by the end of the hand; especially if a ‘raising war’ ensues. This may increase your ‘implied odds’ potential, if the flop rolls your way, but if you call a small bet before the flop and someone raises the pot behind you, then the initial raise can cost you a lot of money and you may start to throw away hands that you might have been happy to see a flop with.

Balancing your raises will go a long way when you are playing PLO. If you never raise you will give opponents with a variety of hands a cheap shot to out-flop you and if you only raise when you are holding a high pair hand, then your play will become very easy to exploit. The objective should always be to build the pot when you feel you have the best hand and you will need to raise so that your opponents are unable to put you at your hand. Keep your opponents guessing by also raising strong connected hands or pair/draw combinations.

Position at the table is more important in PLO. Because the bets can be smaller in the earlier streets, you can garner more information regarding your opponents hand than in a No-Limit game. The majority of your profit in PLO will come when you are the last player to act after the flop, so avoid raising too often from early position or the blinds. Acting first can become a disadvantage as because of the pot-limit betting structure and you could spend many chips only to find out that your hand is beat. When

you are last to act you could see a pot sized bet and then a re-raise, now your decision is easy!

For those of you who are new to PLO, start out by playing solid starting hands in good position and consider the ‘real’ price of seeing the flop. Pot-limit betting means that you should always consider whether the price you pay to see the flop is the real price or just the beginning of further raises. Watch how your opponents are betting and never chase a mediocre hand after the flop in a multi-way pot.