Pot Limit Omaha High Basic Strategy

There are several major strategy objectives to take into account when playing Pot Limit Omaha. Many players, particularly those used to Holdem, make major errors which can prove to be expensive. This article looks at the main Pot Limit Omaha Hi strategy considerations and suggests ways to win at the tables today.

We start by looking at relative hand strength in Pot Limit Omaha and the importance of playing hands with coordinated cards. Next we will look at how the Pot Limit betting structure and position at the table affect your strategy. Finally we will cover the key considerations of playing (or drawing to) only the strongest hands.

Starting Hand Strength

A key factor in Pot Limit Omaha is that no starting hand is a huge favorite before the flop over any other. Holding 4 cards, 2 of which must be used with 3 of the 5 community cards at showdown, means that the kind of hands that win pots are much stronger than in other poker variants. Trips, straights and flushes are standard for the game – full houses are also very common.

Because strong hands win at showdown it is important to play hands with the ability to hit the flop in multiple ways. Hands with suited cards (particularly with an ace) and cards close together in rank can make flushes and straights. While high pairs can be played aggressively before the flop they are looking for very specific flops – you’ll often have to fold if an obvious flush or straight comes and you hold only an over-pair.

For more information on starting hands, read our Omaha High Starting Hands Strategy article.

Betting Size

Pot Limit betting limits the size of your bets and raises to the size of the current pot. This means that the size of the bets grows exponentially from one betting round to the next. On the early betting rounds in Pot Limit Omaha high you will often not be able to bet enough to get strong draws to fold. This betting structure affects your strategy, particularly in relation to the raising tendencies of your opponents.

Common Errors

Some examples of strategy errors your opponents will make in early round betting include betting the maximum only with aces. This tips off the table to the strength of their hand before the flop at the same time as giving opponents excellent odds to try and outdraw them.

This error would be exaggerated further if the same player always lead out on the flop with a pot-sized bet – inviting a big re-raise from an opponent with trips (for example). The second common error is to never raise, since no hand is a big favorite pre-flop some players will limp or call raises only. By doing this they are giving their opponents the chance to limp some very speculative hands.

These errors can be easily countered by raising a selection of strong (coordinated) hands before the flop. Position is important in Pot Limit Omaha strategy so the button is an ideal place to vary your raising hands from. Playing last will enable you to re-raise to build a pot when strong and get away cheaply when there are multiple raises ahead of you.

Making the Nuts

Finally, Pot Limit Omaha is a game of ‘the nuts’. That is to say that you must ensure that you are drawing only to the strongest hands. Since each player has 4 hole cards you’ll be up against almost any draw you can imagine after the flop in a multi-way pot. Drawing to the low end of a straight or a medium flush can prove to be very expensive indeed.

To summarize, Pot Limit Omaha basic strategy involves playing coordinated starting hands from good position. It involves drawing only to the strongest hands and managing the betting in such a way as to not give your opponents big clues about your hand at the same time as giving them the odds to outdraw you.

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