Key points
- As in NLHE, you win by making the best five-card hand at showdown, or by making everyone else fold.
- You get four hole cards, and the board is five cards.
- Your hand uses exactly two hole cards and exactly three board cards.
- The most you can bet or raise is the size of the pot (pot limit).
- Seats, blinds, the four betting rounds and hand rankings are the same as NLHE.
Differences from Hold’em
- You get four hole cards
- Your hand uses exactly two hole cards and exactly three board cards
- Bets and raises are capped at the size of the pot
For hand rankings, see Hand rankings in the NLHE rules. Preflop terms such as Open, Limp and 3-bet are the same; see Preflop names in the NLHE rules.
Four hole cards
Each player gets four cards. PLO5 deals five and PLO6 deals six. The board is always five cards.
However many you hold, only two of them go into your hand. More cards mean more combinations, so everyone’s hands get stronger.
Example. Four cards give 6 ways to pick two. Five cards give 10, and six give 15.
Two from hand + three from the board
Your hand is exactly two hole cards and exactly three board cards. Not one hole card, not three or more. You can never play the five board cards alone.
A “flush” that is not a flush:
- Board: K♥ 9♥ 6♥ 3♥ 2♣
- Hand: A♥ Q♠ Q♦ 7♣
- Only one ♥ in hand. You may use just three board cards, so you reach only four ♥
- Your hand is a pair of queens (Q♠ Q♦ + K 9 6)
Straights work the same way:
- Board: 9♣ 8♦ 7♠ 6♥ 2♣
- Hand: T♦ A♣ A♦ K♠ (T is 10)
- One T plus four board cards is not a straight
- Your hand is a pair of aces (A♣ A♦ + 9 8 7)
The pot-limit maximum
In pot limit the most you can put in is a raise by the size of the pot after your call. The minimum is the same as Hold’em (a bet of at least the BB, a raise of at least the previous increase).
If nobody has bet yet, the maximum is the current pot.
Example 1. At 1/2 (SB 1, BB 2), you make the first raise preflop (a pot raise).
- First count your call: SB 1 + BB 2 + your call 2 = pot of 5
- Raise by that 5
- Your call of 2 + the raise of 5 = you can raise to 7 in total
Example 2. On the flop the pot is 20 and the opponent bets 10.
- Count your call: pot 20 + their bet 10 + your call 10 = 40
- Raise by that 40
- Your call of 10 + the raise of 40 = you can raise to 50 in total
Shortcut: “last bet × 3 + the pot before it”. “The pot before it” is the pot before that bet went in. In example 1 the last bet is the BB of 2, and the pot before it is only the SB of 1, so 3 × 2 + 1 = 7. In example 2, 3 × 10 + 20 = 50.
Hi-Lo (Omaha 8)
In PLO8 (Omaha Hi-Lo) the pot is split half to the high hand (the strongest) and half to the low hand (the weakest) (Hi-Lo). If nobody can make a low, the high hand takes the whole pot.
High uses the normal hand rankings. Low has conditions.
Low conditions
- Five cards of different ranks, the highest 8 or lower (8-or-better)
- The ace counts as one. The best low is A-2-3-4-5 (the wheel)
- Straights and flushes do not hurt a low
- Low also uses two hole cards + three board cards. If the board has fewer than three different ranks of 8 or lower, no low is possible
Lows are compared from the highest card down; the lower one wins.
Example. 7-5-4-2-A vs 8-4-3-2-A (a low is written from its highest card down). The highest cards are 7 and 8. The 7 is lower, so 7-5-4-2-A wins.
Different cards for high and low
High and low are judged separately. The two hole cards you use can be different for each (cards speak).
Example. Board 2♣ 5♦ 7♠ K♥ Q♣, hand A♠ 3♥ K♦ K♣.
- High: K♦ K♣ + K♥ Q♣ 7♠, three kings
- Low: A♠ 3♥ + 2♣ 5♦ 7♠, 7-5-3-2-A
- High uses K♦ K♣ and low uses A♠ 3♥: two different pairs of hole cards
If you have the best high and the best low, you win the whole pot (a scoop).
When there is no low
If nobody has a hand that meets the low conditions, the high hand wins the whole pot.
Example. Board K♣ Q♦ 9♠ 5♥ 2♣. Only two cards, 5 and 2, are 8 or lower, so no one can make a low. The high winner takes all 100 of a 100 pot.