1. Good Starting Hands Plo
2. Plo Starting Hand Chart
3. Best Starting Hands Plo

Double-suited AAKK is the absolute best starting hand. AAJT is right behind it and has a higher straight potential than AAQQ, the third highest-rated starting hand. The majority of the 30 highest-ranked PLO hands feature at least a single strong pair. They include either AA, KK, QQ, or JJ. Omaha starting hands are ranked in order of strength with AAKK double-suited being considered the best in Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) games. Determining the strength of starting hands in Omaha will help you make better decisions when selecting which ones to play.

If you're a regular pot-limit Omaha player — especially if you play poker online — you're probably familiar with the five-card variant of the game in which players are dealt five cards instead of four.

That game otherwise plays just like regular PLO, with players using two of their hole cards along with three community cards to construct five-card poker hands.

Five-card pot-limit Omaha was one of the other versions of the game PLO expert and 888pokerAmbassdor Vivian Saliba discussed in her article 'Action Seekers: Try These Pot-Limit Omaha Variants'. One point she made there was to note how that fifth card significantly affected equities when comparing preflop starting hands, making them even closer, generally speaking, than is the case in regular four-card PLO.

Recently Saliba had a chance to experience another version of PLO popular in English casinos, six-card pot-limit Omaha. While at the 2018 888poker LIVE Festival London, the Brazilian poker pro played six-card PLO in a dealer's choice cash game. She spoke a bit about it with PokerNews'Sarah Herring.

'The equities preflop are so close, that you don't have much of an edge,' Saliba explains, noting that when that is the case your starting hand selection and how you proceed has a lot to do with the playing styles of your opponents.

When hold'em players try pot-limit Omaha for the first time, they often play too many hands, failing to realize the need for the four cards to work together in order to create a strong starting hand.

Tommy Angelo addressed the topic of starting hand selection in pot-limit Omaha in his multi-part article 'Waiting for Straighters' that focuses on preflop strategy in both no-limit hold'em and pot-Limit Omaha. See especially both 'Pot-Limit Omaha' (Episode 3) and 'Strategy Merits in PLO' (Episode 4).

When PLO players try five-card PLO for the first time, the same principle often holds as players play more hands than they should. Add one more card to that starting hand and you can imagine how that can have the tendency to make the game even looser, especially among those unfamiliar with the variant.

As Saliba explains, in her game it was indeed the case that 'players were playing actually loose preflop,' which made it prudent to 'play very tight, play with high cards [and] the nut draws.' Take a look:

Good Starting Hands Plo

Primarily an online player, 888poker Ambassador Vivian 'Vivi' Saliba has recently collected numerous live cashes including making the money in both the 2017 WSOP Main Event and 2017 WSOP Europe Main Event. Pot-limit Omaha is her favorite variant, and among her many PLO scores is an 11th place in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship at the 2017 WSOP.

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Plo Starting Hand Chart

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We should be bringing you coverage of the 2020 World Series of Poker but COVID-19 put paid to that. The WSOP is magical because it showcases different poker variants instead of focussing on No-Limit Hold’em. Several different games crown their champions, including Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Low, or PLO8 as it is abbreviated to.

PLO8 is an extremely fun game and one that everyone should try, especially if they’re fans of standard PLO. I recently played in a low-stakes PLO8 tournament online and partypoker and had immense fun. It helps that I finished third from 130 entrants, but that’s a different story entirely!

That final table appearance gave me some inspiration for this PLO8 strategy article. Here’s hoping you can use it to reach your own final table in this crazy, yet fun, game.

Best Starting Hands Plo

What Are The Rules of PLO8

PLO8 uses the same rules as traditional Pot-Limit Omaha but with split-pot rules. This means everyone receives four hole cards and exactly two must be used to create the best five-card poker hand. This takes some getting used to, especially if there’s a four-flush on the board and you have one of that suit in your hand. You don’t have a flush in this instance!

PLO8 is a split-pot game meaning you can win with both a high and a low hand. Half the pot is awarded to the low hand and half to the high. You secure the entire pot if there is no possible high or low hand. At least three cards eight or lower have to be on the board for a low to be possible.

Winning the entire pot is called scooping. You can also win half the pot or even be quartered. The latter is when, for example, you split the low half of the pot while someone else wins the high.

What Are The Best PLO8 Starting Hands

Every PLO8 hand looks playable thanks to the split-pot element but don’t get drawn into this trap. You still need to be selective with your hands if you want to taste success.

PLO players like their four hole cards to work together. Hands like As-Ac-Ks-Kc are powerhouse hands in Omaha Hi. You have the strongest two pairs, flush possibilities, and Broadway straight chances. This is also a strong hand in PLO8, but you have zero chance of winning the low.

Your PLO8 starting hands should follow similar rules where you try to have four cards that work together. Bear in mind straights are massive hands in this format, especially low straights. They give you the chance to scoop the pot by winning the high and low halves.

Hands win A-2 in them are extremely strong, with this in mind. A-A-2-3 double suited, so As-Ah-2s-3h for example, is the best PLO8 starting hand. This is followed by A-A-2-4 double suited, and so on.

Being double suited makes your hand more playable because it has flush potential. Ideally, each hand you play has the chance of making a high and a low hand to increase your chances of winning.

What Hands Should I Avoid?

PLO8 starting hands create many pitfalls for the unseasoned player. Every hand looks pretty, especially hands like 5-6-7-8. This is a dangerous hand because it’s unlikely improve to the nuts and PLO8 is a game of the nuts. A straight made with 5-6-7-8 is vulnerable because anyone with a hand with 3-4 in it. Players love holding A-2 or A-3 in their hands, which causes these middle run down problems.

New players overvalue hands like K-K-T-9 and play the game like Omaha Hi. The hand in this example isn’t exactly fantastic even in that discipline. Get used to tossing away many seemingly playable hands in PLO8, especially high pairs with a couple of random cards.

Playing on short-handed tables opens up more possibilities to play hands like K-K-2-4. Just don’t get married to the hand when you make the second nuts.

Omaha Hi/Low Outs Probabilities

It’s possible to have more than 20 outs when playing PLO8, but it is rare. You don’t have to memorize this table, but it helps to know your chances of improving in the most common situations.