Transitioning to PLO

There's a lot of PLO play online, and a little PLO play at B&Ms around the country. Assuming that trend continues, there's an enormous collection of NL Hold'em players who have not yet tried PLO, and will be taking shots at it for years to come.

That alone ought to give you clear guidance as to where to spend your time.

Edit: I've been practicing with Jeff Hwang's book, and it's worth the money. Not only is it a safe, tight strategy (what ISN'T tight about good Omaha play?) but buried in the back of the book is a Fixed Limit O/8 tutorial, right before the PL O8 section.

You're far more likely to find FL O8 at your local B&M, and though you supposedly need to be at least 65+ years old to play it, plenty of old guys sit down and play it badly. A lot of online practice should make you a favorite in that game.

PLO games are "fresher" in the sense that there's less published theory, fewer software aids, and this comes across in the online game. As to whether it's more profitable, that depends I think on what limits you play, whether you multitable, and how much time you put in to table selection. My tentative answer would be that pound for pound PLO games are more profitable at the same stakes.

This is not really scientific, but if you look at the Top 50 Winningest NLH Players All-Time list over at PTR, the avg BB/100 is almost twice that reported on the Top 50 Winningest PLO Players All-Time list. Not really a clean sample, but indicative.

Over the last year I've put in nearly 50K hands of .25/.5 and .5/1 PLO based on the logic expressed in the other answers - the game is newer so with a little work you'd think a guy would have an edge. I never played much cash NLHE though, so I don't have a set of stats to compare against.

One could probaly argue the other side though, and say the NLHE shoul dbe softer because that's what new players always try first.

More players are learning and won't know a good strategy, but a good strategy is more complex than NLHE - those extra cards just make for so many more things to consider on the flop. I would advise to play down in limits, way below what you would play with games you are comfortable with. Part of that is the obvious fact that you are learning, so play small to start. The other fact is that PLO can cause a person to go on homicidal manic tilt because there is way more various. You just don't get it in preflop with AA vs KK as an 80% favourite as will happen in holdem. Getting it in as a 65% favourite is awesome in omaha, and somehow I see to lose those approximately 35% of the time ;)

Anyway, give Jeff Hwang's books a read. Pot-limit Omaha and Advnaced Pot-limit Omaha. Speaking of which, I'm probably due for a reread...

I agree with Frez and CTW, and personally do find PLO cash more profitable, so I play PLO cash (6max) and NLHE tournaments only. But 1c/2c PLO can get a bit silly even compared to 2/4c. Depending on you BR, maybe start at 5/10c. @ 1/2 it can be bingo poker (3 allin on the flop!)

If you do start PLO (and you should, I have found it helped my NLHE post flop play hugely), play only Omaha High. The extra concern of Low hands just complicates things, and (atleast at the sites I play) PLO H/L isnt as popular. Nor is fixed limit Omaha. Which I can understand as there is more incentive to draw even in PL, and I have always felt Limit games more 'mechanical' in the sense you are often priced in to chase a draw. A few pointers to start you off:

I play 6max exlusively, and some of this goes even more for full-ring.

Omaha is often a game where the nut hand is in play (esp full ring).

When selecting starting hands, look for combinations of your cards (there are 6) which 'work together'. for example: KsTd7h3c is NOT a good hand, AdTdKcJc is a GREAT hand (fyi, known as a 'double suited' hand) as all 4 cards can work in pairs to make the nut straight, and you have a nut flush and 2nd nut flush possibility with diamonds and clubs. Hands with 3 of a suit, or 3 of a kind may look good, but arent really, they obv diminish the possibility of hitting. Of course if the 3rd heart happens to pair another card, or work some other way with the other cards in your hand, then it is still strong.

Bet your draws, dont play for free cards so much like in holdem. You want to get paid off when you hit that nut flush or FH.

When considering chasing a draw(s) (and the impled odds in PLO often make it worth doing), consider what hands can still beat you. Beware of (high?) paired boards (but not paranoid obv). Also in full ring and multiway pots, you probably need to be drawing to the nut flush or straight or whatever, so your Th9h is probably no good for a heart flush (it still is at 6max though) unless you can make a straight flush!

It takes a while to be able to read all your draws, and the other possible draws in PLO quickly. There are many combinations you are likely to miss at first, and some of them are likely and will beat you...

It is highly unlikely your hand preflop is more than about 2:1 favourite against any other hand. Although still debated AAKKds (double suited) is considered the AA of Omaha Hi. So raising or reraising a lot (preflop) is not as profitable in PLO as Holdem. Preflop raising is really exploiting preflop edges (in NLHE you hold AA, so you want to build a decent pot [also weed out suited connectors etc] cos you are likely to win), which simply arent there in Omaha. I have found that when I see players raising like 5BB, or even reraising preflop, this usually indicates they dont understand PLO too well (but not always of course). So keep your preflop raises to 2-2.5BB. Also, as Omaha is largely a drawing game, you dont want to weed out speculative hands as much, when you DO hit, you want to get paid off... Likewise call small preflop raises more often (but dont go nuts of course)

Lastly, and this may be obvious, but I think trips up most when they first move from Holdem to Omaha (a few times atleast, and usually in large pots ;-) ), remember you have to use 2 and exactly 2 of your cards. I have won plenty of big pots from people with the A clubs in their hand (and only 1 club) calling my river bet with 4 clubs on the board, obviously thinking they held the nut flush!

Anyway, give it a go! and Good Luck!

Not sure why I keep hearing "no hand preflop is more than 2:1 favorite"

this is blatantly false

3333 vs 2222 for example

or AAKK double-suited vs KK22 rainbow

and you don't get AAKKds often enough for it to be the equivalent of NLHE's AA

AAxx double-suited or better maybe...

What do you think about playing 0.05/0.10 PLO Rush Poker to learn PLO?