Run It Once From The Ground Up 5-Card PLO Review: The Only Roadmap You Need?

The “Wild West” of poker is officially back.

If you’ve opened a poker app or checked the lobby of your favorite poker site recently, you’ve seen it: 5 Card PLO games are exploding. The action is faster, the pots are bigger, and the players? Well, let’s just say some of them are gambling with any five cards they are dealt.

It feels like the golden age of poker all over again. But there is a catch.

5-card Pot Limit Omaha (PLO5) is not just “Omaha Poker with a kicker.” It is a game of brutal variance, deceptive equities, and thin edges. If you try to play it with a 4-card strategy, you will get crushed. You will overvalue Aces, get stuck in multiway pots with second-best draws, and wonder why your bankroll is evaporating.

Enter Run It Once From The Ground Up 5-Card PLO.

This 5-Card Pot Limit Omaha course promises to be the definitive roadmap for transitioning to the 5-card streets. For a one-time price of $249.99, Thomas “Emty” Emter claims he can build your PLO5 game from scratch.

But is it worth the price tag? Or should you just stick to a subscription site?

I’ve analyzed the full video curriculum to give you the honest truth. Here is my review of the Run It Once From The Ground Up 5-Card PLO course.

What is From The Ground Up 5-Card PLO?

This isn’t just a few videos tacked onto a 5-Card Pot Limit Omaha course. This is a dedicated, standalone ecosystem designed specifically for 5-card PLO.

Thomas Emter returns as the instructor, bringing the same structured, no-nonsense teaching style that made his Run It Once From The Ground Up 4-card PLO Edition course a bestseller. The goal here is simple: to take you from a “Hold’em Convert” or a “4-Card Reg” and turn you into a 5-card Omaha crusher.

The Specs:

• Format: 54 High-Quality Videos.
• Instructor: Thomas “Emty” Emter (Run It Once Pro).
• Access: Lifetime (No monthly fees).
• Focus: GTO baselines with heavy exploitative adjustments for low/mid-stakes.

Unlike many Pot Limit Omaha courses that drown you in theory, this one focuses on the transition. It acknowledges that you probably already know how to play poker, but you don’t know how to handle the extra card mechanics of PLO5.

Why You Need a Dedicated Roadmap for PLO5

Most players think they can wing it. They jump into 5-card Pot Limit Omaha games on crypto poker sites like CoinPoker and Phenom Poker thinking, “I’ll just play tight.”

That is a recipe for disaster.

In 5 card PLO, equities run much closer than in 4-card. The difference between the “nuts” and “drawing dead” is often razor-thin. This Pot Limit Omaha course introduces critical concepts like “Equity Smoothness” and “Equity Realization” that are mandatory for survival.

The “Equity Illusion”

In 5 card Omaha, hands look prettier. You will be dealt Aces constantly. You will see double-suited rundowns every orbit. The poker course teaches you why most of these hands are actually traps.

If you rely on general 5-Card PLO courses, you will lose money in 5-card because you won’t understand how the “blockers” and “danglers” shift significantly with that fifth card.

Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.

The Curriculum: Deconstructing the 5-Card Engine

From the Ground Up: 5-Card PLO is not just an add-on; it is a massive standalone Pot Limit Omaha course designed to stop you from bleeding chips in the wildest game format on the planet.

With an extra card comes exponential complexity. This curriculum breaks down that complexity into a roadmap for crushing 5-Card PLO, from mindset to river bluffs.

Phase 1: The Transition & Mindset (The Foundation)

Emty doesn’t let you hit the tables until your mind is calibrated. 5-Card is a different beast, and treating it like 4-Card is a recipe for disaster.

• 5-Card Pot Limit Omaha Course Introduction: How to utilize the concepts in this poker course to immediately improve your win rate in the 5-card streets.
• Tools, Tactics & Study Approach: Mandatory tools to excel, including how to use Vision GTO Trainer and the benefits of private coaching.
• Bankroll Management & Variance: If you thought 4-card variance was bad, PLO5 is a rollercoaster. Learn why a deeper bankroll is non-negotiable to survive the swings.
• 4-Card vs. 5-Card (The Major Differences): This video is worth the price alone. It highlights the fatal mistakes players make when switching formats, specifically regarding side cards, connectedness, and equity smoothness.
• GTO vs. Exploitative: Constructing a decision-making process. Why you should aim for GTO as a baseline but ultimately think and play exploitatively to maximize EV.
• Self-Awareness & Deep Work: With one extra card, your attention must be sharper. Learn why “autopilot” is the enemy of the 5-card player.
• Player Types & Table Selection: Defining the different species of 5-card opponents and how your strategy must shift for each.

Phase 2: Preflop Precision

Preflop is where the edge is built. In 5-Card PLO, equities run close, and playing loose is death.

• Opening Ranges (Early Position): A deep dive into hand selection. Learn which hands represent the highest EV and why you must fold hands in 5-card that would be monsters in 4-card.
• Opening Ranges (Late Position & SB): Adjusting your opening ranges from the Button and Small Blind, including how to handle limpers (RFI vs. Complete).
• The Cold Calling Leak:
  • In Position: Why you need a solid cold-calling range coupled with an aggressive 3-bet strategy.
  • Out of Position: Stop burning money. Learn why you should not cold call from the SB in high-rake environments.
  • Multiway Pots: Busting the myth that you should call wider in multiway pots just because of “pot odds.”
• 3-Betting Strategy:
  • In Position: Identifying the components of a valid 3-bet hand (Early vs. Late Position) and avoiding the hands people mistakenly 3-bet.
  • Out of Position: How positional disadvantage severely impacts your 3-betting range.
  • Squeezing: Adjusting ranges when a cold caller is involved and punishing players who won’t fold.
• Facing 3-Bets:
  • In Position: Exploiting the population’s tendency to under-fold.
  • Out of Position: Understanding equity smoothness and realization when you are the underdog (CO vs. BU, Early vs. SB).
• 4-Betting Wars:
  • The Strategy: How to navigate Aces. In 5-card, Aces get cracked often. Learn when to 4-bet to stack off and when to flat and tread carefully.
  • Facing 4-Bets: How to react as the squeezer against an AAxx-heavy villain.
• Deep Stacks (200bb): Adjusting all your ranges (Opening, Calling, 3-Betting) when the stacks get deep and leverage increases.

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Phase 3: Postflop Navigability – The Flop

5-Card PLO is rarely heads-up. This section focuses on navigating “family pots” and identifying range advantages.

Single Raised Pots (SRP)

• Bet Sizing & Textures: Which sizings to choose on specific board textures and why.
• Range vs. Range: The difficulty of narrowing ranges in 5-card compared to 4-card. Understanding polarity advantage.
• C-Betting Strategy (As PFR):
  • Out of Position: Balancing your range against population tendencies and your own image.
  • In Position: Weighing the wide calling ranges of opponents and exploiting those who don’t lead enough.
• Facing C-Bets (Vs PFR): Deciding on a course of action based on future street playability (both IP and OOP).
• Donk Leading: Looking at board runouts where it makes sense to seize the initiative away from the preflop raiser.

3-Bet Pots

• As the 3-Bettor:
  • In Position: Simulations assuming opponents never fold (common at low stakes).
  • Out of Position: The hardest spot in the game. Which boards favor you, and the merits of a two-size betting strategy.
  • Leading: Why leading in 3-bet pots is a crucial weapon in your arsenal.
• Vs the 3-Bettor:
  • In Position: Exploiting the population’s tendency to over-C-bet.
  • Out of Position: Reacting to stabs and understanding equity shifts.

4-Bet Pots

• The 4-Bettor’s Dilemma: Deciding how to approach later streets after putting the 4th bet in.
• Vs the 4-Bettor: Should we lead? Stack off? Or check-fold? Analyzing textures to find the EV-maximizing line.

Phase 4: Turn & River Play

How to transition from a flop C-bet to a river barrel (or a disciplined fold).

• Delayed C-Betting: How to continue on certain Turn cards when facing weakness after checking the flop.
• Barreling (As C-Bettor): Building a barreling range while remaining aware of who is favored by the runout (IP vs. OOP).
• Facing Barrels (Vs C-Bettor): When to call down and when to lead. Analyzing opponent tendencies and ranges in SRPs.
• Checking Lines: The importance of attacking when the action checks to the river. Don’t leave value on the table!
• 3-Bet Pot Transitions: Advanced Turn and River play for both the 3-Bettor and the Caller, including check-through scenarios.

Phase 5: Theory in Practice (Real Hand Analysis)

Six massive live sessions where theory meets reality. Emty plays real stakes, explains real hands, and shows you how to adjust.

• $25 PLO (Parts 1 & 2):
  • Establishing key differences at the micro-stakes.
  • Putting theory into practice and referencing specific 5-Card Pot Limit Omaha course videos.
• $50 PLO (Parts 1 & 2):
  • Stepping up the aggression.
  • Elaborating on key concepts that arise in tougher pools.
• $100 PLO (Parts 1 & 2):
  • High-level adjustments against thinking opponents.
  • A final showcase of the 5-Card engine in action.
• Recap & The Future: A final summary of what you’ve learned and a roadmap for continuing your 5-Card education.

Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.

Instructor Review: Does “Emty” Get PLO5?

Thomas Emter is not a high-stakes wizard who has forgotten what it’s like to play $1/$2. He is a teacher first.

He uses Vision GTO Trainer to verify his strategies, but he doesn’t speak in “solver code,” and explains why the solver takes a certain line.

The “Play and Explain” Value: The final module features live play sessions at $25, $50, and $100 PLO. Watching a pro navigate real games, dealing with real “fish” and “regs,” is incredibly valuable. He points out population tendencies, like players not bluffing enough on rivers that you can exploit immediately.

If you are looking for the best tools to study alongside him, check out our guide on the best PLO software.

Run It Once vs. PLO Mastermind (5-Card Edition)

This is the big question. PLO Mastermind is the giant in the room. How does Run It Once From The Ground Up 5-card PLO compare?

1. The Price Model

• Run It Once: One-time fee of $249.99. 10% less with code PLO365. You pay once, you own it forever.
• PLO Mastermind: Subscription model ($199/mo for 4-card and 5-cards). You pay forever to keep access.

2. The Content Structure

• Run It Once: A structured “Start Here, End Here” course. It is a linear roadmap designed to build a complete game.
• PLO Mastermind: A massive, endless library of videos, quizzes, and tools. It is amazing, but it can be overwhelming for a beginner who just wants a system.

The Verdict:

If you are just starting your 5 card PLO journey, Run It Once is the better investment. It gives you the solid foundation without the pressure of a monthly bill. Once you have crushed the Pot Limit Omaha course and moved up to mid-stakes, you can consider a Mastermind subscription for ongoing study.

Who is This 5-Card Pot Limit Omaha Course For?

This PLO course is not for everyone. Here is who should buy it:

✅ Buy It If:

• You are transitioning from Holdem or 4-Card: You know how to play PLO, but 5 card Omaha feels slippery to you.
• You play on Crypto Sites or Apps: If you grind CoinPoker or Phenom Poker, this game is the standard. You need this edge.
• You want a One-Time Cost: You hate subscriptions and want to own your study material.
• You are stuck at Micro/Low Stakes: You can’t seem to beat the rake at PLO25 or PLO50.

❌ Skip It If:

• You are a High-Stakes Crusher: If you are already beating PLO1000+, you need advanced solver work, not a roadmap.
• You want dynamic tools: This is a video Pot Limit Omaha course, not a software suite.

Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.

Conclusion & Verdict

5-card Pot Limit Omaha is the future of action poker. The edges are huge because players are making massive preflop mistakes.

Run It Once From The Ground Up 5-Card PLO is the most accessible, structured, and high-value way to capture those edges. Thomas Emter provides a clear path through the noise, teaching you how to play tight, aggressive, and profitable poker in a game where everyone else is gambling.

Is it worth $249.99? If it stops you from stacking off light in just one buy-in at PLO200, it has paid for itself.

Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.

Key Takeaways

• Dedicated 5-Card Roadmap: This is not a rehashed 4-card PLO course. It addresses the specific mechanics of PLO5.
• Focus on Preflop Discipline: Teaches you to avoid the “Equity Illusion” of pretty looking 5-card hands.
• One-Time Investment: Lifetime access for ~$225 (with discount code PLO365) beats paying a monthly subscription for years.
• Instructor Clarity: Thomas Emter simplifies complex GTO concepts for practical application.
• Transition Guide: Perfect for players moving from NLHE or PLO4 who are struggling with the adjustments.

FAQs

Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.

Overview of all Pot Limit Omaha courses:

Starter Courses

• 4-Card PLO 30-Day Course Review
• 4-Card PLO From The Ground Up Course Review
• 5-Card PLO 30-Day Course Review
• 5-Card PLO From The Ground Up Course Review

Advanced Courses

• PLO Mastermind 6-Max Cash Game Course Review
• Solving The PLO Puzzle Course Review
• 6-Card PLO Blueprint Course Review

Elite Courses

• This Is PLO Course Review

Special Courses

• Winning PLO Tournaments Course Review
• Mastering Double Board Bomb Pots Course Review
• PLO Stat Lab Course Review