Omaha Poker Rules: The Complete Guide to PLO, 5-Card, 6-Card & Hi-Lo

Alright, let’s have a talk. You’re here because you’ve decided to dip your toes into the beautiful, chaotic, and often profitable waters of Omaha Poker. I get it. The action is incredible. But you’ve probably also discovered that figuring out the actual rules can be a real headache. The information is scattered all over the place, and half of it is just plain wrong.

My mission here at PLO365 is to fix that. We’re going to cut through the noise and give you a clear, structured guide to the Omaha Poker rules. This isn’t just a list of rules; I’m going to explain why they matter and how they shape the Omaha Poker strategy of each game. We’ll cover everything from the basics of 4-card PLO to the wild worlds of 5-card PLO, 6-card PLO, and the split-pot game of Omaha Hi-Lo. By the time you’re done with this, you won’t just know the rules. You’ll understand them. Let’s dive in!

The Single Most Important Rule (No, Really)

Before we go any further, let’s burn this into your brain. This is the one rule that causes 99% of the confusion for players coming from other games like No-Limit Hold’em.

The Golden Rule of Omaha: You must use exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three of the community cards to make your best five-card hand.

Not one card from your hand. Not three. Exactly two. This is the absolute, non-negotiable foundation of all poker Omaha rules, and it applies to every single variant we’re about to discuss. If you forget this, you will make very expensive mistakes.

The Foundation: General Omaha Poker Rules

Let’s start with the basics that apply to almost every Omaha game you’ll ever sit in. Think of this as the operating system that all the other variants run on.

The Deal and Betting Rounds

Just like in Hold’em (key differences between PLO and Texas Hold’em), the game starts with two players posting blinds (a small blind and a big blind) to the left of the dealer button. The action then proceeds through four “streets” or betting rounds:

Preflop: After everyone gets their private hole cards, the first round of betting occurs.
The Flop: Three community cards are dealt face-up. A second round of betting follows.
The Turn: A fourth community card is dealt. A third round of betting follows.
The River: The fifth and final community card is dealt. The last round of betting takes place.

If two or more players are still in the hand after the final betting round, we go to a showdown, where the player with the best hand wins the pot.

The Golden Rule in Action

Let’s revisit that all-important rule. You have to use exactly two cards from your hand and three from the board. This is where new players get tripped up.

Example: The Flush Problem.

The board is A♠ K♠ 7♠ 4♠ 2♣. You hold the Q♠ in your hand along with three other non-spade cards. In Hold’em, you’d have the second-nut flush. In Omaha, you have absolutely nothing. You only have one spade in your hand, but you need to use two of your hole cards to make a flush. You cannot make a spade flush. This is a fundamental aspect of all Omaha rules poker.

Understanding this 2+3 rule is the first step to thinking like an Omaha player.

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Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) Rules: Understanding the Betting

The most popular format for Omaha is Pot Limit, which is why you’ll hear the term “PLO” all the time. The PLO rules for hand construction are the same, but the betting structure is unique and is the engine that creates all the action. Unlike No Limit, you can’t just shove all your chips in whenever you want. Your maximum bet or raise is limited to the size of the pot.

How to Calculate a Pot-Sized Bet

This sounds more complicated than it is. New players often get intimidated, but the formula is simple:

Scenario: You are playing in a $1/$2 PLO game at CoinPoker and want to raise first to act preflop. How much can you bet now?
Step 1: Start with the main pot: $3 ($1 Small Blind + $2 Big Blind)
Step 2: Treat the big blind as the last outstanding bet that you would need to call to get into the action.
Step 3: These are the three numbers that you need to add. $3 (size of the pot), $2 (last outstanding bet) and $2 (amount you would need to call the previous bet)
Total: $3+$2+$2=$7

Now let’s add a step: The small blind wants to 3-bet. What is his maximum raise? Exactly, it is $24. Explanation: The size of the pot is $10 ($1 Small Blind, $2 Big Blind and $7 Raise). The last outstanding bet is $7, and you need to call $7 to call the previous bet. So you need to add $10+$7+$7=$24.

5 Card Omaha Rules (PLO5): More Cards, More Action

Now we get into the fun stuff. As if four cards weren’t enough, 5 Card Omaha rules give every player five private cards. The Golden Rule in PLO5 still applies: you must use exactly two of your five hole cards and three from the board.

This single extra card changes everything. I’ve studied this variant extensively, drawing from some of the best advanced material available, and the strategic shifts are massive.

How the Fifth Card Changes the Game

The number of starting hand combinations explodes from about 270,000 in 4-card PLO to nearly 2.6 million in 5-card PLO. This has several huge effects:

Hand Strength Goes Way Up: Everyone is making stronger hands more often. The two-pair or weak flush that might have been good in 4-card is now often a ticket to losing your stack. You have to adjust your idea of what a “strong hand” is.
Equities Run Closer: With more cards, more people have draws. The preflop edge that a premium hand like AAxxx has over a random hand is smaller than in 4-card PLO. This leads to more multi-way pots and higher variance.
Coordination is Everything: A common mistake is to see five cards and think any hand is playable. This is a trap. The best hands are those where all five cards work together. A hand like A-K-Q-J-T is a monster. A hand like A-K-8-5-2 is mostly garbage, with three “dangler” cards that don’t help.

A core principle of a winning 5 Card PLO rules-based strategy is to focus on “nut potential.” You must play hands that can make the best possible straight or flush. Drawing to second-best hands is one of the fastest ways to go broke in this game.

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6 Card Omaha Rules (PLO6): Navigating the Chaos

If you thought 5-card was wild, welcome to the absolute insanity of 6-card Omaha. The 6 Card Omaha rules are simple: you get six hole cards and, you guessed it, you must use exactly two of them with three from the board.

The strategic implications, however, are profound. Based on deep analysis from expert-level 6-card PLO guides, the game becomes a battle of nut hands and blockers.

The Reality of PLO6 Rules

With over 20 million starting hand combinations, the game dynamics are pushed to the extreme. Remember, PLO4 only has 270,000 and PLO5 has 2,6 million starting hand combinations.

Extreme Equity Compression: Preflop, almost everyone has a shot. A premium hand like AAxxxx is only a slight favorite against a random 6-card hand. The game is almost entirely about postflop play.
The “Nuts or Fold” Mentality: The average winning hand is incredibly strong. Flushes, full houses, and quads are common. If you don’t have the nuts or a very strong draw to the nuts, you are almost certainly beaten. A key strategic adjustment from 5-card to 6-card is what some pros call the “One Pip Stronger Theory”: your standards for what constitutes a value-betting hand have to go up another level.
Blockers are Your Best Friend: Because the nuts are made so often, holding a card that prevents your opponent from having the nuts (a “blocker”) becomes a massive part of the strategy. Holding the As on a three-spade board is an incredibly powerful tool for bluffing.

The rules to play Omaha poker with six cards are easy to learn, but mastering the strategy requires extreme discipline. You must play tighter, prioritize hands where all six cards work together, and have the mental fortitude to handle the insane variance.

Omaha Hi Lo Rules (Omaha 8 or Better Rules): The Art of the Scoop

Let’s switch gears to a completely different type of Omaha. Omaha Hi Lo rules (also called Omaha 8 or Better, or PLO8) introduce a split pot. The pot is divided 50/50 between the best “high” hand and the best “low” hand. The high hand is easy; it uses the standard poker hand rankings we all know. The low hand is where the specific Omaha 8 or Better rules come in.

What is a Qualifying Low?

To have a valid low hand, you must make a five-card hand with five unique cards that are all ranked 8 or lower:

Aces are considered low for the low hand.
Straights and flushes do not disqualify a hand from being low.
The best possible low hand is A-2-3-4-5, also known as a “wheel.”

You still have to use the Golden Rule: exactly two cards from your hand and three from the board to make your low hand. This is a critical point. If the board is K-K-7-5-2, you must have two low cards (8 or below) in your hand to make a qualifying low.

The Goal is to Scoop

The entire strategy of this game revolves around “scooping” the pot, which means winning both the high and the low halves. Playing hands that can only win one way is often a losing proposition, as you’re only fighting for half the money.

Example

The pot is $100. You win the low, and another player wins the high. You each get $50. But if three players are in the pot, and two of you have the same low hand, you get “quartered.” You’d win only $25 (one-quarter of the pot), which is often a net loss on the hand.

This is why starting hand selection in Omaha Hi-Lo is so focused on hands that can scoop, like A-2-3-K double-suited. This hand has potential for the nut low (A-2-3), a nut flush draw, and a straight draw. Answering “How do you play Omaha poker rules for Hi-Lo?” always starts with this principle: play for the whole pot.

Omaha Rules Poker: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Seeing it all laid out side-by-side can help clarify the differences. Here are two tables to break down the rules of Omaha Poker for each variant.

Table 1: Core Rule Differences by Variant

Feature	4-Card PLO	5-Card PLO (PLO5)	6-Card PLO (PLO6)	Omaha Hi-Lo (O8)
Hole Cards	4	5	6	4
Hand Construction	Exactly 2 from hand + 3 from board	Exactly 2 from hand + 3 from board	Exactly 2 from hand + 3 from board	Exactly 2 from hand + 3 from board
Pot Type	High Hand Only	High Hand Only	High Hand Only	Split Pot (High/Low)
Low Qualifier	N/A	N/A	N/A	5 unique cards 8 or lower

Table 2: Betting & Strategic Rule Comparison

Feature	4-Card PLO	5-Card PLO (PLO5)	6-Card PLO (PLO6)	Omaha Hi-Lo (O8)
Betting Format	Pot-Limit	Pot-Limit	Pot-Limit	Pot-Limit (most common)
Avg. Hand Strength	Strong	Very Strong	Extremely Strong	Varies (High vs. Low)
Key Strategic Focus	Balance, Position, Blockers	Nut Hands, Coordination, Blockers	Nut Hands Only, Blockers, Position	Scooping, Nut Low, Two-Way Hands
Complexity Level	High	Very High	Extreme	High (Different Axis)

Key Takeaways

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just focus on these core ideas. Get these right, and you’re ahead of most of the competition.

The 2+3 Rule is Law: I’m saying it again because it’s that important. You MUST use exactly two cards from your hand and three from the board for all Omaha variants.
More Cards = Stronger Hands: As you move from 4-card to 5-card and 6-card, the average winning hand gets much, much stronger. Adjust your standards accordingly.
Pot-Limit Betting Creates Action: The PLO rules for betting mean pots grow incredibly fast. Be prepared for big pots and big swings.
In Hi-Lo, You Must Scoop: The goal of Omaha Hi Lo rules is to win both halves of the pot. Playing for half the pot is a tough way to make a living.
Read the Rules for Your Game: Always double-check the specific rules of the game you’re sitting in. Is it 4, 5, or 6 cards? Is it Hi-Lo? Knowing the correct poker Omaha rules is your responsibility.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the single most important rule in any Omaha game?

Without a doubt, it’s the hand construction rule: you must use exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three of the community cards. Forgetting this is the most common and costly mistake for new players.

Can I use just one card from my hand in Omaha?

No, never. If the board has four cards to a flush, you cannot make a flush unless you have two cards of that suit in your hand . This is a fundamental difference from Texas Hold’em.

How is the pot limit calculated in PLO rules?

The max raise is the size of the pot after you’ve made your call. The simple formula is: (Current Pot) + (All Bets on the Table) + (Your Call). If you just announce “pot,” the dealer will calculate it for you.

What happens if there is no qualifying low hand in Omaha Hi-Lo?

If no player can make a five-card hand of unique cards ranked 8 or lower, there is no low winner. The entire pot is awarded to the player with the best high hand.

Does a straight or flush count against my low hand in Omaha 8 or better rules?

No. Straights and flushes are ignored for the low hand. The hand A-2-3-4-5 is the best possible low, even though it’s also a straight.

How do 5 Card Omaha rules change the game from regular PLO?

The extra card makes average hands much stronger and equities run closer together. This means you need to be more selective with your starting hands, focusing on those with great coordination and “nut potential,” as drawing to second-best hands is far more dangerous.

Can I “play the board” in Omaha?

No. Unlike Hold’em, you cannot play the five community cards as your hand. You must incorporate two of your hole cards, so your hand will always be different from the board itself.

Now You Know the Rules, Go Play the Game

You made it and now have a solid foundation in the Omaha Poker rules for all the major variants. You know the Golden Rule, you know how to calculate a pot-sized bet, and you understand the fundamental differences between the games.

This is the first, most important step. The journey in poker is one of constant learning. Semper Amplio. Always Improve. That’s our motto here. Now that you have the rules down, you can start focusing on the strategy. Take what you’ve learned, find a game, and start applying it. Good luck.

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