1. Rundown hands may be some of the most profitable hands in PLO if you know how to play them, and if the circumstances are right: Out of position, these hands (especially the small rundown hands) can prove very costly: whenever you miss your draw on the turn, your opponent may charge you and whenever you hit he might release.
2. 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.

1. Best Starting Hands Plo8
2. Best Starting Hands Plo Hi Lo
3. Best Hands In Omaha Poker

While we recommend suited 1-gappers in some spots, some pros advocate adding suited 2-gappers or 3-gappers to your starting hand range which can add value on some flops. To add to your starting.

It can be tempting to play a lot of hands in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or better games – after all, high-only hands will win the pot some 30% of the time! This can be even more temping when you can see a flop relatively cheaply after a number of limpers… now the cold, hard facts – the quickest way to lose your bankroll is to play too loose in Omaha/8 poker. In fact you should be playing less starting hands than in other forms of poker, after all hands which can hit both the high and the low side of the pot with the nuts do not come along too often.

This guide will look at the various starting hands for Omaha Hi-Lo poker including PLO8. We start with the strongest hands of all and then drill down to speculative holdings. Your objective with every hand you play in Omaha Hi-Lo are twofold, to ‘scoop’ both the high and the low sides of the pot and to avoid being quartered – these objectives must be considered every time you enter a pot if you are to be a long-term profitable player.

Premium Hands

The very best PLO8 and O8 starting hands are known as ‘suited babies’, that is to say small suited cards with an ace suited with at least one other card. These hands have the very best chance of scooping both sides of the pot. They can make ‘nut low’ hands with the small cards, and the ace + flush potential gives a great opportunity to win the high side of the pot also. A double suited (2 cards of each suit) hand will add to this strength still further. A pair of aces double suited with 2 babies is a potential monster in Omaha 8 or better – the potential to scoop here is huge.

Very Strong Hands

In this category come hands with both low and high potential that can not quite be considered premiums. Small cards are still favored, especially with an ace included as this gives high possibilities. Ace hands which contain 4 ‘babies’ are considered strong as they have both low and low straight potential. Hands with and ace-2 and another small card can be played where they have ‘backup’ for the high, for example a king suited with one of the small cards. K-K-A-X where X is a card 4 or below can also be played strongly in many circumstances.

High-Only Hands

Since the flop will not make a low hand possible 30% of the time there is a place for high only hands. However, these need to be played only when it is cheap to see a flop and where you are prepared to fold quickly should you not hit a nut hand (or very strong high draw with no low possible). High only hands should be the strongest possible, A-A-K-K or A-A-J-10 double suited being the very best – play these from late position and with caution!

Non-Ace Hands

While playing only hands with aces will keep beginning players out of trouble there are playable hands which do not contain these. The best would be 2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-6 which give you a combination of low and straight possibilities, if betting gets heavy and there is no ace on the board then you may be beaten for the low when holding non-ace hands.

Marginal Hands

The worst hand to make in any form of poker is the 2nd best hand, especially in a game such as PLO8 where finding out you are behind can be very expensive indeed. Hands with A-2 and 2 medium cards can be considered marginal, you are unlikely to make a high and are in danger of being quartered when you make the nut low. Cards with some backup in the form of an additional low card A-2-4-9 for example are a little stronger a suited ace and weak opposition could push these hands into the ‘playable with caution’ category from later position. See our article on Ace-2 errors for more on this important subject.

Of course, not all opponents are equal when it comes to Omaha Hi-Lo on the internet. To find the fishiest tables today why not check out our detailed look at the Best Sites For Omaha Hi-Lo and find a site with serious profit potential today!

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• »Dipping Your Toes Into the PLO8 Waters

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.

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?

Best Starting Hands Plo8

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

Best Starting Hands Plo Hi Lo

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.

Best Hands In Omaha Poker