Pot Limit Omaha Poker Rules

Pot Limit Omaha Hi Poker has the same fixed rules as Omaha Hi with the exception that the maximum bet is equal to the current size of the pot. The game is played with community cards that are dealt as a flop (3 cards) a turn (the fourth card) and river (the fifth and final community card). No low hands are eligible; therefore, the whole pot is won with the best HIGH five-card poker hand. Since nine cards are used to make a five-card poker hand, the resulting combinations tend to produce stronger hands (such as straights and flushes) versus other Poker variations. This is an important fact for newcomers to Pot-Limit Omaha to consider because the typically strong hands in Texas Holdem, such as top two pair are particularly vulnerable to 'made' hands such as straights and flushes.

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The game is played as follows:

Dealer Button:

There is a button that is moved around the table that dictates who is the “dealer” and who will, therefore, be dealt the last hand. The Dealer’s position at the table changes after every game played as a result of the Dealer Button being moved one player in the clockwise direction after the conclusion of every poker hand. The players immediately to the left of the Dealer Button post the small and big blinds.

Blinds:

Blinds are forced bets made by the two players to the left of the Dealer button. The player adjacent to the Dealer button (first player left of the button) posts what is called the small blind and the player next to him (2^nd to the left of the button) places the big blind. The small blind is usually half the full bet while the big blind is a full bet. Example: At a 10/20 table (where $10 is the first full bet and later rises to $20 for the last two cards) the small blind would place $5 and the big blind would be the full $10 bet.

Now that Dealer Button and blinds are explained, the game can be played.

The Deal:

Four pocket cards are dealt to each person. In the first round, the player left of the big blind plays first and can either bet, raise or fold. If no raise is made before the Big Blind, then the Big Blind has the option to raise over his forced bet or just call. The Small Blind has to equal the amounts of the bet or fold, thus giving up the forced bet.

The betting rules in Pot-Limit Omaha are much different than in limit games. A player can bet any amount up to the amount of the current pot and can raise up to the new amount of the pot after any call is made. For example, if the pot is $150 and someone makes a $100 wager, the next player can call the $100 wager (the pot is now $350) and then raise to the pot limit of $350 for a total bet of $450. This differs to no-limit in which any amount can be wagered at any time. With Pot limit, the pot size controls, or limits, the size of the bets.

In the second round, three community cards, called the Flop, are dealt. A round of betting follows and players now can either check, fold, call, or raise.

In the third round, the fourth card is revealed, known as the Turn. A round of betting follows and then on the fourth round of betting, the fifth and final card is revealed, which is the River. The remaining players then MUST USE use two of their four hole cards and three of the five community cards to create the best five-card high hand possible. This a unique aspect of all of the variations of Omaha and is the main difference between Omaha and Holdem. The player with the best high hand wins the pot. In the event of a tie, the pot will be split between the two (or more) winners.

We hope that you have learned something new from our Rules of Pot-Limit Omaha page and have a better understanding of the similarities and differences between Pot-Limit and the other forms of Omaha discussed on this site.