Pot Limit Omaha — What Does Pot Limit Imply

Whether you have a No Limit Texas Hold'em background or are entirely new to PLO Poker, the "pot limit" part is one of the most important nuances of the Omaha Poker rules you must master.

Having four hole cards and the inability to use only one hole card are other Omaha characteristics worth knowing — we've covered the basics in our guide to the rules of Pot Limit Omaha.

In this article, we'll focus on the limitation of the bet sizes, a key factor dictating the game's flow. So, without further ado, let's answer the crucial question:

How to Calculate Pot Size in Pot Limit Omaha

Whenever you are playing a no-limit game, you can bet one Big Blind, half the pot, entire pot or literally any amount you can come up with at any given time. That's not the case in the Pot Limit Omaha.

How does playing a pot-limit game work? At PLO, your betting sizing is limited by the current size of the pot. Here's a quick rundown of how betting works in PLO. All examples below use blinds of 0.5bb and 1bb.

How to Calculate the Pot Size Preflop in PLO

If you are the first to act in a 0.5/1 game, the maximum bet you can make is 3.5bb. This amount consists of 1bb required to match the previous bet (in this case, one Big Blind) and the size of the pot after matching that bet (which would be: 0.5bb Small Blind + 1bb Big Blind + 1bb matching the BB = 2.5bb).

Adding that up (2.5bb + 1bb = 3.5bb), we receive 3.5bb, the maximum open raise size at a 0.5/1 game.

What about the 3-betting? Let's continue the example and assume someone opened to 3.5bb in UTG, and you'd like to 3-bet. What's the maximum bet size you can use?

The last bet is 3.5bb, and there are also two blinds, a 0.5bb Small Blind and a 1bb Big Blind. Using the math mentioned above, the pot size bet would be:

3.5bb (previous bet) + 8.5bb (the size of the pot after matching the last bet) = 12bb.

How to Calculate the Pot Size Postflop in PLO

Let's look at the flop (and subsequent betting rounds).

If the pot on the flop is 10bb, the first player to act can choose from the minimum bet of one Big Blind (1bb) up to the full size of the pot (10bb). Let's calculate the amount you can pick if you'd like to raise the full pot versus the bet of 5bb into 10bb. The math goes as follows:

Pot raise size: 5bb (amount to call the last bet) + 20bb (the size of the pot after the last bet would have been called) = 25bb

There is also a shortcut to calculate the pot size bet in PLO. It works like this: multiply the last bet by three and add the size of the pot before any betting. In the last case, it would be 3 × 5bb + 10bb = 25bb.

Estimating the size of the pot may be troublesome at the very beginning, but as it's the case with almost any poker game, math gets easier with time. Also, remember that when playing online, you see the range of bets you can place, and at a live table, you can say "pot", and the dealer will tell you how much the bet is.

Side note. Omaha rules allow the game to be played in no-limit or fixed-limit variants, but these are rather unpopular, and if you are starting with the game, you shouldn't bother too much about them. The vast majority of Omaha poker games are played with the pot limit.

Understanding the Core Math of PLO

Trust us, knowing the maximum raise at any given time in the PLO hand is essential knowledge. While the maximum bet limit prevents you from overbetting, which greatly differentiates the game from No Limit Hold'em, there are other things to uncover in the PLO realm — for a start, how to play aces and the most common beginner mistakes.

We add PLO-themed articles every month, so stay tuned.

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