Pot limit Omaha is a bit like no limit hold'em. In fact it is actually a cousin game. (All games that use the five card community format are cousin games, pot limit hold’em is also a cousin of pot limit omaha because of the restrictions on the all in bet. ) These are just rules to how the game is played. And the main rules specific to PLO are that you must use two cards from your hand in combination with the community cards. (Whereas in most other community card games you may choose to use one of the cards in your hand in coordination with the community cards. ). Additionally, in PLO you may only bet the size of the pot as a limit, you cannot overbet the pot like you can in no limit hold'em.
The only difference between pot limit omaha and 5 card omaha (courchevel), is the extra card you get dealt. That's it!
- The extra card breathes new life Into an already, quite complex game.
- The extra card allows you to build extra combinations with your starting hand, bringing the grand total to 10 possible combinations of hands.
The outline below illustrates this with a diagram using distribution and color arrows:
Four new combinations create a whole new game, and a vast array of possibilities.
As always I recommend you try playing this game at play money or just for fun with your buddies before venturing to play in that real cash coliseum. My prediction is bloody, bloody madness with chariots, tigers, and flying mid-class metallic weapons heading in every general direction. But hey, that is why gladiators start off practicing with wooden swords.
Tactical Adjustments for Courchevel Poker
Hand strengths skew up as they did from the switch of games, nlhe to PLO. With many players you are going to tighten up even more and nut hands could just begin with nut flushes +. Weaker hands like top two pairs could become trap hands with the advent of four new combinations in everyones’ hand.
Now we are going to talk about a ski resort in the French Alps. How does tie into our omaha discussion, you ask?
“Patience, my dear Watson.” As my childhood hero would say.
Courchevel is also an omaha game! It is an omaha game that is played exactly the same way as 5 card omaha. The one key difference is the pre flop street becomes the one community card street in terms of betting and where the game begins. So instead of a pre flop betting round, you will make your first raise or call on this “Tease” card. From there everything proceeds normally like in 5 card omaha with the flop, turn, river betting rounds.