Starting Hands — Structure Over Cards

270,725 starting hands means no grid — in PLO you grade a hand by its shape: how well all four cards work together. Two rules above all: double-suited beats everything, and a dangler ruins everything.

Premium — raise & 3-bet

AAKK ds · AAJT ds · KKQJ ds · JT98 ds · AQJT ds

Big pairs with connected side cards, or four-card rundowns — all double-suited. These make nut hands with nut redraws.

Strong — open, call raises in position

AAxx ss · KKQJ ss · QJT9 ss · A♠K♠JT · KQJT

Same structures one notch down: single-suited versions, one-gap rundowns, big pairs with two working side cards.

Speculative — position & multiway only

T987 ss · 8765 ds · A♥9♥87 · QQ T9 · JJT9

Mid rundowns and suited-ace combos. They flop big draws but often non-nut ones — play them cheap, in position, and be ready to fold to heat.

Avoid — the trap hands

KK72 · QQQ5 · A722 · T955 rainbow · any hand with a dangler

Danglers (one dead card), trips in hand (kills your own outs), low pairs, and rainbow junk. These look like hold'em hands and bleed money in Omaha.

The Hand Grader

Tap your hand's traits and get a quick grade. It's a shape check, not gospel — position and stack depth still matter.

Suits

Double-suited

Single-suited

Rainbow

Connectivity

4-card rundown

3 connected

Disconnected

Highest pair

AA

KK

QQ–JJ

Small / none

Flags

Double-paired

Has a dangler

Trips in hand

Quick Math — Wraps, Equities & the Pot Button

PLO math is hold'em math with two twists: equities run much closer, and draws get huge.

1

Count outs — they get big.
Nut flush draw = 9 · Wrap = 13 · Big wrap = 17 · Wrap + flush draw = 20 · Set needing to fill vs. a made straight = 7 · Bare gutshot = 4

2

Rule of 2 and 4 still works.
Outs × 2 for one card, × 4 all-in on the flop. A 20-out wrap+flush draw is ~70% all-in on the flop — the draw is the favorite over top set. But count only clean outs: cards that make the nuts, not second-best.

Classic PLO matchup	Rough equity
AAxx ds vs. KKxx ds (preflop)	~65 / 35 — aces are 2:1, not the 4:1 of hold'em
AAKK ds vs. JT98 ds (preflop)	~60 / 40
Top set vs. 13-out wrap (flop)	≈ coin flip
Wrap + flush draw vs. top set (flop)	Draw is often the favorite

3

Know the pot bet cold. Facing a bet, your max raise = 3× the bet + the pot before it. Unopened, max bet = the pot. Use the calculator until it's automatic:

Pot Calculator

Pot before the bet Bet facing you

Enter the pot — add the bet facing you if there is one.

Nut warning: in multiway PLO pots, non-nut draws are traps. The second-nut flush and the low end of a wrap pay off the player holding the nuts. If your outs make the nuts, count them; if they don't, discount them hard.

The Drill — Call or Fold?

PLO spots with PLO-sized bets. Raw odds only — count your equity against the price.

Score 0/0 Streak 0

Top 10 — Solid PLO

BothAll four cards must work. A dangler turns a premium hand into a three-card hand in a four-card game. When in doubt about the fourth card, fold the whole thing.
BothAces are good, not gods. Bare AAxx is a 2:1 favorite at best and plays terribly postflop when it misses. Raise aces with working side cards; slow down with AA72 rainbow.
BothDraw to the nuts. Multiway pots are the norm in PLO, and second-best flushes and dumb-end straights are the biggest bankroll leak in the game. Nut outs count; non-nut outs get discounted.
BothBig wraps play like made hands. A 17-20 out draw on the flop is often the equity favorite — bet it, raise it, get it in. Passive draw-chasing wastes the one street where you're ahead.
CashPosition is worth even more than in hold'em. Closer equities mean more turn and river decisions — and the player acting last wins the information war on every one of them.
CashStack-to-pot ratio decides commitment. Pot-limit betting means pots double fast: pot, pot, pot and the stacks are in by the turn. Before you call the flop, know whether you're playing for it all.
CashBare top pair is nothing. Hold'em instincts overvalue one-pair hands catastrophically here. In a raised PLO pot, the average winning hand at showdown is two pair or better — usually better.
TournamentShallow stacks flip the script. Under ~30bb, big pairs and high-card hands gain and speculative rundowns lose — there's no room to realize implied odds. Tighten the speculative tiers as blinds climb.
TournamentPot-limit means no shove button. You can't open all-in deep, so pressure comes from position and the threat of the next pot bet. Short (≤15bb), raising pot preflop often commits you — plan the hand before you click.
TournamentICM hits harder when equities are close. Most PLO all-ins are 60/40 or closer, so bubble calls burn more tournament equity than in hold'em. Apply pressure with pot bets; call off only with nut-heavy hands.