How to Play 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO5): Rules, Hands & Odds

What is 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO5)?

For online poker players, it doesn’t get more action-packed than PLO5, where you’ll play with five hole cards instead of four from regular Pot Limit Omaha. The game has become popular with many players as better access to the variant has emerged through online poker rooms like CoinPoker.

Big hands tend to appear often, and you’ll see more flops, so you need a different approach to strategy to beat PLO5. However, if you’ve played Texas Hold’em or regular Omaha previously, you’ll easily slip into this game, where many core aspects will be familiar. 

PLO5 Rules: How 5-Card Pot Limit Omaha Works

PLO5 rules are straightforward, but the key to playing successfully right away is to understand how PLO5 works, so you’re confident from the first hand:

Key Rules of 5-Card Omaha:

• You’ll receive five hole cards before any community cards are dealt.
• Every hand must use two of your hole cards and three community cards.
• Pot-limit pre-flop betting begins before rounds of betting on the flop, turn, and river.
• If players remain after the river, a showdown decides the winner.

How Pot-Limit Betting Works in PLO5

In PLO5, all bets and raises are capped at the current pot size.

For example, in a $5/$10 game, if the pot is $30 and a player faces a $10 bet, the maximum raise is $50. That breaks down like this: $30 (pot) + $10 (call) + $10 (raise).

How to Make Hand Combinations in PLO5

To build a hand in PLO5, you must use exactly two of your five hole cards plus three community cards. This differs from Texas Hold’em, where players can use any mix of hole and board cards to form their best hand. 

This difference is crucial to remember. Many new players to PLO5 fall victim to trying to use too few or too many hole cards when calculating their hand. The extra hole card creates more drawing possibilities than regular Pot Limit Omaha, so expect to see hand combos of higher value.

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5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO5) Hand Rankings

PLO5 uses the same standard poker hand rankings as Texas Hold’em, from Royal Flush down to High Card. 

Understanding the PLO5 hand rankings is easy once you become accustomed to always using two hole cards. Here are some hand examples, with the two hole cards + three community cards that make the best hand highlighted:

Hand Name	Community Cards	Hole Cards
Royal Flush	K♠ Q♠ J♠ 2♦ 3♣	A♠ 10♠ 5♣ 6♥ 2♣
Straight Flush	9♦ 8♦ 7♦ 2♣ 4♠	6♦ 5♦ Q♦ K♠ A♥
4 of a Kind	K♣ K♦ K♥ 3♠ 9♦	K♠ A♠ A♥ 10♥ J♥
Full House	Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ 5♣ 2♠	8♥ 8♦ 8♠ J♠ J♥
Flush	A♥ 10♥ 7♥ 4♣ 2♣	K♥ 9♥ Q♠ J♠ K♠
Straight	10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 2♣ K♥	J♠ 7♣ 10♠ 10♦ K♦
3 of a Kind	J♠ J♥ 5♣ 2♠ A♦	J♦ 9♣ K♦ K♥ 9♦
Two Pair	10♠ 10♦ 4♣ 6♥ K♠	4♦ A♣ 9♦ 8♦ J♥
One Pair	9♠ 3♦ 6♣ K♠ 2♦	9♣ A♥ Q♠ J♠ 7♣
High Card	A♦ 7♠ 5♥ 3♣ 2♦	K♥ Q♣ 10♥ 8♠ J♣

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How to Play a Round of PLO5: 6 Gameplay Steps

Playing 5-Card Pot Limit Omaha requires you to follow a sequence of betting steps and rounds. Here’s our quick guide to help you understand how a standard hand plays out from start to finish.

1. Choose to Call, Fold, or Raise

Once five hole cards are dealt to all players, the action begins with the first player to the left of the big blind. You can call the blind, fold your hand, or raise within pot-limit rules.

Image: A player holds Qs 6s Ad 7d Tc and decides on their action.

2. See the Flop

After the preflop betting round, three community cards are dealt face up. This is the flop, where another round of betting begins with the first active player to the dealer’s left.

Image: The flop is 2d 3s 2h.

3. Choose an Action

You’ll now decide whether to check, bet, call, fold, or raise based on your hand and the action before you. Once again, betting is within the pot limit rules before the turn card is dealt.

Image: A player decides what to do on the flop.

4. Repeat for Turn & River Rounds

The dealer reveals the turn (fourth card) and later the river (fifth card), followed by the same betting structure as the flop and preflop. Any players left when betting ends move to the showdown.

Image: By the river, the player has made two pair (Aces and Queens with a 3 kicker).

5. Show Cards at Showdown & Decide a Winner

If two or more players remain after the river betting, everyone still in the hand must reveal their cards. This is called the showdown, where the best five-card hand is determined.

The player with the best hand is now declared the winner of the hand. In the event of a tie, the pot is equally split between the winning players. A fresh round of hands can now be dealt.

Image: The player wins with two pair and wins a pot of $2.74.

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PLO5 Odds: Learn Important Drawing Odds for Pot Limit Omaha

Big hand collisions are commonplace in PLO5, so it’s essential to know your drawing odds to make the best decisions. Here are some real hand examples of 5-Card PLO hands and their drawing odds:

• Example 1: You hold A♠ K♠ 9♦ 7♣ 2♥ on a flop of Q♠ 6♠ 3♦. With nine spades left in the deck, your nut flush draw completes by the river about 35% of the time.
• Example 2: You hold J♥ 10♣ 9♠ 8♦ 4♣ on a flop of Q♦ 7♠ 2♥. You have an open-ended straight draw (eight outs to a king or six), which hits by the river roughly 31% of the time.

Knowing drawing odds lets you balance risk against pot size, chase profitable draws, and fold when the math isn’t on your side.

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PLO5 Strategy: 3 Basic Tips to Raise Your Skill Level

Polishing your poker skills is always an excellent idea, so try these useful PLO5 strategies to lift your Omaha game to the next level.

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PLO5 Variants: 3 Alternatives to 5-Card Omaha

At CoinPoker, we have stacks of alternatives to PLO5. Play with thousands of others in Hold’em cash games and tournaments, or try Pot-Limit Omaha with 4 cards! You can also play our modern casino poker games, with big win potential around the clock:

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Learn the History of 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha

5-Card Pot Limit Omaha was believed to have gained popularity in Las Vegas in the 1980s. Its 4-card cousin caught the attention of players at the Stardust Casino in 1983, and later at the WSOP in 1984. From then on, PLO5 (and even PLO6) became niche variants with a loyal following.

The poker boom in the early 2000s and growing support for the variant online further increased the popularity of PLO5. While Hold’em caught the attention of many worldwide during the boom, 5-Card Omaha also benefited from the increased exposure.

Today, the game continues to grow online and in casinos. Along with PLO and PLO5, Omaha formats like Hi-Lo 8 or Better and Double Board Bomb Pot games also have a strong following. 

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