PLO5 Strategy Guide: Learn Basic & Advanced 5-Card Skills 

Basic PLO5 Strategy: 6 Must-Know Tips for Players

If you are new to Five-Card PLO, it is essential to learn the basics first. 

These six tips for PLO5 strategy will help you avoid the most common mistakes and plug the most significant leaks most online poker players have in their game. Keep these concepts in mind at all times and build your 5 Card PLO strategy around them. 

PLO5 & Hold’em Hand Strength is Different

While the same hand rankings apply in both games, absolute hand strength in PLO5 differs from that in Texas Hold’em. Hands like straights, flushes, and full houses are a lot more common, and you must adjust your game plan to this. 

Whenever you are considering value betting, bluffing, or semi-bluffing, remember you are playing PLO5. With five cards to a player, it is a lot more likely that you and everyone else at the table will make stronger hands by the river. 

PLO5 Has Closer Equity Between Players

Preflop hand equities run much closer in PLO5 than they do in NLH. While hands like AA and KK can be 80% favorites before the flop in NLH, such situations don’t arise in PLO5. Instead, most hands usually have at least 35% equity even against monsters like double-suited Aces and Kings. 

Since equities run that much closer, other factors like position, connectivity, and nut potential become much more critical. Keep that in mind the next time you think about overplaying a hand with AA or KK in it.

Don’t Overestimate Hand Strength

A pretty-looking starting hand may be tempting, but it can also lead to trouble. Hands with small cards and small pocket pairs are especially troublesome in PLO5, as they usually won’t make the nuts by the river. 

Your focus should be on playing hands that have a high nut potential, which includes high straight combinations and suited Aces. Once the flop is dealt, forget about how pretty your hand was before the flop, and only look at the ways it’s connected with the board.

Paired & Flush Boards Bring Danger

Paired boards and flush boards are tough to play in PLO5. On such boards, it’s very common for someone to have a made flush or a made full house. Since this is the case, it’s essential to be careful with hands that are not the nuts. 

While you should always look to get paid if you do have a strong hand on such boards, you may also find good bluffing opportunities on them. Flush boards allow you to bluff with the Ace blocker, while paired boards let you represent a full house or quads anytime you have trips. 

Bluffing in PLO5 is Totally Different

Bluffing is an essential part of 5-Card PLO, but it’s quite a bit different than in NLH. While hands like gutshot straight draws and backdoor flush draws are often good enough to bluff in NLH, stronger candidates are necessary in PLO5. 

Namely, you should be looking to bluff with your monster draws, which have 12 outs or more to make the nuts, but also consider blockers. The only time you should bluff without much equity is when you have blockers to the nuts, as you may be able to fold out your opponent’s entire range. 

Adapt to PLO5 Stakes & Opponent Styles

Every player plays PLO5 in a different way, and there are many styles and strategies employed. This is especially true in live games, and as you move up the stakes at the online tables. You will encounter everything from nits who play a few hands and wait for the nuts, to absolute maniacs who go after every pot. 

As you face different opponent types, remember to adapt your PLO5 strategy and exploit their tendencies. This game is not about finding balance as much as finding the soft spots to exploit in other players’ strategies. 

PLO5 Starting Hands: Know Hands to Play & Avoid Preflop

Choosing the right starting hands to play in 5-Card PLO is a lot more complicated than in NLH. 

Having the right PLO5 preflop strategy is essential, as your preflop hand selection sets you up for success or failure. Here is a look at the best and worst starting hands you should look out for in PLO5. 

Which PLO5 Starting Hands to Play Preflop

The best PLO5 starting hands have strong connectivity, double-suitedness, and high pocket pairs. This means these hands make the best straights, best flushes, and best full houses.

Don’t try to memorize the “top 10 hands” in this game, but rather understand the reasons these hands are the best. Here is a look at 10 hands you will want to play from any position in PLO5:

Some of the Best PLO5 Starting Hands

• A♥A♣K♥K♣Q♠
• A♠A♥Q♠Q♥K♦
• A♥K♣Q♥J♣T♠
• A♣K♦Q♣J♦9♥
• A♣Q♥J♣T♥9♦
• K♠K♦Q♠Q♦J♣
• K♥K♠J♥J♠T♦
• K♦Q♥J♦T♥9♠
• Q♦J♠T♦9♠8♥
• J♠T♥9♠8♥7♦

Which PLO5 Starting Hands to Avoid Preflop

The worst starting hands in PLO5 come in many shapes, ranging from completely unplayable to mostly unplayable. 

Remember that hands with little connectivity, too many cards of one suit, or no suits at all, are generally among the worst PLO5 starting hands. Here is a look at some very bad PLO5 starting hands, in no particular order:

Some of the Worst PLO5 Starting Hands

• 7♠2♠2♥2♣2♦
• J♠7♦3♣3♦3♥
• Q♠9♣7♦5♥2♦
• Q♣9♣7♣5♣2♣
• K♥8♠5♣4♦4♠
• 9♦7♣5♥3♠2♣

6 Advanced PLO5 Strategies: Increase Your 5-Card Skill

Now that you understand the basics, it’s time to move on to more advanced PLO5 strategy concepts. These six tips will help you win even against more seasoned opponents and take your PLO5 game to the next level. 

1. PLO5 Redraws Are Super-Crucial

Making the nuts in PLO5 is not too difficult, as five hole cards allow you to connect with many boards. Instead, it’s all about having the nuts and additional outs to improve your hand even further, known as redraws. 

In order to have a chance at making the nuts with redraws, it is essential to play hands that are very connected and have flush potential. You may have the nuts on the flop, but a lot can change from flop to river in PLO5.

2. Avoid “Danglers” in PLO5

Connected and suited cards are essential components of a good PLO5 starting hand. However, many players see too many hands as “connected,” and they ignore “danglers.” Danglers are cards that don’t connect directly with the other cards in your hand. 

For example, if you hold A-K-Q-J-2, then your 2 is the dangler. This card doesn’t help the rest of your hand, so you’re essentially playing 4-Card Omaha. Look for opportunities to play true rundowns, made up entirely of connected cards that play well together. 

3. Prioritize High Connected Rundowns

Rundowns made up of high cards are some of the best starting hands in PLO5. These hands allow you to flop monster draws on the flop, and keep improving on the turn and the river. The equity such hands give you on many flops allows you to fire big bets and put maximum pressure on other players. 

We recommend folding lower rundowns in PLO5 when lots of money is going into the pot, as they tend to make the second-best hand too often. While having the lower end of the straight may be a cooler in NLH, it’s very common on PLO5 if you play low rundowns. 

4. Keep Bet Sizes Consistent in PLO5

Like in all poker games, you should keep your bet sizes consistent in PLO5. The worst thing you can do is start varying your bet sizes based on the strength of your hand and advertising your hand value with your bet size. 

Instead, keep your bet sizes the same between your bluffs and your value bets. Whenever you are betting for value, consider the bet size you would use if you were bluffing. Try using the same bet size and ensure your opponents can’t read too much into your bet size. 

5. Use Your Positional Advantage

Table position is power in any poker game, but even more so in PLO5. Playing hands from out of position can be incredibly difficult in 5-Card PLO, and positional advantage allows you to capitalize on other players’ mistakes and tendencies in full. 

The value of position is so high in PLO5 that you may want to consider folding even very strong starting hands from the blinds, while playing more speculative hands on the dealer button. The extra equity you will get to realize in position, and the value you can get on the river, is worth the tradeoff.

6. Never Chase Weak Draws

If you are drawing in PLO5, try to draw for the nuts. Drawing to the lower ends of the straight, or a non-nut flush, can be a true bankroll killer. The chances of your opponents having a better draw, along with a made hand, are simply too high. 

Instead, look for opportunities to draw to the nuts, and avoid the non-nut draws completely. Even if you are facing a small bet and are getting direct odds, the reverse implied odds are simply too high to ignore. 

Strategy Tips for PLO5 Cash Games

If you are looking to play 5-Card PLO cash games specifically, there are some tips we can give you to make your life easier. These are the most useful PLO5 cash game strategy tips and tricks that will help you achieve the desired win rate:

• Don’t Overplay Aces: Players transitioning from NLH to PLO and PLO5 tend to overplay their pocket Aces. In a PLO5 cash game, Aces are only really good when they make a set or better. 
• Be Careful of Dominated Draws: Regardless of your preflop approach, you will occasionally flop a “bad draw.” In such cases, be careful if your draw gets there and you improve to a non-nutted hand. 
• Control the Pot with Weak Flushes: If you happen to make a flush that’s not the nuts, don’t bet too heavily for value. This kind of hand can usually get one street of value at best. 
• Bluff Often with Nut Blockers: Use blockers to the nuts to bluff and balance out your value bets. For example, having the Ace blocker to the nut flush gives you free rein to put maximum pressure on your opponents. 
• Have a Respectable Bankroll: Bankroll management is vital in PLO5 cash games. The variance is very high, and having 100 buy-ins or more for your average game is absolutely necessary. 

Strategy Tips for PLO5 Tournaments (MTTs)

If you are looking to play PLO5 tournaments instead, here are a few useful PLO5 tournament strategy tips you will want to know. You can try them out in our real money tournaments at CoinPoker.

• Play Speculative Hands at Deeper Stacks: Whenever you have a deep stack (100 big blinds or more), you can play more speculative hands such as strong rundowns, especially if you have a suited Ace to go with them. 
• High Cards Gain Value at Shallow Stacks: As stacks get shallower, hands with high cards gain more value, as implied odds to making hands with rundowns are lower. 
• Use Position to Control Pot Size: Playing as many hands in position in PLO5 tournaments as you can is essential. This allows you to control pot size with medium-strength hands and see affordable showdowns. 
• Apply Max Pressure at Final Tables: If you reach a final table of a PLO5 MTT, remember to keep your foot on the gas. Use blockers to put maximum pressure on shorter stacks and make them fold everything. 
• Maintain Composure: PLO5 can be a brutal game at times, as the variance is very high. Remember to keep your cool in spite of bad beats and avoid tilt at all costs. 

The 3 Most Common Strategy Mistakes PLO5 Players Make

Everyone makes mistakes, and novice PLO5 players tend to make more than experienced players. Here are the three most common PLO5 mistakes you will want to avoid in order to keep up with the PLO5 crushers:

Apply Your PLO5 Strategy to Real Money Games Here

It’s time to put your PLO5 strategy tips to use in real games. 

Sign up with CoinPoker to start playing 5-Card PLO for real money, with stakes starting as low as $0.01/$0.02. Enter at the lowest levels, perfect your strategy, and move up the ranks to play with the very best. 

Related Articles

• Pot Limit Omaha Guide
• Cash Game Poker Strategy

FAQs