Most of the time, pot limit Omaha players like to stick to six-max games. When the field is narrowed by three, the action becomes more aggressive and it’s easier to track the tendencies of individual opponents. That being said, the potential for making a lot more on an individual pot is higher when you play in a full-ring game. You just have to make some adjustments to your game to match the expanded field of players.
Change #1: You’re Going to See More Multi-Way Flops
These are going to be difficult to figure out at first. In fact, this is the minefield that many players new to full-ring PLO games find themselves in, and they just can’t push their way through. The best way to handle so many people seeing the flop is to tighten up your hand selection for middle and early position, especially when you see that the table has multiple aggressive players splitting the flop.
Change #2: Sort Your Hands and Stick to Your Selections
There are basically two groups of hands that you’ll want to play and bet with most often. The first is pretty obvious: strong and premium Omaha poker hands like double-suited Broadway hands, good double pairs (8899, KKTT) and rundowns that open up a straight or flush. You can feel good about taking them to multi-way and heads-up play because they offer the greatest playability.
Below the strong hands are the multi-way hands — those that are non-premium but have strong nut potential and big pairs. You want to flop top set and not the middle-set when you’re playing with more than two or three opponents in on the action. Look for hands with suited Ace-high cards, for example.
You can also think about limping in with multi-way hands instead of betting with them. Limping in is a sign of weakness in six-max games, but you’ll see it much more frequently in full-ring games. If you get a chance to go in on a five-way flop without spending extra money, you should definitely do so.
Change #3: Stick To Your Guns
If you’re new to the full-ring games, these are definitely the only hands you should play with. Be willing to fold aggressively and often, and remember that nine-handed PLO works best if you stick to tight, aggressive play. You don’t want to run into other players making sets and low-end straights unless you know you can win against them.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Omaha is a game of the nuts. In full-ring games, this rings especially true.