--- name: plo-strategy description: Pot-Limit Omaha (4-card) doctrinal guide — hand selection, must-use-2/3, pot-limit sizing, equity-driven postflop play category: game-class version: 1.0.0 --- # PLO Strategy — Pot-Limit Omaha (4-card) ## When to Use Load this skill on every PLO decision. The advice here REPLACES the NLHE poker-strategy doctrine — PLO is a different game with different math. Reading PLO situations through Hold'em lenses will lose you money fast. ## The One Rule You Must Internalize **You use exactly 2 hole cards + exactly 3 board cards. Always.** - You cannot play 1 hole card and 4 board cards (no "play the board"). - You cannot play 3 hole cards and 2 board cards. - You cannot play 0 hole cards. Ever. If you have one spade in your hand and the board comes 4 spades, you do NOT have a flush. You need TWO spades in your own hand to make a flush. This single rule changes how every preflop hand should be evaluated: cards that don't WORK TOGETHER in pairs are dead weight. ## Core Concepts ### 1. Hand shape, not hand strength In NLHE, AA is a monster. In PLO, AA is a vulnerable made hand if it has no side cards that connect — AAxx with a 9-2 rainbow side is nearly a coinflip against random 4-card hands that have suited connectivity. The 4-card combinations matter. A 4-card hand gives you C(4,2)=6 distinct two-card "Hold'em hands." A strong PLO hand has multiple strong two-card combos working together. Hand tiers (rough — adjust by table dynamic): - **PREMIUM**: AAxx double-suited; AAKK double-suited - **STRONG**: AAxx single-suited; KKxx double-suited; double-suited rundowns 9876, T987, JT98 - **PLAYABLE**: AAxx unsuited; single-suited rundowns; two-pair hands (KKJJ, QQTT) with one suit; high-card broadway with double- suited connection (AKJTss) - **MARGINAL**: single-pair hands with weak side cards; weak rundowns (5432, 7654); single-suited disconnected - **TRASH** (fold preflop unless free): danglers — one isolated high card with three random others; hands with one suit and no connectedness ### 2. Equities run closer The huge equity gaps between hands you see in NLHE (AK vs 22 = 50/50, AA vs 72o = 88/12) collapse in PLO. Top PLO hands beat random PLO hands by only ~60/40, not 80/20. Implication: rely less on preflop fold equity, more on postflop equity realization. ### 3. The nuts move In NLHE, top pair often wins. In PLO, top pair almost never wins at showdown. The nuts you want to draw to are: - Nut straights (specifically the high-end straight) - Nut flushes (Ace high) - Top set + boats - Wraps + redraws (drawing to multiple straight outs) If your draw is to second-best — second set, queen-high flush, straight that loses to a higher straight — you're drawing thin in a game where stacks go in. ### 4. Pot-Limit math The maximum bet or raise is capped at the size of the pot. Standard formula: > Max raise = current pot + outstanding bets + amount needed to call Worked example ($1/$2 PLO): - Preflop pot: $3 (SB+BB) - UTG calls $2 → pot is $5 - Next player wants pot-raise → calls $2 (pot now $7), raises $7 - Total max bet = $2 call + $7 raise = $9 Practical rule of thumb: a single pot bet ≈ 3.5× the previous bet in heads-up situations. Stacks go in faster than you'd expect. ### 5. Stack-to-pot ratio (SPR) means more In PLO with effective stacks of 100bb, the SPR on the flop after a single pot-sized preflop raise is ~3-4. That means committing on the flop with a strong-but-not-nut hand often correctly gets all-in by the river. Plan your entire hand at hand-start — if your stack is small enough that one pot bet on the flop commits you, then your preflop call is implicitly an all-in. ## Procedure (general decision flow) ### Preflop 1. Score your 4 cards using the tier table above. 2. **PREMIUM**: open-raise pot every time. 3-bet pot if facing a raise. 3. **STRONG**: open-raise pot in position, call if out of position with deep stacks. 3-bet pot rarely (only with AAKK-class). 4. **PLAYABLE**: open small (2.5-3x) or call if facing a raise with position + deep stacks. Avoid 3-betting. 5. **MARGINAL**: fold from EP. Call from late position multi-way. 6. **TRASH**: fold. Always. ### Flop You will see one of three flop textures: 1. **Connected wet boards** (e.g. T98 two-tone): wide ranges hit strongly. If you flop top set with a flush draw or wrap-around straight, bet pot. If you flopped one pair with a backdoor draw, check-fold to action. 2. **Dry paired boards** (e.g. K72 rainbow): tight ranges. Most hands miss completely. If you have any pair or higher, bet small (1/3 pot) for a continuation; check-fold otherwise. 3. **Coordinated three-flush or three-straight boards**: assume someone made it. Bet only with the nuts or a nut redraw + reasonable made hand. ### Turn Critical street. Pot is large; one more pot-sized bet commits everyone. The questions: - Do I have the current nuts? - If not, do I have a nut redraw + at least middle made hand? - If neither, fold to any bet. PLO punishes "hopeful" turn calls more than NLHE. The river isn't going to bail you out — your equity to draw-to-the-best-hand is visible in the cards. ### River You either have a strong made hand or you don't. Bluffing is rare in PLO because pot-sized rivers are too expensive to call light. Value-bet thin (queen-high flush, second set on dry board, etc.) when villain's range still contains worse calls. Fold to raises unless you have the nuts. ## Rules & Constraints - **NEVER bet more than the pot.** The legalActions surface will expose `canBet.maxWei` / `canRaise.maxRaiseToWei` — clamp your emitted amount to those bounds. - **NEVER fold preflop with AAxx unless you're 3-bet AND out of position AND the 3-bettor is tight.** Aces are still aces. - **NEVER call a pot-sized turn bet with just one pair + no draw.** You are drawing to ~2 outs. - **Always count your outs honestly.** A flush draw with one suit in your hand is 0 outs (you can't make the flush). A "straight draw" with one connector is similarly dead unless paired with another card in your hand that fills the same gap. ## Pitfalls - **Hoping you have a flush when you don't.** One spade in hand + three spades on board = no flush. Recheck. Always. - **Treating PLO premium hands like NLHE premium hands.** AAxx in NLHE is ~80% equity vs random. AAxx in PLO is ~70% vs random 4-card hands AND drops to ~55% vs strong hands. Don't get married to AA when stacks go in. - **Ignoring suitedness.** A pair without any suited cards loses most of its flush-board equity. Mark your hand "suited" only when at least 2 hole cards share a suit. - **Overplaying middle sets on coordinated boards.** Middle set on a T98 board is the worst possible hand — you're drawing to a boat while every wrap + straight + bigger set has you crushed. ## Verification Before every action, ask: 1. What's my best legal 5-card hand using exactly 2 of my 4 hole cards + exactly 3 of the board cards? 2. What does the BOARD look like — are there nut combinations possible that my hand can't beat? 3. What's the pot-limit max raise right now? (`canRaise.maxRaiseToWei`) 4. Is my action within `[minRaiseToWei, maxRaiseToWei]`? If you can't answer (1) instantly, you have not yet thought about the hand. Stop and think.