The first decision you make at a poker table is going to be your stack size. This is less impactful online, where fairly rigid buyin standards are the norm, but in uncapped live games how many big blinds you are playing can completely alter the game. Optimal stack size is a function of many things, and having too few or too many chips can be a real problem. Having deep stacks on your left, especially if they are aggressive, is sub optimal, and in many wild and crazy PLO games it can be advantageous to not get too deep, as you would prefer to leverage the tendency of players to call maniacs too loose preflop while simultaneously being able to retreat to the comfort of being all in and not having to face uncomfortable turn and river bets.

Aside from the tactical minutae which can dictate optimal stack size, it is also a question of your bankroll. A good rule of thumb is to never have more than 10% of your bankroll on the table, in order to limit the damage down by one fluke hand where you get coolered or drawn out on. It is very difficult to make solid decisions with too much of your bankroll on the line anyway. Generally you want to err on the side of caution in having too many buyins rather than having too few. Now bankroll doesn't refer simply to the cash you have on hand when you go to a casino or the balance of your PokerStars account but is more accurately described as the portion of your networth that you devote to poker (or as is the case for many of us, simply be your networth).

Your opponents skill level also plays an important role in determining how much of your bankroll you desire to risk. In a difficult game, or one with unknown players, it is prudent to have as little money on the table as possible. On the other hand if you are playing against opponents who play almost every hand, and whose play is predictable, then there is a strong case for adding on. If there are a few strong players who are very deep and a bunch of fish who are all short stack it is much better to have your stack equal those of the losing the players.

After stack size we come to the mental game. The mental game is a critical component of being a winning plo player. The mental game refers to the mindset and attitude of a poker player, and is most commonly thought of in the context of tilt and handling tilt, although this is really just the tip of the iceberg. The definitive work on the subject in my opinion is "The Mental Game of Poker" by Jared Tendler, an invaluable text that deserves to be read by everyone. Those of us who are obsessed with poker, and often spend long stretches of time consumed by the game are most vulnerable to tilt melt downs and must prepare accordingly. Having the right attitude, as well as self awareness of mental game leaks can go a long way. PLO can be a very trying game at times, and if you cannot bring your A game to the table each and every time you play then you will be needlessly handicapping yourself. It is important to be able to throw down long grueling sessions and to do so with a clean emotional slate.

Game selection is also a critical component of being a winning player. You need to find games where your opponents are making a lot of mistakes, and you need to recognize these mistakes and be able to capitalize on them.

Preflop Play

Preflop decision making in pot limit omaha is very complex. Not only are there many more combinations and types of hands than in no limit hold'em, you also face more esoteric situations involving mass multiway pots and varying stack sizes. A keen understanding of how your opponents approach the game is fundamental to making the right choices before the flop. The most basic rubric for plo starting hands is four cards that work together. Nuttiness is also very important. PLO, especially in the context of loose games where most flops are seen by four or more players, is very much a game of the nuts. Non-nut draws must be treated with extreme skepticism, and this really begins before the flop.

Position is also very important in determing what hands are playable and what hands are not. The further away you are from the button the more selective you must be in choosing what hands to play. You want hands that can dominate other hands. KQJT with a suit is the perfect example of a hand that is only ever going to hit the top end of things. Raggedy disconnected hands are worth considerably less than hands that are smooth, and high cards are more valuable than low cards. Aces are always a good hand, and if you can stack off with them preflop then that is ideal.

If you have hyper aggressive players still to act then you must be much more conservative with your hand selection than against a more passive field. You can also play a little looser against loose players, although be careful not to overdo this concept. Most people make the mistake of playing too loose in pot limit omaha, but the inevitable consequence of starting with inferior cards is you end up facing impossible post flop decisions and being on the wrong side of coolers time and again. You must be fairly conservative when faced with a raise in front of you and play much tighter than were you to simply open yourself from the position you are in.

In terms of deciding when and what hands to reraise, the quality of your opponents raise, as well as your position is going to be important. If a very cautious player opens for a raise then you should seldom three bet them at all, especially if by doing so you are going to face much looser players with two bets cold. On the other hand if an ultra aggressive player who is on tilt opens, then it becomes quite tempting to punish their likely weakness by reraising a number of strong hands. Generally you are going to want to avoid three betting with hands that do not have much playability, although if stacks are short and your opponent is a very liberal opener then raw equity / high card strength is the more important factor. Of course hands that have both are always the preferred choice.

In general you want to avoid playing out of position, and you want to avoid raising when you are out of position, especially if stacks are deep. You seldom want to raise out of the blinds, unless you are against a single loose late position limper.

Some hands play well as an open limp or an overlimp. In particular weaker high pairs are fine to limp behind, or even open limp at a loose passive table where you will probably just see the flop multiway limped in. At a hyper aggressive table limping can also be a powerful weapon, especially if you are a very tight player, as you can let a maniac raise for you and then punish the field of loose callers with a limp reraise. It is not uncommon to be in a game with multiple cannons who are fond of raising limpers with substandard hands. This strategy is especially potent when you are short, as limp reraising when you are quite deep stacked becomes a double edged sword.

Another bread and butter spot is raising a strong hand in position against loose limpers or a loose limper. For example, you are in the CO, and a player who plays almost every hand open limps in the HJ. You have AKJT one suit, and make a pot sized isolation raise or even a sub-pot raise. This is basically a dream scenario and one that happens with a relatively high frequency if you game select properly. In the above example everything is working for you, you have a very strong hand, your opponent likely has something substandard, and you are in position. It is hard not to show a profit with so much going on.

In terms of four bet + you don't usually want to put too much money into the pot with KK. Usually you just run into aces, even against an aggressive player. Strong kings often do play well as a three bet fold, when stacks are deeper, and if you are very short then you can three bet stack off with even weaker kings against aggro raisers with impunity, especially if you can trap some loose callers. Occassionally you will run into a player who stacks off so liberally that kings or queens are more than enough to go with, but these are very rare. Most recreational players three bet so conservatively that you cannot really four bet them with much else aside from aces. Of course some players reraise a very wide range of hands, and then you have a very lively game indeed.

It has been said that you do not really fold to three bets in PLO. That is not really accurate, and there are many times when you should fold to a three bet, but quite often it is right to take a flop especially if you have a run down hand and expect your opponent to have aces quite frequently. It is very common for players to only reraise aces or aces and other ultra premium hands before the flop, and especially if stacks are deep then you almost never want to fold to these reraises, because your opponent will be in a world of trouble on so many flops, either beause you out flop them or because the board becomes quite dangerous for them.

Say for example you open JT97 in the CO, and get three bet by the SB. He is a loose passive player and you expect him to usually have aces. First of all, your equity is quite high here, and you are not much of an underdog. You also have position. So if you flop gin, say 865, the nuts, and your opponent bets half pot, then you can just call because you expect him to always fold if you raise but he may try to bet his way out of trouble on the turn or the river or even just start bluff catching. Or the flop comes 962 rainbow. Here you have almost 50% equity again and can easily call if your opponent bets, then if the turn is a 5 you can probably win the pot as it completes the only front door draw, and even if your opponent does find a call you are not a substantial dog again and they must play guessing games on the river out of position.

On the other hand a hand like KKT2 with one suit should just be folded to a reraise from someone who is expected to usually have aces, because you are not going to hit the flop often enough to make it worth your while. KKT2 is a good hand provided that no one has aces.