There are typically two kinds of Big-O players preflop. The last big is when to play aggressively, and this means both preflop and postflop. That being said, being on the button doesn’t mean you should start limping behind with hands like J9762 or KQ854…hand selection is still a priority.

Pots in this game are typically multi-way to the flop, so having position gives you maximum flexibility when creating postflop lines. Being on the button makes your life a million times easier since you can see how people react to new board cards, you can take free cards when you want, etc. Since we already discussed the basics of hand selection, let’s look at position for a moment. The most important elements of Big-O, in order, are: This means hands with suited aces, especially with wheel cards, can be big money makers when played correctly. To be specific, full ring Omaha hands tend to be won by NUT flushes where second/third best flushes are often left crying. The latter is a gross hand that doesn’t offer much in terms of scoop potential unless the board starts pairing quickly. There is a huge difference between AA2QJ and AA67K. In Big-O you want to be very aware of how your AA hand is composed. In NL games you wait around for pocket Aces and pounce when you finally get it. Use this Bluffing 101 guide to get started… AA isn’t the same as hold ‘em: Hands with all broadway cards can perform very well when the board has no possible low, and hands like A23xx can catch a wheel and safety into lows when other people get negated.īluffing may seem tougher against so many cards, but finding good bluffs is the mark of a strong Big O player.

The big hands people wait for are AA2xx, A23xx, AKQJ3, etc. In any hi/lo game your goal is to scoop the pot, meaning you win both the high and low (or just the high if there is no low possible). Let’s first start by understanding good hands vs deceptive hands: Good hands have scoop potential: Getting 5 cards in Big-O vs the 4 cards of traditional O8 is a huge difference which allows you to get dealt more interesting hands.

If you’ve never played O8 before, watch this video first and get the basics so that you understand how the high and low hands work (or if you already understand the basics, skip below the video). So not only do you get 5 cards per hand, but many pots end up getting split between the high hand and the low hand…so it’s common for pots to grow quickly. If you’ve never played Big-O before, it’s 5 card pot-limit Omaha 8-or-better. It’s a great game that can be played with 8 or less people, and has a ton of gamble baked right into the format. Big-O is quickly becoming one of my favorite non-NL games to play.

Pot limit omaha poker rules