If you’ve spent any time in industry-leading online poker rooms, you are familiar with the current evolution of the poker game spread. Those who peek into the higher stakes tables to see what the pros are up to will have noticed a surge in the popularity of Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) among online poker pros.
A lot of poker enthusiasts have posed the resounding question: “Why are online poker pros playing PLO poker?”
In order to answer that question in a way that can be fully understand, we have to go back in the history books a few decades, to when Texas Holdem first emerged, compared to its status between the 1990’s and present time.
Texas Hold’em has been around for over a century, but for many years, poker game popularity was more of a regional thing. In the northeast, 7 Card Stud reigned supreme. Omaha poker ruled in the south; 7 Card Stud Low in the midwest and Stud Hi-Lo further west.
It wasn’t until the 1990’s, when real poker tables landed on the world wide web, that Texas Holdem reached its insurgence. Online poker rooms put Texas Holdem on a pedestal, and the results were astounding. Combined with the ever growing fan base of televised poker action, most notably the World Series of Poker, who’s multi-million dollar Main Event was hosted as No Limit Holdem, it seemed everyone suddenly wanted to play Texas Holdem.
Now PLO is taking the internet by storm, much like its still majority favored cousin, Texas Holdem. What creates the fanatical draw for online poker pros, however, isn’t just the premise of the game. The attraction runs much deeper than that.
The most noticeable reason for the newfound popularity of PLO among online poker pros is the lack of published poker strategies surrounding the game. When Texas Holdem hit its first big wave, you didn’t see many poker strategy books on the shelves. Only the pros had developed the best strategies for the poker game, meaning they were the majority winners of Holdem poker hands. PLO has only become so popular in recent years, and the games tactful documentation is still quite sparse.
So why did online poker pros choose PLO? There are plenty of other less popular games out there, some you rarely even hear about, like Crazy Pineapple or Badugi. The answer lies within the profitability. PLO, like Texas Holdem, is a high-velocity poker game with lots of action. It is, in fact, very similar to Texas Holdem, whose fast action and large pots initially drew the Holdem fan base.
PLO uses the same community card style of play, requiring less overall cards to be dealt than stud games, resulting in more hands per hour. Unlike Texas Holdem, PLO players are dealt four hole cards, not just two. However, players must develop their final hand utilizing exactly two hole cards and three community cards; a nasty little rule for those less experienced players who aren’t paying close attention!
The 4-card rule has turned PLO into a game of strong poker hands, where draws reign supreme. Pocket Aces aren’t going to win you the big pot, whereas high suited connectors become the best starting hands. A nut straight will often be taken down by a nut flush, only to be outdone by a full house on the river.
The PL (pot limit) factor in PLO seems to be another key element in its popularity among online poker pros. NL and FL games are so common, but PL poker brings a whole new ingredient to the kitchen. A player may only bet or raise as much as the pot currently holds, so pot sizes start out small, but can grow to extenuating heights at the showdown.
If, after having read this article, you’re sitting back thinking how interesting that was while planning to head back to your standard NL Texas Holdem tables, might we make a suggestion? Read up some more on PLO. Seek out PLO strategies, as they are becoming more common on the internet. Start practicing this new-wave online poker game, because it may not be long before you find the majority of online poker players, just like the pros, flocking to the PLO tables.
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