Poker game guide
Pot-Limit Omaha
Four private cards create many more possible hands, but only two of them may play. Omaha suits a table that already knows poker and wants richer decisions in every pot.
- Players
- 4–9
- Time
- 90–180 min
- Experience
- Poker regulars
- Best scoring
- Placement + stack
How to play
A clear rhythm for every hand.
Agree the stakes and house rules before the first deal. Once play begins, these are the moments everyone needs to follow.
Post the blinds and deal four
The table uses a dealer button, small blind and big blind. Each player receives four private hole cards.
Play pre-flop
Players fold, call or raise. A raise may be no larger than the pot after the call has been counted.
Reveal the shared board
Deal a three-card flop, then one-card turn and one-card river, with a betting round after each reveal.
Build the hand correctly
Every final hand must use exactly two private cards and exactly three community cards—never one, three or four private cards.
Award the pot
The highest five-card poker hand wins at showdown unless all other players have already folded.
Before the first hand
Set the table once.
- Use one standard 52-card deck, a dealer button and clearly denominated chips.
- Keep the stakes lower than your usual Hold’em game while the group learns pot-sized betting.
- Place an “exactly two” reminder beside the board; it prevents the most common mistake.
- Choose a simple way to calculate the pot before play begins and nominate one player to confirm large raises.
Make it a season
Reward the players who manage the swings.
Omaha creates big pots and close decisions. Track the finishing order for season points, then keep the final stack as a useful record of how decisive each result was.
Create your season- Formula
- Placement-based points
- Record
- Final place + chip stack
- Good cadence
- One table every 4–6 weeks
- Season idea
- Bonus point for each win