Although you might not have heard of this mixed game as it is fairly new to PokerStars, if you enjoy playing pot limit poker, than you shall truly enjoy this great new mixed poker variant, PLH/PLO. It combines Pot Limit Holdem with Pot Limit Omaha for an extremely exciting time. Pot Limit Poker is a mix in itself. It is similar to both no limit and fixed limit poker games. Many people often confuse fixed limit games with pot limit games and sit down at the table completely unprepared. Unlike fixed limit poker where there the bet is capped once it has been bet and raised 3 times (for a total of 4 bets). In pot limit poker, this is not the case at all. Granted there is a limit to how much you can bet, it is not uncommon to be all in on your first hand depending on stakes and what kind of players you are playing with. The trick to pot limit poker is that you can only raise it as high as how much money is already on the table. Check out our PLH/PLO strategy article to learn some of the tactics that separate winning players from losing players. PLH/PLO is Pokerstars's answer to Full Tilt Poker's popular mixed game HA Poker.
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Games Included in PLH/PLO:
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Pot Limit Holdem
If you know how to play No Limit Texas Holdem, PL Texas Holdem shouldn't be too hard for you. The difference between no limit and pot limit is the amount you can bet. As similar as the two are, there is a slight strategy difference between the two. It is much harder to slow play your good hand and get a good pot out of it when playing PL Holdem. In NL Texas Holdem, you can check to the river and then make a substantial bet to make a hefty pot. However, this is not possible when playing PL because if the table has checked all the way to the river, that means there isn't too much money in the pot and since it is pot limit, you can only bet as high as the amount on the table.
Pot Limit Omaha
If you have never played Omaha before, it's quite similar to Holdem except that instead of 2 hole cards you get 4 hole cards. Another difference between Holdem and Omaha is that if your cards aren't very good, you can't play the board because you are required to use 2 of your hole cards and 3 of the community cards to make your best hand. The fact that you have double the amount of hole cards is a good thing, but keep in mind that everyone at the table gets 2 extra cards too. Another thing to watch out for when playing Omaha is 3 or 4 card flushes. Although at first glance this may seem like a blessing, you have to remember that you can only use 2 of those suited cards and that the other 1 or 2 are now dead cards against you hitting your flush. Being Pot Limit Omaha, your wager can be no more than the amount already on the table.
PLH/PLO
When playing the PLH/PLO mix games at PokerStars, you will keep rotating the game every 9 hands. If you take a look at the heading bar at the top of your table screen, you will see the name of the game that is currently being played, as well as how many hands into the round it is. The structure to this game is,you will play PL Holdem for one 9 hand round before switching to PL Omaha and playing that for one 9 hand round. The game will continue to switch back and forth every 9 hands. Always remember that this mix game is pot limit, so if you are going to play a hand, make sure it is a good one because it might take a chunk of your chips just to see the flop.