Pot-Limit Omaha Poker

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Jeff Hwang has written the most helpful and insightful book on Omaha poker available. I also purchased Bob Ciaffone's 'Omaha Poker' and 'Pot Limit & No Limit Poker' by Reuben and Ciaffone. All three of these cash-game oriented books are valuable additions to a well rounded poker players library. However, Hwang is far more systematic in his presentation of key ideas, his prose is lucid, and his insights are gold. Those insights have provided 90% of improvement in my game that I have gained by reading these books.

After a brief intro, Hwang jumps right into his core thesis: you only want to get involved with hands that have big play potential. Big play hands have structures that allow you to bet strongly when flopping the nuts with redraws to even better nuts by the time you reach the river. He then goes on to map out all of the types of big play potential hand structures in a clear and systematic way. While the big play notion, and the importance of counting nut outs have been made before, the systematic and lucid presentation in 'Pot-Limit Omaha Poker' really make it shine.

If you are hold em player who is branching out into Omaha you should buy this book. If you don't, please invite me to your game.

I just got this book a week ago and have spent more than ten hours reading it and taking notes. I'm blown away. I actually was a little afraid to come on here and tell others how good the book is, but I realized there was no need to worry. Only the most studious and stable players will get a lot out of this book. Most players, even the ones who read this book, will continue to play naked ace-deuces in pot-limit Omaha hi/lo, and call off their entire stacks with only a low draw. So I don't care if a few people get educated by studying the game of Omaha through this book. For every one person who really studies this book and improves, there will be another hundred who couldn't care less. I suppose all poker games are like that, especially in online play.
I should mention that I bought this book, thinking it would cover Omaha high only. But the pot-limit Omaha/8 discussion, which only covers about 50 pages of the book, is worth the purchase price in and of itself. The Omaha high discussion in this book has already been seen, for the most part, in previous books.

I am a semi-pro player out of Florida and I will confess that Omaha has been my weakest game since I began playing. I never really got the gist of it. But I bought this book about 2 weeks ago and I must say, the ideas, topics and overall presentation of this book were so simply presented, that I will swear that my game has improved significantly.

Applying these strategies is a bit tricky, however the excercises and out counting regognition teqchniques used in this book are what will improve your game. If you study these guidlines your game will improve dramatically.

This book shows you betting patterens, real situation semi-bluffing techniques and a ton more. If you are really interested in playing Omaha read this book.

P.S. There are additionally chapters covering Omaha hi/lo that are staggeringly informative.

Hope this helps any aspiring pros, or anyone wanting to improve their game.

I don't know what Bob Ciaffone could have read to call it "very accurate technically" but it must have been a pre-printing proof of some kind. it could not possibly have been an actual physical book from the first printing.

There may be great material here, but it is seriously damaged by poor editing (e.g. a whole paragraph repeated out of place on page 88/89) and the apparent LACK of technical review.

As for the Quiz on page 118, step 3, neither choice is even remotely acceptable. When that trey of diamonds hits the board, you MUST call the floor manager, show the same card from your hand, and insist that every chip in the pot go back to the player who put it in. Then, get a new deck (and probably a new dealer), and you STILL need to reconsider whether you ever want to play another hand in that card room. OBVIOUSLY one of those cards was not printed according to the author's intent.

I don't think there have been blocks larger than about a dozen pages without SOMETHING that any decent technical reviewer would have flagged.

The editor of this book should be ashamed. The technical reviewers, if in fact there were any, should be terminated. And the author should seriously consider shopping for a new publisher.

The "Poker Boom" has rushed yet another unready book into print. Yes, this book probably stands head and shoulders above many dozens of poker books *unworthy* of having been published at all, but we the buyers should send the publishers a message that shoddy production is not acceptable either.

I'm barely even halfway through, but it would take a minimum of a revised edition to earn more stars. There's probably five-star quality material in here, but you practically need a pickaxe to mine for it.

very detail-oriented and specific book about winning concepts and applications. easy to follow.

amazing value for the price.

almost too good.

I have read several poker books on Omaha; Ken Warren's, Bob Ciaffone's, T.J. Cloutier's, and recently Rolf Slotboom's book. None of them helped me with Omaha the way this book did. Yes, there are a few typographical errors, but it certainly should not stop you from buying this book if you want to play Omaha. It's not just Omaha High, but the High Low section is excellent.

Jeff is systematic in his approach to each starting hand. The understanding of which drawing hands get you into trouble (i.e. your outs are not the nut outs)and which ones can turn into monsters is something the other books left out. Warren's book is very elementary but a good starting tool. Ciaffone's book is very thin, good information, but no examples. Rolf's book has an interesting style for short stack play, but once you double up his big stack play is not as clear as Jeff's. After I read T.J.'s book I thought no one should play a hand unless it was the Broadway wrap. This book is the only Omaha book you should buy.

This book is mainly for cash game play. There are a few examples from tournaments, but this book concentrates on the cash game arena. This book is a tremendous value for the price they charge.

Echoing the sentiments of another reviewer -- I would not want to be playing Omaha against anyone who has this book in his or her arsenal. This is currently THE book on Omaha, but as was mentioned before, you will only get out of it what you put into it. The amount of detail contained within will probably be lost on most players, especially the uber-in-depth look at the straight draws (holy cow!). This book has improved my game immensely, and will most likely do the same for you.

PLO seems to be the game of choice among big cash-game players, and it is growing in popularity among lower-limit players too. I was a casual PLO player going into the reading of this text, having spent most of my time playing No Limit Hold 'Em.

In my opinion, no one should venture into PLO without having studied the nuances of the game first. With so much action post-flop, you can go broke fast if you don't know what you're up against. Mr. Hwang's book is a great place to start.

The first third of the book is dedicated to PLO, then there's a brief section on miscellaneous topics like bankroll management, maintaining emotional discipline, etc. and then the second half of the book goes into Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Split and Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Split.

I read this book just for PLO for now, and I am a better player for it. I still make some donkey plays and go on tilt (which is more prevalent in PLO than in Hold 'Em, because everyone is speculating in this game and people hit bigger hands on the turn and river almost every hand), but that's my issue. Understanding run-down, one-gap and two-gap straight wraps; the percentages in draw vs. draw situations, why one shouldn't necessarily get excited by flopping the nuts, etc. has helped me make regular profits in online small-stakes PLO games. I played as I read my way through the first two sections of the book (I can't recommend doing this highly enough) and I felt so much more confident about the choices I was making.

Hwang includes enough math to open your eyes, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed. His book is both as reader-friendly and instructive as Dan Harrington's NLHE books.

Get the book if you want a solid PLO foundation. Hwang also recommends several other PLO books out there (especially Ciaffone's), so you'll know where to go from here. See you at the tables!

I purchased this book mainly based on the numerous positive reviews (mostly 5 stars). Apparently, most people find this book to be profound. Unfortunately, I found it to be lacking in depth, unclear at times, poorly edited, and infuses a distracting amount of his ego. On the positive side, he has much breadth, includes a chapter on miscellaneous topics, and chapters on Hi/Lo. I think this may be a good starting point book for people familiar with the basics of Hold 'em, but completely unfamiliar with Omaha, but for someone who has played Omaha enough to get the gist of how it works, this is not the book for you. I bought this book in a bundle pack with Hwang's other book and am hoping his strategies there are more substantial.

There were enough negative aspects to this book to make me regret buying it. I think it would have been much better if he had a better editor (or perhaps one at all?) who took out things like the non-word, "irregardless," duplicate words, and other inconsistencies. In fact, he kept plugging Bob Ciaffone's book, "Omaha Poker" so much, I wish I had purchased that one instead!

Hwang did a very good job including a breadth of topics from hand selection to Omaha Hi/Lo to bankroll management. Unfortunately, he didn't expand on many topics he discussed. For instance, he always justified plays with claims of "implied odds," but never went into a discussion on how to calculate those or comparing them to the odds of actually hitting your draw. In fact, he never explicitly states what comparison you are looking for with implied odds vs the odds of making your hand. I think without that, some of his justifications were less effective.

His ego also began to get annoying. If you are reading this, then you are a poker player and you already know that most poker players have substantial egos. Hwang is no different. Spoiler alert: almost every practice/hypothetical hand you play vs him in the book, he wins. (In Hi/Lo, he'll let you split.) He also kept mentioning how successful he is. It wasn't until I read the final section, "Closing Thoughts," that I realized he has only been playing Omaha for a couple of years. He has no major accomplishments under his belt other than winning at low stakes games. Now, a bracelet is not a prerequisite for being a poker author, but it helps if you're going to keep talking about how great you are in your book.

All in all, I think this is an acceptable rough introduction into the game for someone without any prior knowledge of it. However, most of the skills here can be gleaned from a few hours of observant play at the tables. You won't be a pro, but you'll know the strategies found in this book.

This book was very helpful for me and I highly recommend it, especially to relatively new Omaha players. The best part was Hwang's analysis of the different types of starting hands and their structures (which is more complex than you may expect). He also does a good job of explaning the thought process that you should go through on the flop when you are deciding whether or not to continue with your hand. He favors a solid, tight/aggressive style which I agree with.

However I did have a few issues with the book:

1. Not enough postflop play. I know he is saving most of his advanced plays for the next book, but still, there wasn't enough discussion of postflop play for me. The turn is an especially tricky street, and he doesn't discuss turn play nearly as much as I had hoped. For instance, what if you have a solid 13-card draw on the flop, but you don't hit it on the turn? For the most part he says to keep betting it on the turn, but surely there are times when you should slow down, or even fold your hand on the turn. So, I found his discussion of turn play to be very short and overly simplified - he basically just says that if you liked your hand on the flop, then you should keep betting it on the turn, no matter what the turn card actually is.

And I don't think there was a single hand in the book where he advocated going for a check/raise. This seems strange to me because the check/raise can be a very powerful move, even in PLO.

There wasn't enough discussion on reading your opponents based on their betting habits, and he made no mention at all of using deception and varying your play in order to make yourself harder to read. This is another area that he will probably cover in the next book.

2. The book stretches itself a bit too thin. He covers pot-limit omaha high, limit omaha 8/b, and pot-limit omaha 8/b. I would have liked to see the entire book devoted to PLO so that he could cover it in more detail. Omaha high/low could have been covered in a separate book.

Having said that, it's a very good book and well worth the price. I just hope that volume 2 covers some of the "trickier" aspects of Omaha that were not discussed here.

Having been a relatively experienced semi-pro Hold'em player, I decided I needed to branch out and learn some other forms of poker; one of my good friends and mentors told me Omaha was the best form of poker for making money right now, so I decided to give it a shot. With that in mind, the comments on this text come from a relative newcomer to the game of PLO (I started playing it around 2 months ago).

Simply put, the strategy outlined in this book is easy to understand and will have you getting the best of it at low stakes (1-2 and 2-5) PLO games within a short time. Broad concepts are broken down understandably, and the synthesis of starting hand requirements to their structural components (full rundown, rundown with gap at bottom, rundown with gap in middle, etc.), with the flop opportunities available for each structure, make the large amount of information easy to process. A lot of the information presented (such as the weaknesses of having a gap at the top of your rundown) would probably take a long time of playing experience to figure out on your own.

If there are any downsides to the text (and I didn't personally see it as a downside), its that you will most likely end up playing tighter than anyone else at the tables you are at; at least, I have since finishing it. That isn't to say that you will play passively; once involved in a hand, Hwang generally advocates for very aggressive play. It's simply that the text will make you realize how many playable looking hands are truly trash that will only leave you vulnerable if you connect, and you will end up throwing away a lot of hands that other players would happily play.

Overall, a great text for this novice and one I would recommend to anyone looking to enter the world of Omaha poker.

Ciaffone's Omaha Poker is a very thin book, but in the content that is there, it is very useful. It is low on examples, or at least in-depth examples. Sklansky's stuff repeats a lot of the standard theory of poker, which is good if you haven't read all of his other books.

This book takes the info from both styles, and combines them, so you get the theory of pot odds and the like, mixed with strategy, and then example hands with discussions.

I found the most useful strategy part the limit omaha hi/lo section, as I had read the least on that prior to this book.

As many reviews mention, there are errors in the examples in the book, but you would have to be a moron not to realize they are errors. They have offered corrections for these for free online, and usually you can look at them and know what they intended regardless of the error.

This is great instructional and very practical book regarding Omaha. Hopefully the author is correct with the thought that Omaha will continue to become more popular. He does a nice job mixing up mathematical analysis and other topics such as bankroll management, etc. The author who has written for Motley Fool previously does a very nice job. Over time this will be considered a required reading for the Omaha player.

Mr. Huang does what is no easy task in this book. He boils down the fundamental strategies of winning PLO play into a systematic and understandable text that will vastly elevate the game of most novice and intermediate PLO players. I have often had significant trouble explaining to friends some rules to follow to avoid the common mistakes of beginning PLO players. Many times while reading this book I found myself thinking "Yes! That's what I was trying to say!" I think that Jeff's series (as I certainly hope there are more to come) may be to PLO what Harrington's series are to tournament and cash game Texas Hold Em. A wonderful and desperately needed addition to the poker player's literary cache.

The definitive book on Omaha Poker. If you read this it will improve your game, period. More than just a guide to starting hands and recommended plays, Mr. Hwang provides insight into the Omaha players state of mind. With the knowledge presented in a well thought out and easy to understand format, Pot Limit Omaha Poker is a must for any player's library. Patience, aggression, and the information presented here are enough for anyone to become a winning player.

This book seriously delivers. Hwang does a brilliant job laying out all of the strategies required to beat low and mid stakes Pot limit omaha.

However, I believe that the real gold is hidden in the Pot Limit Omaha High-Low section. It's brilliant, and has helped me to become a very successful Multi-table tournament, SNG, and cash game player.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is not sitting at a table with me. I can't wait for part 2 on Advanced PLO (and hopefully High-low)Concepts.

As many books on the subject advocating playing "good hands" using "position", no advanced strategy here. One problem I find is in many situational analysis (when having either a solid made hand or strong draws) is the author advices raising when faced with around half sized pot and folding to a full size pot. I find this advice gets repeated over and over, so by this logic it would be profitable /+ EV to raise with stone cold bluffs when facing small/half size bet almost always!!. I am not saying the info is bad, but added nothing to what I have already known/seen before.

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Most people that are keen on Texas Hold'em, have probably read a book or 3. and thats the main pre-requisite of this book.

the other, is to have an interest in Omaha Poker. The Game of Champions.

now i'm the type of person that gets bored very easily while reading. but i found this book to be very readable.

Jeff is very good at explaining both the basic and advanced concepts of Omaha Poker, in plain english. so that even a non-reader like me can understand it.

this is a book i'd recommend to anyone that is just starting out and playing micro limit PLO. as it gives you the strategies you'll need to be able to play the game at hte higher limits, given practice. :-)

a must get for all beginner PLO players.

This book gives interesting insights and pretty detailed discussion of a few subjects. He spends a lot of time on which straight generating hands are best (rundowns, two gaps, etc.) and which are most vulnerable to domination, and a lot of time discussing the vulnerability of certain very good LOOKING hands, like under full (66 on 996 board).

For the very deep stacked among us, this is decent stuff to consider. But realistically in most Omaha games, the finer points of huge versus big hands aren't so applicable. He also gives very little guidance on opening hand standards, and many of his general discussions lack depth or variety of perspective.

I started playing Omaha a few months before I bought this book and now that I have bought and read it it has definetly improved my game. If you are seriouse about learning this game this book is a must read.

I play PL08 for a living and I have to say this book refocused me on some of the concepts I kept forgetting.

A phenomenal work and a must read.

I have read a bunch of Omaha/poker books, and I found this one to be good. It gives you basic info you can use and apply. A good read for the begginer. I also found the Quizes/ practice hands to be helpful. So def a good buy.

Good introduction to PLO. Basically teaches a tight preflop strategy where you get the money in postflop dominating an opponent. For example, you both may have the same straight draw, but you also have a flush draw.

Main weakness of the book is it doesn't talk much about postflop play with deep stacks.

This is a Very Good Intermediate Text.

There are far too few texts specifically covering Omaha, this one is worthwhile.

This book will teach you what you need to know to play any kind of omaha. It is a great PLO book, as well as a good book for Omaha/8. I saved enough money after reading 50 pages to pay for the book. A must read IMO.

Are you an Holdem player who want's to understand Omaha? Well, this book is for you. I was such a player and didn't understand Omaha. Now I understand it better and even if I don't play it very much it also improved mu understanding of Holdem. Buy this book and you won't regret.