Plo Rules

Polo is a dynamic and exciting team game that is played on horseback. One of the oldest known sports in the world, it is thought to have originated in Persia over 2000 years ago. The game as we know it today originates in India in the 1800s, where British soldiers who were stationed there saw the game being played locally and adapted it for their own uses, often using it as training for cavalry riders.

What are the Rules? In Pot Limit Omaha Poker, the maximum bet allowed is restricted to the size of the pot including your call. This in comparison to no-limit Omaha poker which doesn't have these. Here’s a quick breakdown of betting rules: If you’re first to bet, you can bet up to the size of the pot, i.e., if there is $100 in the pot, you can bet the maximum of $100 If there is a bet in front of you, the maximum raise is the size of the pot (all bets on the table), including your call. PLO Poker Guide is a site dedicated to Omaha poker. Read on for a complete beginner’s guide to PLO poker including rules, strategy, tips and more. Pot Limit Omaha – 5 card (PLO) The three key points about Pot Limit Omaha 5: Pot Limit Omaha 5 is a derivative of Texas Hold’em where each player is dealt five private cards, and must make the best hand possible using two (and only two) of their private cards and three (and only three) of the five community cards which are available to every player.

Brought to Britain soon after, rules were established and from then on the game spread, and is now played across the world where as well as the UK, it is particularly popular in Argentina and the USA. The sport is overseen by the Federation of International Polo.

Object of the Game

Plo Rules

The object of Polo is for a team to score more points than its opposition, thus winning the game. Each team attempts to move the ball into the opposition's half of the pitch with the aim of eventually hitting it through the goal to score. Each team of four is made up of attackers and defenders, but realistically all members of a polo team are expected to be flexible and make any play whether offensive or defensive and change position as necessary to benefit the team.

Players & Equipment

Each team is made up of four players, each one assigned a position which is displayed by the number worn on their kit.

• Position 1 is known as an attacking offensive player, similar to a striker in soccer or forward in hockey. Hard and accurate hitters of the ball, their prime aim is to score but when defending, they also have the responsibility of looking after the opposition’s position 3 player.
• Position 2 is an offensive player primarily, backing up the position 1 player in attack. However, they also have defensive responsibilities, often interchanging with the position 3 player when they attack.
• Position 3 is very similar to the quarterback position and is usually a position that is filled by the best player in the team. It is an attacking position and players in this position must be able to hit the ball accurately upfield to the position 1 and 2 players.
• Position 4 is a defensive position, tasked with defending the team’s goal. However, they do have offensive responsibilities and when successfully defending the goal, they are expected to move the ball forward accurately to the team’s offensive players.

In terms of equipment, the most obvious piece of equipment is a horse specifically bred for the game of Polo, known as Polo pony. Each player will need at least two to switch out between chukkas and these may be the player's own or they may be provided by their club. These horses will need a special saddle which will enable the player to be seated securely, control the horse and swing the mallet. Other essential pieces of equipment are a helmet, a polo stick, knee guards and a ball.

Scoring

Scoring is simple in Polo, and a point (known as a goal) is scored when the ball is hit into the goal. Unlike many other games that change halves at set periods such as halftime, in Polo, teams change field direction every time a goal is scored. It’s not known exactly why this is the case but it is thought that it stems from the past where pitches were traditionally on an East/West axis and teams would not want to spend extended periods of time with the sun or wind in their face.

Winning the Game

The team who have scored the most amount of goals and thus end up with the highest amount of points at the end of the game are deemed the winners. If the game is drawn, another chukka is played and the first to score wins. If nobody scores in this, another chukka is played in which the goalposts are widened and the first to score wins.

Rules of Polo

• Polo is played on a Polo field that is 300 yards long and 200 yards wide, although this may be just 160 yards wide if it is a boarded pitch.
• The goalposts have a width of 8 yards and are open at the top.
• Each Polo match shall consist of 4 chukkas (plays), each one lasting 7 minutes of actual play.
• The game shall start when the umpire throws the ball in between the two teams. This is how play is restarted after a goal is scored too.
• When a goal is scored, the teams change ends, which helps to equalise any ground or weather advantages.
• Players may challenge opposition team members by ‘riding them off’, which is where a payer rides their pony alongside their opponent’s and attempts to move them away from the ball or even take them out of play. Player may also ‘bump’ the opposition, which is a physical manoeuvre akin to the body check in hockey. Players may also hook an opponent’s stick when they are attempting to hit the ball.
• Polo is overseen by two mounted umpires who consult each other on decisions. Should they disagree, they can seek the opinion of the match referee also known as the ‘third man’.
• Following a foul, a free hit may be awarded towards goal.
• The team with the most amount of goals at the end of the match is declared the winner.

Rules of the Game

Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) is the second most popular poker game in the world. Ten years ago it was somewhat difficult to find a live game going outside of Europe but now many card rooms spread PLO regularly. While it will never surpass No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) in popularity it will only increase its market share as the years move forward. Everyday people are converting to PLO as their game of choice.

It’s not hard to figure out why this is the case as PLO is an action game where all players get dealt four cards and possibilities abound. One caveat, however, is that you must use at least two of your hole cards in your final hand. In other words if you have A♥ K♦ J♠ J♣ you don’t have an ace high flush when the board shows four hearts. Also you do not have a full house if the board is K♥ K♠ 5♣ 5♦ 2♥. So if you are new to the game make sure you have these fundamentals firmly in mind before heading out to the tables as the game is enough intimidating on its own for inexperienced players.

Plo Raise Rules

Basic Strategy

5 Card Plo Rules

Starting hand selection is incredibly important; mediocre starting hands tend to build mediocre holdings and the second best hand can cost you a lot of money. There is no place ticket in PLO; the second best hand always loses the most money.

The premium hands have both nut potential and have all four cards working together such as A♥ K♥ Q♠ J♣, A♥ A♦ J♠ T♠, and K♦ Q♦ J♣ T♣. These hands play very well heads-up or multi-way but obviously hands like this do not grow on trees. Hands like A♥ 9♥ 8♠ 7♣, T♥ 9♥ 8♠ 6♣, and Q♦ Q♠ T♠ 9♣ are also quite good because you tend to either hit a favorable flop and when you don’t you are usually able to get out without committing too many of your troops.

This is not a split pot game so run downs with no gaps and at least one suit down to around 8♠ 7♠ 6♥ 5♣ has a lot of value in this game. It is important, however, to not overrate any rundowns lower this this because you are beginning to run into the danger of continually running into higher straights. Being suited at least once is important because when you share a nut straight with someone else it can give you the highly desired free-roll. If someone happens to hold a higher flush draw then you suits act as blocking defense.

Pot Limit Omaha is too complicated of a game to get too in depth here but here are some quick warnings that new players should heed so they can learn the game without paying too high of a tuition:

• In a multi-way pot you always want to be drawing to the nuts. For example, drawing to a jack high flush with five players in the pot is a recipe for disaster.
• Beware of medium and low pairs and the sets that they make. You will run into higher sets more often than you think and they are big time money losers. Starting hands with them should most often be folded, although there are exceptions such as A♥ A♦ 2♣ 2♠ and T♥ 9♥ 8♠ 8♣. If you happen to flop a set of deuces or eights with either of these hands you must be aware that you could be in peril. Certainly you do not have to automatically fold but recognize that your hand is not as strong as it is in NLHE.
• Straight draws even with those with many outs (i.e. wraps) are severely devalued when there are two suits on board. You can call a bet, but if you if raise that can allow a player with a set, two pair and a flush draw, or a flush draw that shares some of your straight outs to reopen the betting and your holding fares very badly against such hands.
• Do not overvalue dry aces (e.g A♥ A♠ 7♦ 3♣) and put too much money into the pot pre-flop especially when stacks are deep. If you give away the fact that you have aces you allow your opponents to more or less play perfectly against you. Of course if you have premium aces you should escalate the pot for value but make sure other hands without aces are in your range.
• Many new players are enamored with the “Bare Ace Bluff”. This is the play where you only have one ace of a suit when there are three more on board and play too aggressively every time in the hopes of getting everyone to fold because they can’t have the nuts. This play should be made on occasion but overdoing can be very costly as many players are on guard for such a play and hate to be bluffed out.
• Many beginning resources go out of their way to tell you that hands with big pairs and nothing much else such as K♥ K♠ 5♦ 4♣ are unplayable because your hand is not working together. While it is true that this holding is far from a premium holding you should definitely try and see a flop unless the pot is raised and re-raised and it costs too much as a relative portion of your stack to consider calling. Top set is a premium hand with which you typically have both the best hand and the best draw which is the best situation in poker. In raised pots you can sometimes stack an opponent who commits too much money with a lesser hand and can’t give it up.

Further Learning

Pot Limit Poker: The Big Play Strategy by Jeff Hwang, (Rating 10/10) – This book is an excellent resource on learning how to best approach live full ring PLO games. In addition, it also has excellent beginning material on Pot Limit and Limit Omaha Eight or Better.
Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume I, Volume II, and Volume III by Jeff Hwang, (Rating 7/10) – These books are also highly valuable because they have some nuggets of very good information and have an immense amount of examples yet they appear to have a few shortcomings. In many examples Jeff advocates calling re-raises too much with dominated hands especially out of position. In other situations he is also putting in too much money with very marginal hands in an attempt to isolate or is calling too wide pre-flop in an attempt to play “small ball”. Often you will end up in a three way pot with a very marginal hand and while position does help it’s often the case you are up against two better hands.
Mastering Pot-Limit Omaha: The Modern Aggressive Approach by Herbert Okolowitz and Wladmir Taschner (Rating 8/10) – If online PLO is your game then this resource is for you. Great information and advice for those that play the more aggressive and advanced online games that tend to feature six-handed play.