Play Omaha Poker Online – Best PLO Sites for December 2024

If someone is talking about playing Omaha poker online, they’re most probably referring to PLO. It’s the second most popular form of poker behind Texas Hold’em and the two games are closely related.

Omaha uses the same structure as Hold’em, with an initial pre-flop betting round that requires two forced bets – the small and big blinds. Three community cards are then dealt, followed by the turn and river cards, with an extra betting round after each.

The key difference is that Omaha players receive four cards each. When forming your five-card poker hand, you must use exactly two from your own hole cards and exactly three of the community cards.

As the name suggests, PLO features a Pot Limit structure. This interesting setup ensures that pot sizes can’t get out of hand early on. Towards the end of a hand, though, you could easily find yourself with most, if not all of your chips at risk.

Omaha Eight or Better, often called Omaha Hi-Lo or PLO8, uses the same basic rules but splits every pot in two. One half of the pot is reserved for the strongest hand, exactly as usual. However, there’s a second half of the pot potentially up for grabs, awarded to whoever has the best qualifying “low”.

A low hand is any hand from five to eight-high, and straights and flushes won’t count against you. That’s why A-2-3-4-5 is the best possible low – it’s treated as five-high, not a straight.

If the board is made up of high cards – nine or bigger – it might not be possible to make a low. If that’s the case, the best high hand takes the entire pot.

PLO8 is available at all of the best Omaha poker sites. It’s a very strategic game that requires you to think more carefully about your hand selection. It offers more opportunities to pick up smaller pots, but it’s also a high variance game.

In recent years, this particular PLO poker variant has become extremely popular, especially in Latin American circles. It uses the exact same set up as Pot Limit Omaha except players are dealt five cards per hand, rather than the traditional four.

This additional card increases the number of possible hand combinations. Although that makes it more likely you’ll stumble onto a good hand, the same is also true for your opponents. As such, you’ll need to be extremely disciplined in your PLO5 hand selection.

You’ll find PLO5 at all of our recommended PLO poker sites, including the CoinPoker app, ACR Poker, and Black Chip Poker.

Similar to PLO5, this is a variant of traditional PLO that involves two extra cards in your starting hand, rather than one. The sheer number of potential hand permutations is massive as a result, leading to a more chaotic and action-packed game as a result.

Although PLO5 has actually become a pretty serious Omaha poker game, available at many leading poker sites, PLO6 is more commonly played among friends. It’s a bit of fun, appreciated by action junkies looking to kill time between more serious endeavors.

What if you could play PLO without the betting restrictions? Welcome to No Limit Omaha, where players are free to bet as much as they have in front of them, at any time.

Much like No Limit Hold’em, it requires nerves of steel to play NLO. Putting all of your chips on the line is brave, even if you’ve a good chance of winning. But to do so on a bluff – especially in a game like Omaha, where so many hands are always possible – is extremely risky.

This makes for a more psychological game than Fixed or Pot Limit Omaha, where it’s much harder to be bullied off the best hand. Some sites in the US don’t even offer NLO games, as it’s not the most popular way to play Omaha poker online.

Some online poker sites have a PLO-NLO hybrid game that’s beginning to rise in popularity, where it’s PLO preflop and NLO postflop.

Since Omaha is quite a volatile game, many players prefer to adopt a Fixed Limit betting structure. Unlike big bet games, it’s much harder to lose large sums of money playing this way. So, if you’re looking to reduce swings, FLO might be the game for you.

For the first two betting rounds, FLO players are limited to betting and raising only by the size of the designated Small Bet. On the turn and river, this limit increases to the size of the Big Bet, which is usually double. For example, a $1 / $2 FLO game indicates a Small Bet of $1 and a Big Bet of $2.

Additionally, you can’t have more than four bets per round. If Player A leads, Player B raises, Player C 3-bets and Player A raises one again, the betting is capped. Other players can still call, naturally. But they’re not allowed to raise any further. The only exception is when you’re heads-up on the river, where it’s possible to raise as many times as you wish.

Unlike NLO, all of the best Omaha poker sites offer Fixed Limit Omaha games. Behind PLO, it’s the next most common way to play Omaha poker.

Although Pineapple isn’t strictly a variant of Omaha poker, it’s certainly worth a mention due to the similarities.

Instead of starting with four cards each, Pineapple players receive just three. The betting structure and rules are essentially the same, with one key difference. After the flop is dealt, each remaining player will muck just one of their cards. The rest of the hand then plays out like a game of Texas Hold’em.

It’s a light-hearted game that’s often played among friends in Dealer’s Choice games. Sadly, you won’t see it online too often anymore.

Much like Pineapple, “Irish” combines elements of Hold’em and Omaha to make a fun new game.

To begin with, the setup is identical to that of Omaha, with each player receiving four cards. Two players pay blinds as usual, before a round of betting.

However, just like in a game of Pineapple, every remaining player must reduce their hand to two. You’ll muck half of their chosen hole cards on the flop. From that point, Irish plays out the same way as a standard game of Hold’em.

Whenever you sign up to play Omaha poker online, there should always be some kind of reward. With so many different sites, brands understand just how competitive the industry is. Which is exactly why they try to catch our attention with a welcome bonus.

The most common signup offer is a deposit bonus, which we’ll explain shortly. But it’s also possible to receive free tournament entry tickets, or even a no-deposit bonus. Regardless of the specific welcome bonus type, it’s reserved exclusively for new registrants.

This type of bonus is linked to a real money deposit. Your exact reward is dictated by the amount of cash added to your account. The Bovada online poker room, for instance, awards all first-time depositors a 100% bonus worth up to $500.

A figure of $150 would, therefore, result in a $150 bonus. However, this won’t be a lump sum – you’ll need to play games like Pot Limit Omaha to release it. For every 150 Reward Points earned, you’ll unlock $5 of the welcome bonus.

Although this type of promotion is commonly used as a welcome bonus, some sites also offer match deposit reload bonuses.

This type of promotion is becoming harder to find, as it really does offer you the chance to win something for nothing. Simply create your new account, log in, and start playing using the free bonus funds.

Any winnings from a no deposit promo are usually paid back to your bonus wallet, rather than as real money. In that case, wagering requirements will apply before you’re able to withdraw.

However, there are also wager-free no deposit bonuses, meaning no strings attached.

This is essentially a percentage refund of the rake and tournament entry fees paid at a site within a specific timeframe. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing Pot Limit Omaha or Seven-Card Stud – if you pay rake, you’ll get a rebate.

In the past, it was possible to secure rakeback arrangements via third-party affiliate sites. If you signed up with a poker room, the referring party would earn a commission on your rake, which they would share with you.

These days, many online poker sites just cut out the middleman, offering direct rakeback deals. Think of it as a loyalty bonus. CoinPoker is by far the best in this area, offering all players the chance to earn a 33% rakeback rebate.

Although it’s not especially common, some poker rooms give players free access to tournaments. We’re not talking about freerolls, in which nobody pays to enter, either. We’re talking about real tournaments where you can make real money.

Take BetOnline Poker, for instance. As part of the new player welcome package, you’ll receive up to 21 free entries to step satellite tournaments.

Unlock them by paying a few cents in rake each day, and win your way into the $100,000 Sunday Showdown completely free.

Do you have buddies that also love to play Omaha poker online? Encourage them to register at your chosen site and there’s often a reward in it for you.

ACR Poker is just one example of many brands that pay real money rewards if you take the time to recruit a friend. They pay $50 for each referral, but make sure the registration takes place using your unique code, or you won’t get the credit.

Like most poker bonuses, friend referral rewards are usually released in increments. At ACR Poker, for instance, you’ll earn $5 of your $50 bonus for every 120 Award Points collected.

Although this is more commonly associated with online casinos, some poker rooms do thank players for topping up their accounts by issuing a bonus.

The offer is usually a deposit match bonus, just with a smaller percentage reward than you’d get as a new registrant. Figures in the region of 25% to 75% aren’t unheard of.

Make sure you check the terms and conditions, as there’s normally a minimum deposit requirement in order to qualify for a reload bonus.

Leading poker sites provide regular players with loyalty points, which can be traded in for real money rewards. There’s often a tier structure in place, too, so the more points you accumulate, the higher you’ll rise through the ranks.

The Ignition poker room, for example, uses what it calls “Ignition Miles”. You can cash 2,500 of these in for a US dollar, with no wagering requirements attached.

In addition, the site runs regular freerolls with $2,500 prizepools, which are exclusively reserved for players who’ve attained a certain loyalty level.