“Is Pot Limit Omaha a Gamblefest? On the Contrary, You’re in Control Here” – Daniel Negreanu

Does the poker world misunderstand Pot Limit Omaha? Daniel Negreanu, who won a bracelet, certainly thinks so, saying that players have significantly more control in this game than in No-Limit Hold’em.

Pot Limit Omaha is widely considered a much more gamble-oriented game. It is associated with aggression, many possibilities, draws, and players who are inclined to take greater risks. Daniel Negreanu believes the game is misunderstood. What arguments does he have?

Daniel Negreanu’s Eighth Bracelet

At this year’s World Series of Poker, Daniel Negreanu won his eighth bracelet. He won it in a $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. He took home $2.2 million. Such a triumph may come as a surprise to many people. Negreanu told Poker.org that "PLO is his game now." It certainly seems that way. During the festival, he cashed in eight Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments: the $100,000, $50,000, $25,000, $10,000, and $600 events. He re-entered only the $25,000 event!

"Kid Poker" explains that he has worked extensively on his Pot-Limit Omaha game in recent years. He did so with a rather unexpected figure, Josh Arieh. He says that many people do not understand this variant. He believes it is a typical gamblefest in which players play more hands. The poker player admits that this is still his mistake. He plays too many hands, but the "game doesn't punish him" because most of the action takes place after the flop. His mistakes include not making enough re-raises, 4-bets, and similar plays.

Negreanu says he has always been considered someone who reads players extremely well after the flop (remember those hand compilations on YouTube?), but he does not consider himself that kind of player. He says that, as a game, NL Hold’em before the flop does not excite him.

Pot-Limit Omaha Means Control and More Combinations

The GGPoker ambassador says that in PLO there is "simply more control." There are moments when a cooler happens. Sometimes you have to get all-in before the flop. Overall, however, there is even five times more control before the flop in PLO than in NL Hold’em. Artur Martirosyan, against whom Negreanu played heads-up, faced several such difficult river decisions. The Canadian admits that if he had called at any point, the tournament would have been over.

– PLO is a truly complex game. You want to make hero calls on the river. For those nerds who talk about theory, when you discuss a Hold’em hand, you think about the combinations and bluffs your opponent has, as well as their value hands. You only have to think about two cards. In PLO, you have four.