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Pot Limit Omaha Rakeback
Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) is one of the hottest poker games at the moment, thanks in part to the biggest poker pros all taking up the game. Not to mention that the game was basically invented to appease action junkies: With each player able to use 4 cards PLO is a game of big hands, and bigger pots!
This propensity for big pots is what makes PLO such an attractive form of poker for players who are earning rakeback –not to mention that the majority of PLO action takes place at short-handed tables, but I’ll go into more detail on that aspect a few paragraphs from now. Because of the fact that players have four cards instead of two like in Texas Holdem, more big pots are played as more flops are seen and players will often have strong hands postflop. For example a common situation in PLO is where one player flops a big draw and another flops a set resulting in an easy allin for both players in what is essentially a coin flip situation.
Players can increase their rakeback earnings in one of two ways: They can play in games with bigger pots, or they can play in short-handed or heads-up games. The beauty of PLO is that it fits both of these criteria!
How Pot Limit Omaha rakeback works
Players who sign-up for a rakeback deal will be given a certain percentage of the rake they pay back, usually between 27% and 33% depending on the online poker room. The method in which online poker sites calculate the amount of rakeback a player is entitled to by using an equation known as Monthly Gross Revenue (MGR). MGR is essentially the total amount of rake / the number of players dealt cards at the beginning of the hand. This number is then multiplied by the percentage you are receiving from your rakeback deal.
The amount of rake taken from each pot is generally 5% of the total pot; up to a maximum of $3 (some sites cap lower limit tables at $.50, $1, and other amounts as well). But, what will drastically change your rakeback numbers is the number of players dealt into the hand.
Full Ring Pot Limit Omaha Rakeback
So, suppose you are participating in a 10-handed table; you are receiving a 30% rakeback deal; and the pot is raked $1 (about a $20 pot). In this scenario you will earn $.03/ hand from your rakeback deal ($1 in rake / 10 players = $.10 MGR * .30 = $.03).
Therefore, a full ring player with a 30% rakeback deal, who is playing 500 hands where the average pot is raked $1, will earn $15 in rakeback.
6 Max Pot Limit Omaha Rakeback
Now suppose all the details from the full ring example are the same, except that you play in 6-handed games; how will this change your rakeback earnings? First off, 6-max games are much faster than full ring, so you will play more hands in the same amount of time. But more importantly, with fewer players to divide the rake between you will earn more per hand in rakeback! The $.03 a hand you earn in full ring games jumps up to $.05 in 6-handed games ($1 in rake / 6 players = $.16 MGR * .30 = $.05)! Over the same 500 hands a short-handed poker player will earn $25 compared to a full ring player’s $15.
Heads Up Pot Limit Omaha Rakeback
Obviously if dropping down to 6 players will increase your rakeback earnings, dropping to heads-up play will skyrocket them! Heads-up players can expect to see smaller pots, since there are fewer players, but they will still see a dramatic increase in rakeback. For instance, if the average rake drops to $.50, half of that ($.25) will be added to your MGR! So, a heads-up player generating ½ the rake of a full ring player will still out-earn them $.075 to $.03, over 2-to-1. |
