PLO Starting Hands: Suited, Connected and Double-Suited

With 270,725 possible four-card hands, you can’t memorise a PLO chart the way you might in Hold’em. Instead, strong players judge hands by a few qualities: can this hand make the nuts, and in how many ways? A good Omaha hand is one where all four cards work together — connected for straights, suited for flushes, high for top pairs and sets. This lesson teaches you to recognise those hands at a glance.

Key takeaways

All four cards should work together; a card that doesn't connect is called a 'dangler'.
Suits: double-suited is best, single-suited is good, rainbow is weakest — and suited to an ace is best of all.
Connectedness: rundowns like J-T-9-8 make many straights; big gaps reduce them.
High cards matter: low rundowns make the bottom end of straights.
Avoid trips, low unsuited junk and hands that can only make second-best.

The four qualities

1. Nut potential

The central question in Omaha: when this hand makes a straight or flush, will it be the best one? Hands with an ace suited to another card, high rundowns and high pairs make nut hands. Low cards make the low end of straights (“the ignorant end”) and small flushes that lose to bigger ones.

2. Suitedness

Type	Example	Notes
Double-suited (ds)	A♠K♠J♦T♦	Two flush draws possible. About 13.5% of all hands
Single-suited (ss)	A♠K♠J♦T♣	One flush draw — best if the ace is suited
Rainbow	A♠K♥J♦T♣	No flush potential at all

A card suited to an ace is especially valuable: it makes the nut flush.

3. Connectedness

A rundown is four consecutive cards (J-T-9-8). Rundowns make straights and straight draws on many boards, including huge wraps. Gaps (J-T-8-7, one gap) reduce the number of straights; big gaps (K-9-5-2) make the hand far weaker.

4. Pairs

A pair in your hand gives you set potential. Big pairs (A-A, K-K) are valuable, especially with suited and connected side cards. Three of a kind in your hand (7-7-7-x) is one of the worst holdings: you can only make a set with one of the other sevens, and your hand has only two useful cards.

Our equity numbers

Heads-up all-in equity against a random hand (from our Omaha evaluator):

Hand	Type	Equity
A♠A♥K♠K♥	Aces and kings, double-suited	~71%
A♠Q♠J♦T♦	Ace-high broadways, double-suited	~61%
K♠Q♠J♦T♦	Broadway rundown, double-suited	~59%
K♠K♦7♥2♣	Kings with no support	~57%
J♦T♦9♣8♣	Middle rundown, double-suited	~56%
9♠8♠7♦6♦	Lower rundown, double-suited	~51%
A♥7♥6♣2♦	Ace suited with junk	~47%
6♠5♠4♦3♦	Low rundown, double-suited	~44%
5♣4♦3♥2♠	Low rundown, rainbow	~33%
7♠7♦7♥2♣	Trips	~31%

Notice how the rundowns fall away as they get lower: 6-5-4-3 makes straights that often lose to higher straights, and without suits it’s one of the weakest hands you can hold.

The best hand types

Aces with support: A-A-K-Q, A-A-J-T, A-A-9-8 — ideally double-suited.
High rundowns, double-suited: K-Q-J-T, Q-J-T-9, J-T-9-8.
Ace-suited with broadways: A♠K♠Q♦J♦, A♠Q♠J♦T♦.
Big pairs with connected, suited sides: K-K-Q-J ds, Q-Q-J-T ds.
Double pairs: K-K-Q-Q, J-J-T-T — lots of set potential.

Hands that cost beginners money

Danglers: three good cards plus one that doesn’t fit (K-Q-J-3). You’re really playing a three-card hand.
Low rundowns without suits (5-4-3-2 rainbow): they make the low end of straights.
Small flush draws: 8♠6♠ in a hand without the A♠ often makes a flush that loses.
Trips in your hand.
Dominated rundowns: K-Q-J-T against A-K-J-T type hands, or J-T-9-8 when a player holds Q-J-T-9. In our test, A♠K♠J♦T♦ was about 62% against K♥Q♥J♣T♣.

You’ve finished PLO Stage 1

Take the Stage 1 quiz to earn your badge. Stage 2 turns this into strategy: PLO Preflop Strategy.

Related lessons

Pot-Limit Omaha Rules: Four Cards, Use Exactly Two — cover art

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