How much bankroll do you need for $1/$2 PLO?
$1/$2 pot-limit Omaha is the entry game for live PLO. Pots grow quickly because every player has four cards and draws are often close to even money, so swings are much larger than in $1/$2 hold'em. Many rooms allow buy-ins up to $500 or more.
| Approach | With $200 buy-ins (100bb) | With $500 buy-ins |
|---|---|---|
| Aggressive (30 buy-ins) | $6,000 | $15,000 |
| Moderate (50 buy-ins) | $10,000 | $25,000 |
| Conservative (70 buy-ins) | $14,000 | $35,000 |
Live games are slower than online games, so live players can use fewer buy-ins than online players at the same stake. Pot-limit Omaha swings far more than hold’em, so we recommend roughly 50% more buy-ins than for the same hold’em stake. If poker money comes from your salary and you can top it up, the aggressive figure is fine. If your bankroll is all you have, use the conservative one.
What can you expect to win?
A solid live player might win 5–12 big blinds per hour, which is $10–$24 an hour at these stakes before tips. Results swing a lot in the short term: see how big your swings could be with the variance calculator, and check your chance of going broke with the risk of ruin calculator.
Move-up and move-down rules for $1/$2 PLO
- Move down if your bankroll drops below 30 buy-ins ($6,000).
- Move up when you have 50 buy-ins for the next level.
- Take shots with a fixed number of buy-ins set aside, and step back down if you lose them.
Open the bankroll calculator for $1/$2 PLO to plug in your own bankroll, track your real win rate in the free poker bankroll tracker, or read our full poker bankroll management guide.