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In this "Top 10 Pot Limit Omaha poker strategy tips" by Tadas Peckaitis it is said (emphasis mine):

  1. Position, position, position Yes – position. In Pot Limit Omaha, having position over your opponents is infinitely more important than in Texas Hold’em. Some hands that are quite playable in position become easy folds out of position – and vice versa. So, every time you’re considering playing a hand in PLO, first think about whether you’ll have position and, if not, what you could do to change it (by raising or three-betting, for example, to get players behind you to fold).

Source: casinocitytimes.com

Why is position so important in Omaha game?

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Position is so important in PLO, even more so than NHL (of course not to say position isn't important in NHL) for several reasons.

  1. PLO being a capped betting game (meaning you can't just shove live NHL) means that by being in position you can close the betting by just calling, thus better controlling the size of a pot can actually become. Unlike NHL, even if you call in position say on the turn, you can still be facing an overpot sized bet or all-in. This is not the case in PLO, and this can really be a benefit to getting to showdown with more marginal hands.
  2. PLO has a lot more information available to you due to the extra two cards in your hand. The nature of the game also means that board texture in terms of straights, flushes, full-house combos, etc are more likely. It's often a more draw heavy game than NHL in some regards. By being in position you get the most amount of information by being able to see what your opponents do to help better make your decisions. It's much harder out of position in PLO to make the correct decisions, less information and greater uncertainty.
  3. PLO is a game of betting potential nuts making hands hard in earlier streets, and less of a game about bluffing by the river, of course people still bluff though. By being in position with say a made hand, like when you flopped a set on a very draw heavy flop. You can keep it more controlled by being in position, and potentially increase your chances of winning with a made hand that can often, while being the technical best hand on the flop, be an underdog to win the hand against good draws. It's harder to call out of position with a weaker two pair or set hand against pot pot from earlier positions.

Basically to sum up information, in any form like blockers, missed draws, betting, etc,etc is so important in PLO. Likewise as is the ability to control the size of the pot. Position gives you the ability to get more information and control the game effectively. It allows you to potentially get value from weaker hands that can't stand up to too much pressure on earlier streets when facing multiple pot bets.

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  • Very nice answer. One of the best I can find out there when searching for "why position is so important in PLO". A bit more elaboration on the pot controlling part would be even better - by being in position there are more opportunities to check behind to realize equity (whilst OOP check doesn't close action). Holding a mid-strong hand IP can flat to close action while realizing equity, but OOP is in a dilemma of either betting for protection risking being raised out of your equity, or checking risk being checked behind by person behind you.
    – Weipeng
    Commented Jun 26, 2022 at 19:49

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