What to fold in a double board bomb pot

Why the fold list is longer than in normal PLO

There is no preflop fold. Eight or nine hands with four or five cards each see every flop, so the flop is never heads up and the hand that would be good against one opponent is a bluff-catcher at a full table. We dealt 20,000 random bomb pots and asked how often at least one of seven opponents holds each hand. The full frequency tables are free, one to nine opponents, four and five cards. These are the rows that write the fold list.

1. Two pair

The fold that saves the most money, because it is the hand people call with most. On a king-high flop against seven opponents, someone holds two pair or better 74.8% of the time with four cards and 91.3% with five. Someone holds a set 28.3% and 43.1% of the time. Your two pair is rarely the best two pair, and it never beats the set that bet into you. In our method two pair is grey: it does not count toward a call. The one exception is top two pair on a dry board, which makes the first bet when nobody has bet and never raises.

2. A set that is not top set

Top set on that king-high flop is held by someone 10.5% of the time with four cards and 17.2% with five. That is the hand you are up against when a set bets. Middle set is yellow in our method: it helps the other board, it does not call on its own. Against a bet and a raise, count only what beats the nuts: a middle set has one card to fill a full house, and one card is a four against a price of 33. The set was red a minute ago. Fold.

3. Trips on a paired board

On a K-8-8 flop, someone among seven opponents holds an eight 81.9% of the time with four cards and 92.4% with five, and a full house or better 31.6% and 47.8% of the time. Trips with a weak kicker is a split at best and a full house at worst. Facing a bet on a paired board, trips folds unless the other board carries the hand.

4. A straight that is not the nut straight

On a 9-8-7 flop, someone holds a straight 81.3% of the time with four cards and 93.8% with five. Someone holds the nut straight 43.4% and 61.6% of the time. A second-best straight is drawing nearly dead against a bet on a connected board, and the board changes on the turn against you more often than for you. Even the nut straight is a fold to a raise when it stands alone, because the raise usually means the same straight and a quarter of the pot is what a lone nut straight gets when shared.

5. A flush without the ace

Three of a suit on the flop, seven opponents: someone holds a flush 81.9% of the time with four cards and 95.9% with five, and the nut flush 27% and 41.2% of the time. A king-high flush is orange: it makes the first bet when nobody has bet, but facing a bet it needs the other board. On the river it calls one player's bet and folds against two players or against a raise, because that is where the bet most often means the ace. The arithmetic is on the river math page.

6. Any draw that is not to the nuts

A draw to the second-best flush or the second-best straight is a draw to lose a bigger pot. The rows above say why: the hand you are drawing to is already held by someone most of the time at a full table. Count only outs to the nuts, times four on the flop and times two on the turn, and average the two boards. The outs page works it through.

7. A one-board hand in a multiway pot

Even a real hand on one board is half a hand when four players are in. Nine outs to the nut flush on one board and nothing on the other is 18 at a full table against a pot bet that needs 33. The nuts on one board with nothing on the other is under 30 at a full table on the flop. Both call heads up and fold multiway. The nuts-on-one-board page has the table.

What calls, so the list has an edge

• A safe nuts on one board: the nut flush, the nut full house, quads. Calls everything; raises only with strength on the other board.
• A draw to the nuts with eight or more outs, heads up or with a real second board. Calls once, folds the turn when it misses.
• The nut straight: calls up to the pot, folds to a raise, never re-raises alone.
• Top set on a dry board: calls, does not raise.
• Two boards that are each merely good: often worth more than one great board, because nobody holds the nuts on both.

The order of the method, with the first bet and the river, is on the strategy page. The four colours and the table are on the method page.

Where to go from here

• Frequency tables: every row above, for one to nine opponents, with the script that made them.
• The trainer: get dealt two pair against a bet until folding it stops hurting.
• The course: week two is facing bets, one hand a day. Lesson one is free.

All frequencies are from our own simulation of 20,000 deals with random hole cards for every opponent and exact Omaha evaluation, generated 16 October 2026 and checked on 17 October 2026. If you find a number that is wrong, write to hello@bombpotcoach.com and we will correct it and say so.

Questions people ask

What hands should I fold in a double board bomb pot?

Against a bet: two pair, a set that is not top set, trips on a paired board, a straight that is not the nut straight, a flush without the ace, any draw that is not to the nuts, and any one-board hand when the pot is multiway. Against a bet and a raise: everything except a safe nuts on one board, meaning the nut flush, the nut full house or quads, and a draw to the nuts with a real second board. Two pair is the fold that saves the most money, because it is the hand people call with most.

Why is two pair a fold in a bomb pot?

Because eight or nine hands with four or five cards each see every flop. On a king-high flop against seven opponents, someone holds two pair or better 74.8% of the time with four cards and 91.3% with five, and someone holds a set 28.3% and 43.1% of the time, in our simulations of 20,000 deals. Your two pair is usually not the best two pair, and it never beats the set that bet into you.

Should I fold a set in a double board bomb pot?

A middle or bottom set against a bet, yes, especially on a board with a straight or flush draw. Top set calls on a dry board and does not raise. Against a bet and a raise, count only what beats the nuts: a middle set that was strong a minute ago becomes a four-out hand, and four does not pay 33.

Is a king-high flush a fold?

Against one bettor on the river, call: a river bet heads up often means the other board. Against two players, or against a raise, fold: that is where the bet most often means the ace. Before the river a flush without the ace is orange in our method: it makes the first bet on its own but needs help from the other board to call one. On a three-flush flop against seven opponents someone holds the nut flush 27% of the time with four cards and 41% with five.

Should I fold the nut straight?

Not to one bet; call up to the pot. Fold to a raise with a lone nut straight, because it is shared so often: on a 9-8-7 flop against seven opponents someone else holds the nut straight 43% of the time with four cards and 62% with five. A shared straight on one board with nothing on the other pays a quarter of the pot, and a raise with it buys a quarter.