EV, or "expected value", is the amount of money you can expect to win or lose on average in a given betting situation. In poker, if you are in a situation where your hand is the favorite and you win, your EV is typically lower than the actual amount you win because with EV, you also have to average in the times that your superior hand loses to draws that your opponent has. Obviously, if you are the favorite but lose the hand on a bad beat, your EV, or expected winnings, were much higher than the negative return you actually got on the hand, but since EV is an average, whatever probability you did have of losing the hand has to be figured into your calculation of whether or not you made a good bet in a given situation.

In Omaha High/Low 8's and better (O8), as in straight Omaha high, the strength of a starting hand is dependent on numerous features. These are the game structure (limit/pot limit, fixed or max buy-in), the type and quality of opponents, and (by far the most important) the constituent features of the hand itself.

Well, lots of people seem to be asking this question. There’s a large number of things to take into account preflop in this game, but perhaps the first thing to consider is... don’t worry. It isn’t possible in PLO high to have a massive leak in your game by making poor decisions preflop, unless you are literally limping every single hand. It is possible to consistently beat the online games with flop percentages anywhere between 20 and 50%, providing you can play reasonably well beyond the flop, and choose juicy games. HOWEVER, understanding the power of PLO starting holdings is CRUCIAL to being successful in this game. Whilst you can get by using a very loose selection strategy preflop, being able to play the marginal and weaker starting holdings requires a good knowledge of their strengths, and how they play on the flop.