A wrap is Omaha's signature draw: a straight draw that uses two of your hole cards and wraps around the board with far more outs than any hold'em hand can make. The biggest PLO wraps carry 20 outs, and knowing whether yours has 13, 16, 17, or 20 decides how hard you can play it. Every out count in this guide was checked by enumerating all remaining turn cards, so you can trust the numbers and drill them.
Disclosure: This guide is published by GTO Gecko, the team behind PLO Gecko, the trainer used as an example below. General strategy advice is kept separate from product claims.
What Is a Wrap in PLO?
A wrap is a straight draw with more than eight outs, built when three or four of your hole cards surround one or two connected board cards. Omaha rules require every hand to use exactly two hole cards and three board cards, as described in the standard rules of Omaha. Because you hold four cards, several different two-card combinations can each complete a different straight, and the outs stack up fast.
Compare that to no-limit hold'em, where the best available straight draw is the open-ender with 8 outs. If you have drilled NLHE spots in the GTO Gecko web trainer, you already treat an 8-out draw as a hand that wants good pot odds. In PLO, the same style of board can hand you 20 outs, and the correct line changes completely.
Here is the baseline. Hold K♣Q♥9♠8♦ on 7♣6♦2♠ and only the 9-8 connects: four 5s and four Ts complete a straight, 8 outs total. That is a hold'em-sized draw. A wrap starts where this leaves off.
How Many Outs Does Each Wrap Size Have?
Wraps run from 9 outs (an inside wrap) up to 20 outs, the ceiling for a straight draw in four-card PLO. The counting method is simple: list every rank that completes a straight, count four cards per rank, then subtract the copies you hold yourself. All six rows below were verified by enumerating every turn card.
| Draw | Example hand | Flop | Straight outs | Nut outs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-ended (baseline) | K♣Q♥9♠8♦ | 7♣6♦2♠ | 8 | 8 |
| Inside wrap | A♥T♠9♥8♦ | J♣7♦2♠ | 9 | 9 |
| 13-out wrap | K♣T♠9♥8♦ | 7♣6♦2♠ | 13 | 13 |
| 16-out wrap | J♠T♥9♦6♣ | 8♥7♣2♦ | 16 | 16 |
| 17-out wrap | A♠T♦9♣6♥ | 8♠7♥2♦ | 17 | 11 |
| 20-out wrap | T♠9♥6♦5♣ | 8♦7♣2♥ | 20 | 14 |
Counting the 13-out wrap, rank by rank
Hand: K♣T♠9♥8♦ on 7♣6♦2♠. Three connected cards sit above the 7-6. Any 5 makes 9-8 a straight (4 outs). Any 8 completes T-9 (3 left, you hold one). Any 9 completes T-8 (3 left). Any T completes 9-8 (3 left). Total: 4 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 13. Four out ranks give 16 cards, minus the 3 copies in your hand.
Counting the 20-out wrap
Hand: T♠9♥6♦5♣ on 8♦7♣2♥. Two cards above the 8-7 and two below. The out ranks are 4, 5, 6, 9, T, and J: six ranks, 24 cards, minus the four copies you hold. Fours and jacks are clean (4 outs each), while fives, sixes, nines, and tens give 3 each. Total: 4 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 20.
The 16-out wrap deserves a closer look. J♠T♥9♦6♣ on 8♥7♣2♦ puts three cards above the board and one below. Same five out ranks as the 17-out version (5, 6, 9, T, J), but you block four copies yourself instead of three. The lost out buys something better, as the next section shows.
Which Wrap Outs Are Nut Outs and Which Are Dirty?
A nut out completes the best possible straight on the new board. A dirty out completes a straight that can already be beaten. In the 20-out example above, only 14 of the 20 are nut outs. The other six are the three 9s and the three Ts, which leave you with the second-nut straight, losing to an opponent holding exactly J-T or J-9. That distinction decides whether hitting your draw wins a stack or loses one.
Now look back at the 16-out wrap: all 16 outs make the nut straight, because the jack in your hand crowns every high runout. Heads up against a set, raw outs matter more. Multiway, or against players who also flop wraps, nut outs are what keep you solvent.
The pattern to remember: big cards above the board make nut straights, and cards underneath it make dirty ones. A hand like 5-4-3 under a 7-6 board hits often and wins small or loses big. A turn nut straight can also still lose to a river flush or board pair, so count outs on the actual texture. Our poker equity guide covers the step from outs to equity.
When Should You Stack Off With a Wrap?
Stack off on the flop when your equity against the top of your opponent's range still leaves you near a coin flip, which big wraps routinely do. The table below shows exact flop equities, computed by enumerating all 820 turn and river combinations for each matchup.
| Hero draw | Villain | Flop | Hero equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13-out wrap (K♣T♠9♥8♦) | Top set (7♠7♥A♠Q♦) | 7♣6♦2♠ | 38.8% |
| 16-out wrap (J♠T♥9♦6♣) | Top set (8♠8♦A♠K♥) | 8♥7♣2♦ | 47.6% |
| 20-out wrap (T♠9♥6♦5♣) | Top set (8♠8♥A♠K♦) | 8♦7♣2♥ | 54.4% |
| 20-out wrap plus flush draw (J♥T♥7♦6♣) | Top set (9♠9♦A♠K♦) | 9♥8♥2♣ | 61.1% |
Read that middle result again: a naked 20-out wrap is a 54.4% favorite against top set on the flop. That is why big wrap draws are among the few hands in poker that can happily raise, reraise, and get 100 big blinds in while holding ten high. The 16-out nut wrap at 47.6% is close enough that stacking off is fine whenever there is dead money in the pot.
Add a flush draw and the question disappears. J♥T♥7♦6♣ on 9♥8♥2♣ holds 20 straight outs plus 9 hearts, with 4 cards overlapping, for 25 distinct improving cards. At 61.1% against top set, the draw is the favorite, and wrap plus flush draw is the classic PLO stack-off for exactly this reason.
The 13-out wrap is the trap. At 38.8% against top set, it wants good pot odds or extra equity before piling money in, especially out of position. These spots also swing entire buy-ins on a single card, so make sure your bankroll rules already account for PLO variance before you start applying the aggressive lines.
How Should You Play Wraps In Position and Out of Position?
In position, big wraps play fast and small wraps play cheap. Out of position, nut wraps often check-raise, and dirty wraps mostly check-call or fold. Position is worth more in PLO than in hold'em because so many turn cards change the nuts, and the player who acts last uses that information for free.
In position with the lead, a 16-out or 20-out wrap bets for value against sets and two pair that will not fold. With a weaker wrap, take the free card: 13 outs see the turn without paying a third of your stack for it.
Out of position, the check-raise is the natural line for nut wraps: equity peaks on the flop, so build the pot while you are near 50% and take the initiative to barrel good turns. Dirty wraps out of position lose the most. They hate raises and hit second-best straights, and folding them to heavy action is often the best play. Our PLO strategy guide covers why the position premium runs through every street.
How Do Wraps Change in PLO5?
Five hole cards give you 10 two-card combinations instead of 6, so wraps show up more often and get bigger. A fifth card that connects turns a good wrap into a monster, and a fifth card that blocks your own outs quietly shrinks one.
Take J♠T♥9♦6♣5♥ on 8♥7♣2♦. Enumerating every turn card gives 19 outs (fours, fives, sixes, nines, tens, and jacks), and all 19 are nut outs. Compare that to the four-card 20-out wrap: adding the jack blocks one of your own outs but upgrades all six dirty outs to nut outs. In a game where everyone holds five cards, that upgrade matters more than the lost out, because second-nut straights run into the nuts constantly.
Your opponents wrap more often too, so nut discipline tightens in PLO5. If you are moving from four cards to five, our PLO5 strategy guide covers how equities compress and what that does to hand selection.
How Can PLO Gecko Check Your Wrap Counts?
PLO Gecko (formerly PLO Edge) ships a wrap analyzer with nut-out grading: enter your hand and a board, and it counts the straight outs and grades each one as nut or dirty, the same classification this guide computed by hand. Its Monte Carlo equity calculator then runs your draw against a specific hand, so you can reproduce numbers like the 54.4% above and test your own stack-off spots on iPhone and iPad or Android.
The counting tools sit inside a full trainer: 31 structured modules across PLO4 and PLO5, solver-backed preflop ranges, postflop decisions in solver-built pots, and native river solving on iPhone and iPad in the PLO5 full-hand drills. The free tier includes 25 training hands and 50 range lookups per day, and a premium subscription (monthly or yearly) unlocks unlimited training and every tool. It currently holds 4.5 stars on the US App Store. For the complete feature walkthrough, read our PLO Gecko trainer guide, and if you want to weigh it against PLO Trainer, Vision GTO, and the rest of the field first, our best PLO trainer apps roundup keeps the comparison honest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a wrap in PLO?
A wrap is a straight draw that uses two of your hole cards at a time, with three or four hole cards wrapping around one or two connected board cards. Because different two-card combinations each complete different straights, a wrap holds 9 to 20 outs, well past the 8-out maximum of a hold'em open-ender.
How many outs does the biggest wrap have?
The biggest wrap in four-card PLO has 20 outs. Example: T-9-6-5 on an 8-7-x flop, where any 4, 5, 6, 9, T, or J completes a straight. Six out ranks give 24 cards, minus the four copies in your own hand. In PLO5, a fifth connecting card usually trades an out or two for more nut outs.
What is a dirty out?
A dirty out completes your straight while a better straight is possible on the same board. In the 20-out wrap T-9-6-5 on 8-7-x, the three 9s and three Ts are dirty: they give you the second-nut straight, which loses a stack whenever an opponent holds J-T or J-9. The other 14 outs make the nuts.
Should you always get all-in with a wrap?
No. A 20-out wrap is 54.4% against top set and stacks off profitably, and adding a flush draw pushes it past 60%. A 13-out wrap is only 38.8% against top set, so it wants better pot odds, position, or fold equity first. Count the outs, grade them nut or dirty, then decide.
Are wraps more common in PLO5?
Yes. Five hole cards create 10 two-card combinations instead of 6, so wraps appear more often and are larger on average. Opponents wrap more often too, which makes nut outs even more valuable: a second-nut straight in PLO5 collides with the nuts far more frequently than in four-card PLO.
Is there an app that counts wrap outs for you?
Yes. PLO Gecko includes a wrap analyzer with nut-out grading and a Monte Carlo equity calculator, alongside 31 training modules for PLO4 and PLO5. The free tier includes 25 training hands and 50 range lookups per day; details are on the PLO Gecko product page.
Count One Wrap Before You Sit Down
Pick one flop from this guide, cover the answer, and count the outs rank by rank. Then grade each out nut or dirty. If your numbers match the tables, you are ahead of most of your pool already. To make the habit stick, run your own hands through the wrap analyzer and equity calculator in PLO Gecko until counting a wrap takes five seconds instead of a full orbit.