Online Poker Bomb Pots: Explanation + Strategy Implications

Over the past 15 years or so, bomb pots have continued to grow in popularity throughout the poker world. If you aren't familiar with the term bomb pot, a bomb pot is played by having all players at the table put in a set number of big blinds preflop. The flop is then dealt, and action resumes as any normal poker hand would.

The popularity of bomb pots has mostly taken place on the live poker felt. Bomb pots have emerged on live-stream poker cash games and throughout many local casino cardrooms. Bomb pots tend to promote action by allowing the entire table to see a flop while putting a lot of chips in the middle to contend for.

What is a Bomb Pot?

A Bomb Pot is a term that is used to categorize a poker hand in which all players present at the table put in a preset number of big blinds preflop. Then, a flop is dealt, and action resumes as a usual Hold'em hand would. Usually, players will place around 5bb into the pot preflop, and then the flop is dealt.

Bomb pots aren't extraordinarily new as they have been around for well over ten years depending on the source. The term first rose to prominence back in 2009 in Sacramento, California at the Casino Royale.

Although bomb pots have been around for a while, the term has grown in popularity significantly in recent years partially due to bomb pots being included in a number of live streams like Stones Live, which is the same venue where Mike Postle was accused of cheating in livestream games.

Bomb Pot Strategies

Playing a bomb pot can be exciting and can create additional action in a poker game, much like a straddle. The main thing to consider when looking at strategic adjustments is the fact that all of the players seated at the table will see the flop. In turn, this means that the inherent value of your hand is much lower.

During a bomb pot, inexperienced players are much more likely to overvalue their hand. A fairly strong hand in a heads-up situation, like top-pair, holds far less value when there are 5 - 8 other players seeing the flop. To be successful in a bomb pot, you'll need to be careful to evaluate the strength of your hand and only be willing to put all of the money in with the strongest hands.

A couple of other key considerations here are Stack to Pot Ratio, or SPR, and hand ranges. In a standard 100bb buy-in game at a 9-handed table, 45bb are already placed into the pot preflop. By the time you've reached the flop, most stacks will be playing with an SPR of around 2:1. In turn, you'll need to be playing for your entire stack quite often if you do decide to continue after a flop during a bomb pot.

The other concept we touched on, hand ranges, becomes an almost useless concept when you play a bomb pot. Usually, we can try to put our opponents on a range of hands based on their decisions preflop. Similarly, it is best if we as a player identify our ranges during key poker situations in order to balance our play, bluff effectively, and win the most money.

During a bomb pot, all that flies out the window. Because every player is forced to put money in preflop with any two cards, players can no longer be assigned a range or hand. Instead, you must be prepared for your opponent to show up with any two cards, just as you might.

Online Bomb Pots

Despite most bomb pots being played in live poker venues, there have also been a number of online poker sites that have introduced bomb pots as a feature in certain cash games. Just like a live poker bomb pot, these pots are played in the exact same manner. All of the players at the table put in a set number of big blinds, the flop is dealt, and then action resumes as usual.

There can be many different sizes of Bomb Pots depending on where you're playing. Normally, this might be around 5 big blinds per player or so. Another variable is the frequency of the bomb pots. On average, a poker table might play one bomb pot every 15 minutes.

Although not every site offers this feature, all of the sites on the Winning Poker Network offer bomb pot cash game tables. At these tables, players will put in 5bb each pre-flop four times every hour, or once approximately every 15 minutes.

Where to Play Bomb Pots Online

As far as reputable sites are concerned, we highly recommend playing at ACR Poker if you want to get in on the bomb pot action. Despite the name, ACR Poker caters to many other areas of the world, like Australia.

Bomb Pots are available to play at ACR Poker across a variety of stake levels and table sizes. Approximately four bomb pots will take place per hour.

All 6 players see the flop after putting in 5bb

In addition to ACR Poker, there are also other sites that are related to the ACR platform that offer Bomb Pots. Black Chip Poker, Ya Poker, Poker King, and True Poker all boast the same full lineup for bomb pot cash game tables as ACR Poker.

If you aren't familiar with the WPN, ACR Poker is the flagship site. To find a bomb pot table at these sites, look for the tables featuring a small silver circle with a red dollar sign in the middle. This "time bomb" symbol denotes the bomb pot tables at all of the sites on the Winning Poker Network.

You can see the small "time-bomb" symbol in the poker lobby

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Double Board Bomb Pots and Other Variables

Bomb Pots can be played in the same manner during any kind of community-dealt card style of poker game. To increase the action and intensity even more, many rooms started offering extra features like Omaha-specific pots, double-board bomb pots, and more. We have seen a number of live streams utilize bomb pots as a method for engaging viewers and creating large pots.

Although plenty of bomb pots are played with standard hold'em structure, oftentimes, poker rooms will introduce extra features like two full runouts or boards. A double-board bomb pot refers to the table being dealt two entire runouts including two flops, two turns, and two rivers. The winner of each board will receive half of the pot, so to win the entire pot, you'll have to win on both boards, which can be quite difficult.

By introducing two runouts, action is even more heavily incentivized, and pots tend to grow quite large. Of course, these kinds of double-board situations often result in split pots.

Are Bomb Pots Worth Playing?

If you are already visiting or playing at a live poker venue, you may have encountered bomb pots already. Although the feature is often used on TV or in a live stream setting to add interest to observers, Bomb Pots also are great for generating action and excitement in any poker game.

Of course, it is worth mentioning that operators of poker rooms are somewhat incentivized to offer features like bomb pots as they create larger pots, and the operator can, in turn, generate more rake. All in all, it can be a bit tricky to determine if playing bomb pots is +EV or a smart thing to do for you as a player. Below, we have compiled a list of a few of the most relevant pros and cons of bomb pot poker games:

• Pros - Exciting action and larger pots. Everybody gets to see a flop. If you are an experienced poker player, it is likely that you'll have an additional advantage over your opponents in a bomb pot situation. By understanding the value of your hand and how it combines with the board, you can gain a strong advantage during bomb pots.
• Cons - Newer players may be inclined to lose more by overvaluing hands. Poker rooms may generate additional rake by incentivizing these larger pots. Some tables may break up sooner due to players getting stacked during a bomb pot. Winning players may want to “rathole” and leave.