Ran out of space for the title. Let's say you want to attract new players to your PLO game. The lowest game you have is $1-$2. What should the highest initial pot bet be, $7, $10, or $15? Assume a $200 minimum buyin and $1,000 max.

Why should the initial bet be anything other than 'pot' in a 'pot limit' game?

If you want new players, don't force them to buy-in for min. 100BB.

This. There is 3 dollars in the pot, plus 2 for the call, meaning that the initial raiser can add 5 more, for a total of $7, assuming no limpers.

Our local game is 1/2 with a 5 bring in and a 15 max open. Straddle UTG is 10. Mn 200 buy in, no max.

The game can play anywhere from small to huge. Good setup imo, because it lets the players influence the size of the game significantly. If you have players opening to 15 and 3betting light and buying in deep and straddling (which makes the open 35) then the game is massive. If you've got a bunch of people buying in for <500 and mostly limping in for 5 when they play, the game plays pretty small.

Interestingly enough to me, is that online I might often open to 5 in a 1/2 PLO game. Because of this, I often don't choose to raise hands in the live game, and just pretend my 5 limp is a raise to 5 and play accordingly. Because raising to 15 when there's 3 in the pot often seems pretty silly, but nevertheless, most players will call anything for 15 that they would've called for 5. My logic for not raising being that I'd rather just be consistent with all my opens (5) than have a betting tell (5 opens vs 10 or 15 opens). Most other players raise to 15 with strong hands and limp 5 with more speculative hands but this seems too transparent to me.

Traditionally in cash games you assume the small blind is completed.... making it $8.

does not mean you have to do it that way.... but its a pretty common thing so the blow off answer that its Pot limit so the answer is $7 is not really the end of the discussion.

It's generally $8 in a true 1/2 game. With a $5 bring in I've seen $15 and $20. With a mandatory $5 straddle it could be $20 or $25. I'd say it depends on what type of crowd you're catering to. Gambling types want it to be as high as possible so they can get stacks in. Less gambley NL types who want to dip their toes in want it to be lower.

With buyin limits that high it looks like you're aiming at the gamblers so I'd go high. They're the ones who drive those games anyway.

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But I'm not sure what the min opening 'pot' bet would have to do with attracting players?

I've played both 1-2 'pure' PLO and 1-2-5 PLO. I personally think that 1-2-5 does scare away some potential new players who might want to try the game from the 1-2 NL ranks. But it does make it harder on the dealer when all those whites get tossed around on the Turn and River. PF and Flop it's not so bad.

If you are looking at 1-2 'pure' then keep the max BI low, but 1-2-5 should be a little higher.

My main casino has 1-2 'pure' and 1-3-5. The 1-3 game is 'match the stack' so that REALLY can scare off new players. GL

Yeah I think honestly the min/max buyin is a bigger determinant for whether a rec player is going to join the game. If you really want to attract the rec player you need a $100 min.

The problem with PLO is also that everyone has seen NLHE on TV or somewhere before while a lot of guys even regular casino gamblers will have no idea about how to play PLO.

I figured a lower starting pot bet would allow new players to see the flop for cheaper. With a $15 initial pot bet, 1/2 and 1/3 NL players might not want to try the game out if it's going to cost $50+ to see a flop after a repot. With a $7 or $8 opening pot bet, a repot is less than $30.

Before newbies sit down, they usually won't even know how much a min-raise or a typical raise is. They will know the minimum buyin. I agree with the others, that is more important.

15 is way better. nobody 3 bets in 1/2 plo without aces and almost nobody raises non aces so it's hard to 3 bet.

First max raise should be $8 (SB counts as $2 preflop). (This is the way most live cash PLO is played, you might as well get it right from the start).
Buyins are MUCH more important than first raise, IMO. $200-1000 are both way too high if you're trying to attract hesitant new players.
I would avoid the higher bringin ($5); this practically converts the game into a short-stacked 1/2/5 game.
Foxwoods' 1/2 PLO buyins are the same as 1/2NL = $60-200. This drove off some players who wanted a bigger/deeper game, but attracted a lot who wanted to try out PLO cheaply. Game went sporadically for a year or two, now has shifted into 2-3 tables of 2/5PLO every day (BI = $200 - 1000), and usually one table of 1/2PLO and/or 1/2PLO8.

$15 first raise (or $5 bring-in) is way better, IF you already have a ready pool of players who want a bigger game. But if you're trying to attract new players to try the game, it will attract a few sharks but scare off the rest.