With the popularity of Omaha games at an all-time high, especially online poker, it’s important to understand some of the basic differences between Pot Limit and Fixed Limit. You will see both variants quite often when playing online and if you treat them the same way you will run into problems.
One of the most obvious differences, but one that people overlook, is the power of the draw in PLO. In a fixed limit game, you can start with the best hand after the flop, but end up losing to a draw of, say, a flush or straight. In a FL game, if you lose in a tie, it doesn’t hurt as much and it’s very easy to recover. However, in PLO, you have to make the decision much earlier. There may be times when you fold the best hand on the flop because the chances of you losing on the turn or river are good against a draw. If you lose to draw a LP game, it can cost you all your chips. So while that two pair might look good on the flop, if there’s a straight flush draw with multiple people in the pot, the best thing to do is fold.
The other thing to consider in these situations is if you have a top hand but also a side draw. Having a side project will greatly influence whether or not you stay in the hand. Again, in FL it might not be as important to make sure you have some sort of draw, but in PL, where you likely have much more of your stack at risk, it’s very important. You can’t play a game of LP where you just hope your hand on the flop will hold. It will cost you too much money in the long run and if you are up against strong players who push their hands hard you will be over the rail before you know it.
