Tight player, would I have better results PLO or Limit?

[icemanjmw]

I have played only Fixed limit 3-6 in the casino in the past. I've had good success all 4 times (small sample I know) playing only premium hands, never drawing to the second nuts, etc. I've found a local Omaha Hi-lo game but it's Pot limit. Will similar strategy work there as well?

Also online should I be playing PL or FL? I hope to learn more advanced nuances of the game, but for now just playing a basic tight style which is better for me.

[bbartlog]

Tightness is not the critical thing in pot limit. Because of the way the pot grows (or can grow) geometrically, the ability to avoid mistakes on later streets is really the critical thing in pot limit... well that and understanding position...

Anyway, I would recommend limit if you regard tightness as one of your primary strengths.

[Dire]

Just break the question down to the base case. Imagine you were only ever going to play AA in hold'em or AA23ds in O8. Would it be more profitable to do so in a limit game or in a no/pot limit game?

[icemanjmw]

[ QUOTE ]
Just break the question down to the base case. Imagine you were only ever going to play AA in hold'em or AA23ds in O8. Would it be more profitable to do so in a limit game or in a no/pot limit game?

[/ QUOTE ]

I see what you mean, that was my thinking too. If I only play the premium hands, then I try to draw to the nuts cheap then get paid off if I hit. Of course observant players won't pay me off, but I'm assuming at the low limits that I can find a couple players asleep at the switch.

[bbartlog]

Imagine you were only ever going to play AA in hold'em or AA23ds in O8. Would it be more profitable to do so in a limit game or in a no/pot limit game?

I'm guessing you believe that it would be more profitable in a no-limit/pot-limit game, but I think your reductio ad absurdum argument suggests the opposite.
To begin with of course it isn't profitable - if you only play one in hand in two hundred you aren't going to recover your blinds. But leaving that aside, restricting your hand range severely gives your opponents a lot of information about your hand, and that information can be exploited more completely in pot-limit or no-limit games. Also, while we can assume that some people are 'asleep at the wheel' and will not adjust, the question is whether *you* will be able to tell those players from the observant ones in time to avoid getting trapped.
At any rate, I know that playing tight can also be critical in pot limit. My suggestion was based more on the fact that you emphasized a tight basic style as your strength. Avoiding mistakes on later streets is so critical in pot limit that I don't think a 'similar strategy' will necessarily be profitable. Calling incorrectly on the river is a leak in limit but a catastrophe in pot limit. I would also guess that while some winning PLO8 players have VP$IP upwards of 30%, very few limit O8 players do - which, again doesn't prove that playing tight is not useful, it just means that other factors are more important in PL.

[Dire]

Trying to weed through all the crap. Ok, revised your post:

[ QUOTE ]

don't play tight in PLO8 because you're dumb and will lose all your money on the later streets

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this is an extremely complex problem. Okay, to the OP: don't get involved in big pots in PLO8 with nothing besides the lock low. Great, problem solved! Pot limit it is.

[I dunno]

Yeah well this smart ass reply does nothing to answer your own question.

If I am assuming right then you are saying that PL would be better for a tight player. I would disagree. Typically in limit games, in any form of poker, you make most of your profit by a few doners at the table that continually make the same mistakes over and over because it only costs them a few bets each time. Usually, these players first and biggest mistakes is poor starting hand selection, which fits perfectly in with a tight players strategy.

There is a lot more to PL than just playing tight and avoiding getting... [ QUOTE ]
involved in big pots with nothing besides the lock low

[/ QUOTE ]...even at micro limits.

The biggest doners in PL are more observant than in limit, so are more likely to stay out of your way, and there is also the fact that a good LAG will have an easy time exploiting you. I'm not saying that you won't show a profit at PL, but you will show a higher profit playing limit to start, IMO. Bad players go broke too fast in PL.

[I dunno]

I'm curious where you can find a live game of omaha hi/lo? Surely its not spread in a casino, is it?

[Dire]

Have you ever played O8?

I find it hilarious that you think you couldn't absolutely crush the pot limit microlimits with nothing but tight play and avoiding getting in big pots with nothing but a nut low. Hell, it's enough to show a great profit at $200. I find it equally hilarious that you think you make most of your money in LO8 from a few donors who's biggest mistake is preflop hand selection. In fact, I think you more or less discredited anything you may have had to say with those two points. Good job! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[I dunno]

I said it's their first and biggest. The reason I say that it is the biggest is because this leads to them chasing non-nut draws, drawing to half the pot, and calling or raising with hands like bottom two pair. While it is true that once the flop comes it is their decission making that you are getting your profit from, I think you'll have a hard time finding someone who doesn't know enough not to play 50% of their hands, but knows enough to dump their hand on the flop when they don't get a fit.

Yes you can crush the lower limits by just playing tight, if you play like 8 tables. But would you tell someone that has only played a few sessions of limit holdem that he'll make more money if he opens up 8 tables of NL?

Putting people on hands becomes much more important in PL than it does in limit because you will find yourself heads up more often, and for the same reason so is using position. Playing tight and avoiding putting in your whole stack with just the nut low is a foundation for becoming a winning PL player, but it's not all. If you are sitting around waiting for the nuts both ways against certain people then you are missing out on a lot of money.