Fold the nuts in PLO? l Strategy with Barry

Pot Limit Omaha has unique situations you are unlikely to see anywhere else. One of which is when the nuts is sometimes a chop at best.

I thought satellites were the only format where folding the nuts was occasionally correct, but I did not account for Pot Limit Omaha. 

As part of my deep dive into PLO I have been playing around with the CardPlayer Omaha Calculator to learn more about PLO hand selection. It turns out there are lots of times when folding the nuts might not be terrible. 

How good is the nuts in PLO?

Take, for example, this spot, where we have top set for the nuts:

Trip nines with no straight or flush possible is almost a lock in hold'em, but it is behind, in equity terms, vs JJTT double suited when a straight flush and backdoor flush are possible. In this instance, any J, T, club, Q or 7 pulls us ahead of top set. 

Or what about this spot with the nut straight?

This is maybe the more common issue for consideration. In the example above, the middle player has the nuts, but no backup. QQ88 can make a full house, and more crucially, 9T66 is currently chopping, can also make a flush, or could even runner-runner quads. 

In this instance, the player with the nuts is chopping the pot at best.

These are all very unique situations and when you factor in the money already in the pot, folding the nuts is very unlikely ever. But it is another reminder that PLO is a very different game to hold'em, even if they feel similar at times.