When the previous H‐mode theory [K. C. Shaing and E. C. Crume, Jr., Phys. Rev. Lett.63, 2369 (1989)] is extended to include a bi‐Maxwellian ion distribution with both cold and hot ion components to model the effects of the non‐Maxwellian distribution, the collisionality of the cold ions &ngr;*icbecomes an irrelevant bifurcation parameter, as it is for the electrode‐induced H mode. Thus, the observation that the L–H transition can occur even when &ngr;*ic≫1 is consistent with the fundamental physics of the ion orbit loss model, including a hot ion component.