Limit Poker

[Kickboy]

Pates asked me to put together a general article about limit poker since it is not as common as no-limit and he does not play this form of poker.

I am currently at work so this will be a good overview, no quotes from books since i do not have any around.

There are a lot of differences between limit and no limit. This is the first thing players need to learn. They may look like the same game but in the end they are completly different games which require completly different strategies. With the rise in popularity most new or even seasoned players refuse to play limit because there is less ego involved. Here are some things you may want to consider when deciding to play limit over no limit.

1) Bankroll Swings are less Severe-It will only cost you X amount of bets per street. You know what your putting in the pot and the control you have over the hand is much easier.

2) Less stress-Since the decision making is important in limit, it does not always have to be correct. If you make a bad hero call in no limit you can lose your whole stack in one hand, you can no t do that in limit.

3) More profitable-In limit you only have 3 choices to make (Call, Raise, or Fold) Since the decisions in limit are rather easier to make you can play more tables at a time and still not lose any skill level off of your play.

4) Player Points- Many hands in No-limit are taken down preflop, because of this the pot does not get big enough to collect player points at a level to get your status to the level that you as quick as you want. Since every pot usually is played to the river the rake gets built up and in return player points will be built. I have made silver star status at the begining of the month sometimes with 2 days because of this.

5) Turn and river-The pots on average build fairly large because players chase. On the average most limit players at lower levels do not know what they are doing. They will chase and call down any amount of bets because it is limit. You will lose on occasion due to this but the amount you will win in between those losses far out way the losses.

6) No Bluffing will make you a rich man-If you sit there and play Tight but very aggressive you can make a fortune. Learn to read boards and opposing players and you can be at top levels very quickly. Bluffing in limit is like trying to run through a brick wall, I would not advise it. This may be a down fall because you lose the thrill of the bluff but at the same time when you bluff sometimes you get called for all your chips, so financially this helps.

If you can learn the mathmatics of the game and some of the little details of Limit Holdem you can make a healthy living off of this. Of course the trade off is patience. Me, personally would rather make money while playing poker than the thrill.

If you have any questions referencing details of strategy or more details of things about this please either private message me or start up a thread.

[Pates]

Great article Kickboy. Can I ask if you find it as exciting as NL? I have a problem with the small pot sizes etc making it dull for an addict like myself. The tons of FPPs sound nice though lol. Must get raked a lot I do remember trying to bluff at limit when playing HORSE and losing a whole load of chips. I always chase as well. I have no idea of how to play draws in limit.

+rep

[Kickboy]

I do not find the pot sizes that much different depending on the level you play. Most of the time in NL the pot is raised preflop someone calls and then someone bets after the flop and they fold (atleast at the middle to high stakes)

The excitement i get is more from the winning and withdrawing. If you make one bad call in NL you can ruin a very good session. Is it truly worth the risk?

[Pates]

Yeah that's true. Limit poker must be so much easier to just slowly build a roll. Once you have built your roll from, lets say $500 to $1000 then there is absolutely no way you can lose $500 playing NL50. You pretty much secure your winnings.

Yesterday I played for a few hours and was $5 up until 3 hands from the end of the session I lost a whole buyin with TPTK and ended up down. In limit I could've just check called down and lost 1/5th buyin.

[Kickboy]

Yes pot size in Limit Holdem is crucial. The minute you raise someone you open the pot up to be reraised. BY just calling you do not give the opponent that option.

[James]

Yes thanks a lot mate. Definitely + rep. I always wanted to get into limit poker but i figured i should at least get good at NL before i tried my hand on limit. I do have small stakes hold'em book though which would be very helpful if i ever decided to switch .

[Kickboy]

To be honest i think players should learn playing limit poker then move to NL. First off you get to play and see every street on most hands so you can learn to read people better.

Second, Since you can pay 1 bet on the river while learning you can try to predict players hands and get to see it. In NL if you do this it will hurt you bad.

If you look at the better players in the wworld at reading people every single one of them was good a t Limit poker before NL.

Example are Negeanu was a great limit player, Lindgren joe cassidy, even at the higher stakes that is all Phil Ivey and the big game plays.

[Pates]

If you learn manual you can drive an automatic. If you learn automatic you can learn manual. Or I believe manual is called stick shift in America?

Is NL or FL manual?

[Kickboy]

To be honest with you I do not consider either of them either. I have met some very good NL players get destroyed in limit.

The one thing limit works on youith quickly is you get better at handling bad beats. If you play limit for a few days you will take bad beats so much better. I have seen some good players go on tilt quick and just give away there bankroll in limit raising every pot and not having any patience.

[Janesh]

i dont like limit games just when i play plo turbo