Fundamentals of Poker - Limit Texas Hold'em

1. 2-5 No Limit Poker Strategy
2. How To Play Limit Holdem
3. 2-4 Limit Poker Strategy
4. Pot Limit Poker Strategy
5. No Limit Poker Strategy

Adopt an Aggressive Posture at the Poker Table. Here’s a truism: The only way that you can win. Learning cash game strategy is essential if you want to be a professional poker player. Poker tournaments have extreme variance even when you are playing well, but cash games can provide a steady income.

• Limit Poker Strategy. If limit is your preferred poker game, then congratulations! You're either an old fart who thinks no-limit hold'em is too fast paced or you're too lazy to do the math and prefer nice little increments to your betting actions.
• Pot-Limit Omaha Poker Strategy. Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) is an exciting version of poker which is growing in popularity. It’s different from Texas Hold’em and more difficult to master, but those who take the.

Mason MalmuthTwo Plus Two Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 12

• General Guidelines
• Seven Card Stud
• Limit Texas Hold'em

Limit Texas hold ’em is deceptive. It appears easy to play, yet beneath that simple facade lies a game of extraordinary complexity. Many variables must be considered when making decisions, and figuring out the correct play is often difficult. So before we discuss specific hands and how they generally should be played, here are some tips that will help you determine the best course of action.

Know what the best possible hand is and how likely it is to be out.

With certain upcards, the potential for many different strong hands increases. With other upcards, however, the number of combinations is dramatically reduced. For example, if the board is the

no one can have a straight, a flush, or a full house. The best possible hand is three kings.

Whether someone is holding the best possible hand, which in the poker vernacular is referred to as “the nuts,” frequently can be determined by the number of players in the pot and the previous action. The more players there are and the more betting and raising that have taken place, the more likely it is that one of your opponents has the nuts.

Recognize when you hold the best possible hand.

Although this tip is actually a continuation of the one just given, its importance is such that it rates a separate listing. If you have the nuts and fail to recognize it, you will miss betting and raising opportunities which in turn will cost you money. And thinking you have the best possible hand when you don’t can be even more expensive. However, by paying close attention to the board, you will avoid making these costly errors.

As an example, if the board is the

and you hold ace-king, you can’t be beat. You therefore should get as much money as possible into the pot. But if the board shows the 3[diamond] instead of the 3[spade], you can lose to a flush and should proceed with caution.

Position is significant.

Texas hold ’em is known as a fixed-position game as opposed to a random-position game. In other words, the order in which the players act each round is predetermined, rather than determined by the strength of the exposed cards as it is in stud. We have already noted the advantage of acting last in poker. This means that you should be more selective of the hands you play in early position than of those you play in late position.

Don’t overrate suited hands.

Having two cards of the same suit definitely makes your hand better, but many beginning players tend to overrate the value of suited cards. In short, a hand like ten-six almost always should be thrown away, whether it’s suited or not.

High cards are much better than low cards.

It’s just as easy to make a pair when you have high cards as it is when you have low cards. If you hold the

your opponent has the

and both of you flop a pair, you have the better hand. Thus, you would prefer to have your hand made up of big cards.

In yesterday's article I discussed how no-limit players face certain challenges when jumping into the increasingly popular fixed-limit games that are part of mixed-game and H.O.R.S.E. rotations. There I talked primarily about how implied odds work differently (and are less significant) in limit games as opposed to no-limit.

Because of that big difference, the way you play your hand in limit is going to be very different from how you'd play the same cards in no limit. Today I want to explore five more ways NL players have to adjust their thinking when playing in limit games.

1. Play Much More Selectively Preflop

Since limit doesn't have the huge implied odds that no-limit has, it's much more important to avoid situations with long drawing odds. Put simply, you should chase less in limit than in no-limit.

In limit, you are awarded far less when your long shots come in. So you don't want to play them. Low suited connectors should be less appealing to play if the hand is raised preflop. Same thing for low pairs. Unless nearly everyone is in preflop, you can't get the pot odds to justify set mining or to go for other long shot draws.

2. Press Your Advantages Early

Because the amount you can win in later streets is so much more limited in limit, you need to press your advantages when you have them. When you have a strong hand, you're looking to extract extra bets whenever you can. Accordingly, you will be more likely to raise preflop, especially in position, with medium pairs and with big cards like , , and .

3. Play Much More Selectively on the Flop

I'm not suggesting that you have to always play 'fit or fold' poker, but in limit games you certainly want to lean more in that direction than in no-limit. In no-limit you can justify getting out of line early since you can use bet sizing later to cause your opponent to make stack-sized errors. Not so with limit, when your ability to make money is so circumscribed.

Put another way, you can't get as creative with your line of play on the flop, because the play after the flop will tend to be much more straightforward, and the reward for fooling your opponent comparatively smaller.

4. Call More on the River

The bet on the river is likely to be a very small percentage of the size of the pot, which means you're getting much better pot odds for your call than is often the case with river bets in no-limit.

Looked at another way, a typical limit pot might be 10 times the size of that final-round 'big bet.' That means if you make a mistake by calling incorrectly on the river you're only losing a single bet, but if you fold incorrectly you've made a pot-sized mistake that is 10 times greater than your error of folding incorrectly. Unless you are nearly certain that you are beaten, you should call a bet on the river in limit hold'em.

5. Check-Raise More Frequently

There's check-raising in no-limit, of course, but it's a much more important and frequently used tool in limit games. You need to use it for two reasons chiefly.

First off, to gain an advantage in limit games you must pick up extra bets when you can, and check-raising is one means by which to get an extra bet in on a given round. Similarly, since the bet is limited, it carries much less clout when you are trying to force other players out of the pot. You must use the check-raise to increase the power of your betting action to get opponents to fold. In no-limit you can exert such pressure with the size of your bet — an option not available to you in limit.

2-5 No Limit Poker Strategy

Conclusion

How To Play Limit Holdem

In many games, when playing limit, it's often going to be the steady, consistent, by-the-book strategy that will win the money. Tend to play tight in the early betting round, but don't fold to a bet on the river unless you're sure you're beaten. Endeavor to win the extra bet whenever possible.

2-4 Limit Poker Strategy

In limit it's important that you consistently press your advantages at every opportunity, and not try to fool your opponent into making stack-sized errors as is a goal in no-limit.

Pot Limit Poker Strategy

Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold'em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.

No Limit Poker Strategy

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