limit poker advice

hey everyone,

Now that i think ive established my play at NL texas holdem and PL omaha, im ready to move on to learning another game, and ive decided to try limit holdem. Normally i play sit-n-gos or tournaments, so what advice can some of you give me other than what ive read from supersystem 2 about limit holdem.

Limit TOURNYS suck. I just watch my chips dwindle...

I was just going to write a thread "Low level limit SUCKS"...it is 180 degree turn around from NL....it is showdown with anties all the way to the river...in NL you isolate to win...in limit, you are going to the river with a full or near full table. IF you have, high cards, flush or str8 draws, gutshot or runner runner draws players stay all the way till the end...your Top pair, two pair, tripps, str8's and flushes mean nothing, because many times they will be beat by the river....Pocket pairs are terrible cards, even Aces because you are a two outer to a full table and they will be beat...it sucks...you need to get in a high level limit game before you can use some strategy!

In NL very few hands make it all the way to a showdown...in limit they all make it to a showdown...uncontested hands - What are they...forget buying or pushing someone out of a pot...you just let the cards fall where they may and then turn them over to see who won!

Players play any two suited cards no matter how high how low or how far they are gapped, connectors suited or not, one gap two gap connectors no matter how high or how low and will stay with them to 5th street.

im not as good at limit as i used to be since ive been playing sngs more....this was highlighted when i played at a limit table the other week after winning a sng and nearly busted out. I used to be able to walk away with a profit pretty much every time i hit the limit tables

limits a very good game and very underated by a lot of people - i also reckon its the best game to clear bonuses (dont listen to these guys...its a great game )

hopefully ill find time in the next few weeks and get some time to play a bit more limit again (we could play at the same table if you want)

learn your odds

Its not like no limit where someone can put in a 10 x BB raise. Limit is very structured.

The first two rounds of betting is 1 x BB raises.
The last two rounds of betting are 2 x BB raises

Betting is also capped after a set number of raises (its nearly 4am so my brain cant remember how many!)

This is where knowing the odds comes into play. Whilst the number of players who remain in the pot could change you can still work out roughly how much you need to invest and what your likely to get back if you call or raise a specific hand.

It doesnt have to be rocket science but you should be able to work out when you should stay in the hand a lot better than no limit where someone can go crazy and raise a ridiculous amount.

Dont bluff as much

Im not saying cut bluffs out entirely from your game but definately cut them down....because the betting and raises get capped a lot of hands are worth a call, particuarly if the pot is healthy.

Watch out for draws

Some limit players will chase any flush or straight. Its very hard but with a lot of players seeing the flop you may have to drop your two pair or trips if an obvious straight or flush comes up.

Folding good hands is one of the hardest things to learn


Stick to your limit

Last year i built my bankroll from pretty much nothing to $600+ in 2 months. The majority of which was won at the $0.50/$1.00 limit tables.

I user neteller and bounced round a few sites to take advantage of bonuses.

However, i struggled when i moved up. When i went to absolute the lowest table they had was $1/$2 tables and i lost about $50 before cashing out. The same happened at inter poker but thankfully the money i lost was a little less than the bonus i cleared.

Stick to the level your comfortable at. Jumping about limits isnt advised (Even dropping limits can lose you money since you arent as dedicated cos the rewards arent that great)

Before i invested the money i made here i was ready to move up to the $1/$2 limit. I think i would have done better since i had more money behind me - thats half the problem, if your playing with money your scared to lose your never gonna be at the top of your game. I played too tight and too scared


Take advantage of bonuses

As i said before, i believe limit is a great game to clear bonusus. Get your neteller account ready for some damage

Stick to the enviroment your good at

For me i played best at a full table. When the players dropped from 10 to 6 or less my earnings dropped as well. This is due to the way i play limit. I play very tight and then aggressively when i get a good hand. I always stuggled shifting gears when people left. One minute your waiting for a good hand to call and then next your in the blinds every other hand.

Again, this was a problem i had. It may actually take a while before you realise your strengths and weaknesses. I didnt realise a lot of what ive said about my game until some time later.

Play to your strengths - if the table changes to a different amount of players your not comfortable with, if the table gets full of too many tight players or too many bullies - GET OUT! Take your money and leave. Dont stick around a table in an environment your not at the top of your game as you wont win as much money (or you could lose a lot)



Limit gets a lot of stick because it doesnt have the excitement of no limit - you wont see loads of players going all in etc. Some people may find the whole game mechanical too but believe me when i say that after playing limit for a few months youll have a lot of respect for the game and the top limit players.

Let me know if you have any questions. I had previously written loads of limit guides but they might have been lost with the database deletion last year.

Im gonna have to read up on limit again....i kind of get lazy with pot odds etc due to playing no limit so much so i need a *******er (not saying you dont need to know odds but with limit you use them all the time)

__________________
Texas Holdem Resources : Hand Rankings Terminology Pre Flop Odds Odds Chart
Poker Odds Calculator - Find out if you were right to make that call!

Fonz's post is great! Listen too him. I'll try too give you some advice on shorthand play.

Play tight aggresive.
Starting hands: Suited connectiors above 56
Rasie with all group 1 hands (AA-KK-QQ-JJ-AKs). Don't get tricky with them.
Any ace suited and T8s J9s Q9s if you can get in cheap.
Raise with any picture card, except KT and AT.
Any pair (TT-22)

After the flop you should play your hand, don't bluff much. Listen too your gut feeling.

Use the pre select buttons...the less time you use the less tells you give off.

I don't know what level you are playing but I have played these starting hands in levels from 1/2 too 10-20.

And remember that you blinds isn't made of gold, don't feel you have too play anything from the blinds. If you don't have shit give up your blind. But not everytime

Use Pokertracker!!!

ill definately second tvaal on using pokertracker

i used the trial version at the time but i remember it telling me after a short number of hands 4 or 5 specific ok hands that i was losing money on - hands i obviously thought were better than they actually are

__________________
Texas Holdem Resources : Hand Rankings Terminology Pre Flop Odds Odds Chart
Poker Odds Calculator - Find out if you were right to make that call!

Limit tourneys are great because the standard of opponent is so low - the 1 table sng 6$ turbo is about the easiest way of making money on ps. you can play in a 10, 20 or 30$ limit MTT and the standard is still amazingly low. On sites such as party poker almost a quarter of the people there think when the sign up that it is a NL tounrey and many don't know how to play limit. I am not a particularly good limit player but i can still make money playing in limit tourneys.

Generally it will take a few bad beats to knock you out rather than one. That is a big advantage if you are playing against poor players.

In terms of ring games only stud high/low and omaha (all versions) are interesting enough to keep me hooked. I just find limit holdem ring tables boring - thats not to belittle them though. It just seems to me that there is more easy money to be made and more excitement in these other ring games.

I started playing limit poker and I'm a better limit than no limit player. My secret - Super tight, super aggressive. When you flop a big hand, don't check raise, however in big pots don't bet the flop when you've hit your hand. Take as many opponents to the turn and river as possible. Don't play as many suited connectors, A x suited is a re-raising hand and pairs above 7's too. I started playing $2.50 tournaments and worked my way to $5 and $10 dollar tournaments with confidence and a nice profit too.

The thing I like about limit games, (mostly play 1/2) is that you can control your risk. You can figure out the probability of havign the best hand, second best hand etc, and determine a value for that, ie will I fold, limp along, or raise. I started playing limit games to burn off my bonuses, then switched to playing limit all the time about three months ago because I was good at it. I make $450 + a month, Aaaaaaand finance my tournament play.

Play tight, raise the hands you should, dont play crap, and fold when you don't have a hand. Be aware of when someone might have sucked out a flush on you,(because they will) and limit your bet, ie dont bet or dont raise. LIMIT YOUR LOSSES. If you play like this, you can get people to fold. My faverite games are the ones where I start with such crappy hands that I end up folding the first 8-12 hands I'm in. People belive you only play high quality hands,and will try and get away fromm you unless they have top hand.