No Limit Vs Limit Poker
If you’re new to the world of poker, you’re probably confused by game descriptions often written just before the actual name of the game. These usually refer to the limit type of the game you’re about to play.
The three most popular limits are no limit, pot limit, and fixed limit. Let’s take a closer look at what these are and how to use them to get the most out of your poker session. Read on!
No limit poker is firmly keeping its grip as the Cadillac of poker, with PLO in hot pursuit. Everything else is just a poor relation, sadly. Gone are the days of table after table of fixed limit seven card stud. If your goal was to become a Razz pro, then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed! In Poker each variant has its subgenres based on the way you bet technically known as limits. These subdivisions change the way you have to play. The difference between no limit and limit is that the betting increases exponentially in no limit, and only linearly in limit. Because of that fact, hands also have to increase in value exponentially in no limit. All poker games have a minimum bet limit, a stated maximum limit or no limit & a pre-decided betting unit in which bets can be made. Usually evaluation of the ‘pot limit’ and the ‘no limit’ poker is done on the basis of structure of the bet, strategies, skills & attitude required to be employed by the player.
No Limit
No limit is the most popular limit-type in the world, as the majority of games are played with it. It’s usually Texas Hold ’em that is played in a no-limit environment. But what does that actually mean?
Essentially, no limit stands for the fact that there’s no upper limit to how much you can bet every time. Therefore, whenever you want to increase your betting amount, there’s no upper limit to how much you can increase it.
That’s why all-ins play a very important psychological and strategical role in no-limit games. This makes poker very exciting, especially when there are big stakes and big risks in a single hand. It’s also one of the main reasons why Texas Hold ’em became the most popular type of poker in the world.
Pot Limit
Pot limit games are games that do have an upper cap to how much you can bet, and that cap is determined by the amount of money that is in the pot plus additional bets made by other players.
Therefore, you cannot go all-in, but you still have some freedom to determine how much you can bet in a single hand.
It’s very important to approach pot limit carefully, as there are specific betting strategies in place that are completely different from the betting strategies of no-limit games.
Fixed Limit
Fixed limit is considered the most difficult of all games, as it gives the least freedom to how much you can bet. As a matter of fact, the amount you bet is always fixed. This is usually set in advance.
However, this doesn’t mean that there are no strategies in place here. You can still fold, call, bet or even raise. However, if you raise, you must rise by a fixed amount.
Therefore, you have to calculate carefully here how much is at stake every moment you play the game.
On the other hand, fixed limit games are least popular among players, as opposed to no-limit games. However, even active poker players who are into no limit love switching to fixed limits from time to time to broaden their horizons when it comes to poker and learning new strategies.
Which One Is The Right One for You?
There’s no final answer to which type of limit you should choose. They are all different and unique, and all require a completely different approach to betting and ultimately playing poker.
If you’re new to the world of poker, it’s only important that you start playing low or even micro stake games before you get into the swing of things.
Most of the new poker players start with no limit, and the majority stay there for the rest of their respective poker careers. However, what you should do is try all three types of poker and see which one you like the most. Only then can you ultimately choose one.
What you shouldn’t do at the start is to try to play and learn all three types at the same time, as this will only slow you down. Instead, try focusing on mastering one before switching to the other.
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Playing before the flop is your first opportunity to voluntarily put money in the pot. Don’t just toss in the first single bet to be a part of the action. Make good decisions by following the advice given in this lesson and stick to our recommended starting hand requirements until you gain more experience. There is no shame in folding and waiting for a better hand to play. On the contrary, the shame is in falling prey to the donkey’s mantra of “any two will do!”
Before we mention starting hand requirements, let’s talk about the mindset that captures successful limit play. That mindset is the ability to be patient and selective about the hands you play. Patience is a critical element to winning hold’em play. Good players exercise the patience to wait for hands that they know have positive expectation and then play them aggressively. In a nutshell this strategy describes the selective, aggressive mantra that has been espoused by Krieger, Sklansky, Malmuth, Caro, and every other credible limit hold’em pundit of the last several decades.
Tight is Right
The tight-aggressive approach is the backbone of a successful limit player’s strategy. The reason this approach is so successful is simple—the vast majority of the poker playing public are long term losers who do not have the discipline or knowledge to beat the game. Let your opponents make the mistake of playing too many hands while you become more selective. It will pay dividends. If you only play hands that figure to be the best against opponents who play too many mediocre hands, it just makes sense that you will win money. This critical skill is the foundation upon which other skills need to be added to make you a formidable limit hold’em player.
No Limit Vs Limit Poker Game
The most common mistake made by limit hold’em players is that they play too many hands. Look, no one enters a casino or logs on to an online game with the intention of folding hand after hand. But when you look at the entire universe of possible two-card starting hand combinations you might be dealt, the vast majority of them are junk, which means the correct play is to fold most of them. If there’s one tip that will raise your game significantly, it’s this: be selective with the hands you choose to play, and then be aggressive with the hands you do play.
Starting Hand Selection
What hands should you play if you’re going to be patient and selective? Well, that depends in large measure upon your position relative to the dealer button. The best starting hands are playable from any position, but other hands have very different characteristics.
We have created a starting hand chart that can be used as a guide. This chart will load as a PDF document (link opens in a new window), which you can view on screen or print off for easy reference.
Understand that our attempt to categorize starting hands by their strength and positional considerations is a loose guide. There are many factors that may encourage you to tighten or loosen your play from these guidelines. As in all poker decisions the phrase, “It depends” comes to mind. That is to say our starting hand chart is a guide, not a set of intractable rules.
In fact, you may want to look at a starting hand chart this way:
- If you’re a beginner or a consistently money-losing player, treat this guide as the gospel.
- If you’re an experienced player, you can treat these recommendations as a guide.
- If you’re a skillful, winning player, please consider these recommendations a point of demarcation for your own creative, winning play.
But before you decide to deviate from these guidelines, have a reason for taking action that’s at variance from our recommendations.
We haven’t included every possible starting hand on our chart. Unplayable hands, also known as ‘junk’ don’t need any further explanation. I’m sure you will recognize them. In fact, the majority of the hands you’ll be dealt will fall into this category. Let your weak undisciplined opponents play 7-2 because it was suited—you throw them in the muck where they belong.
Type of Games
It’s important to be aware that different games play differently. The texture of the game—whether it’s tight and aggressive, tight and passive, loose and aggressive, loose and passive, or a mixture of these, will dictate what hands you should play. For example, if you’re playing in a loose and passive game, you can limp in from early position with small pocket pairs. If you’re playing in an aggressive game these hands are better off mucked from early position.
There is an old adage in poker relating to how tight or loose the game in which you’re in is being played. The adage advises to play tighter than the table. While this is obviously an over simplification it is generally true. While tight is certainly right, all you need do is play tighter poker than the table. The reason this will work is that through prudent hand selection coupled with your position you will be playing fewer (and generally better) hands than your opponents. However, expect loose games to tighten and tight games to become looser, and be ahead of that curve to ensure you’re in the most profitable zone at all times.
Calling vs. Raising
A lot of limit hold’em players will limp in pre-flop rather than raise. If you’re in a passive game and have a hand like J-Ts then you might want to limp because you’re looking to get as many people into the pot with you as possible in anticipation of flopping a big hand like a straight or flush—and making money from a large number of opponents. If you have a pair or high cards that can win without improving, such as A-K, you’re much better off raising and narrowing the field down to heads-up than you are by simply calling and inviting a number of players to enter the pot after you, one of whom might get lucky and steal the pot away from you.
If you call and are then raised, you’re going to call one more bet and see the flop. If it’s raised and re-raised, some players will do the same thing, regardless of the strength of their hand. Imagine entering the pot with the speculative hand of for a single bet from middle position. Now the player to your left raises, another player re-raises and yet another player makes it four bets, which is normally the cap in fixed limit. Weaker players will normally call as they have already invested a bet and the hand does have lots of potential. Stronger players would recognize the futility of throwing away three extra bets when it is apparent that they are way behind the competition. These distinctions will become clearer and clearer as your experience grows.
Cold Calling Raises
If the pot has been raised before it’s your turn, you must tighten up significantly and adjust for the position of the raise. Inexperienced limit hold’em players will frequently cold-call raises with mediocre and potentially dominated hands, such as A-J and K-J. These are costly errors. Be selective and avoid cold-calling raises with hands that have a slim chance to catch the cards they need to enable you to win the pot. Most good players, if they don’t have a very good hand, will simply throw their hand away and wait for a better opportunity. Remember that it takes a much better hand to call a raise than it does to make the initial raise yourself.
Always observe the pre-flop betting action in a limit hold’em game, because it provides valuable information about the strength of your opponent’s holdings. If there’s a bet and a raise and someone cold-calls, my first thought is “here’s a guy with A-Q who is terrified of a big pair and even more terrified of A-K”. He thinks A-Q is a pretty good hand and says to himself… “I’ll call and see what happens with it.” Of course it’s important that you assign a range of hands to your opponents, not just a specific hand. But most players will re-raise before the flop when they hold a premium hand and cold-calling a raise or cold-calling a re-raise is usually a sign of a hand that’s not in first place.
Conclusion
The question or whether to hold’em or fold’em is the first and most important decision you will make. If you’re new to limit hold’em then study our starting hand chart and follow the guidelines given in this lesson. Starting hand selection may differ slightly from pundit to pundit but these are a solid outline for a beginner to embrace. As your experience and knowledge of the game increases your starting requirements will vary based upon how tight or loose your table is, knowledge of the tendencies of players yet to act behind you, any betting that has occurred in front of you, and your current table image.
If you only play hands that figure to be the best against opponents who play too many mediocre hands, it just makes sense that you will win the money. Playing tight requires patience which many or even most recreational players just don’t exhibit. They are in the game to play, not sit to there and fold hand after hand and sit on the sidelines. This is the reason that most poker players are long term losers—they play too many hands. Sure they can get lucky playing junk on occasion and that is what keeps them coming back but their lack of patience and discipline is their financial undoing. If you truly seek success you must have the discipline to be patient.
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By Tom 'TIME' Leonard
No Limit Texas Holdem Vs Limit
Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.