Limit vs No Limit (1 Viewer)

[BonScot]

Yay, rake any better?

Also don't play too tight, especially if the game is passive. Part of the profit is playing loose hands cheaply and making big hands. When you make straights and flushes in low limit games, getting multiple payoffs from players that can't fold is huge.

I’m seeing a lower rake now. Their website says 5% up to a dollar max but it’s defo been more than that (e.g. five players in for $1 each and pot is $4.20).

I’m limping in a few times in late position. Biggest win of the night came from limping in on the button when everyone else had called with 86s and flopped 57A then 9 on the turn. Got called all the way by a guy with A5 and another who mucked on the river.

 

[Mangatang]

In 2004 I started with $25 on Party Poker. At some point in the next 6 months I went busto and put in another $100 and that's the only money I ever put online. I started at 0.05/.10, ran it up to $1k, moved up to .10/.25 and then .25/.50. God I played a LOT of .25/.50. Probably at least a 100k hands. Then I started moving up fairly fast. At my peak before Black Friday hit, I was taking stabs at $50/100 limit and my regular game was 8-12 tables of $5/10 at a time. I was Walk of Fame status on Hollywood Poker (Pokerroom skin) for 3 years straight (approx equivalent to 7* on PokerStars). I was top 10% on pokerstars one year too (but never close to 7*). Then Black Friday hit and at best I could find one table of $5/10 running.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B001ACU1Z6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

This brought up a bunch of memories for me. I love limit hold'em. That's all there was in casinos when I started (mid 90's). I started playing online on an old site called Pacific Poker (I think it changed to 888 later). Pacific only offered limit hold'em ring games. No tournaments. No NLHE. Also, at first there was no multi-tabling. I made a one-time deposit of $20 and started out playing $.05-.10 LHE. I took every hand seriously and worked on improving my game. I used the 300 big bet bankroll rule to move up to the next level. I moved to $.10-.20, $.25-.50... all the way up until I was playing $15-30 full time (I think that was the highest they offered). I was making a killing for years. Pacific was full of fish. All I did was play ABC basic poker, and got paid off endlessly.

At one point, Pacific added single table sit-n-go's. My favorite variety was the $200 5-handed. It paid the top 3. I would just sit tight and wait for 2 people to bust out (get even money), then went super-aggressive (kind of on a free roll).

When I evacuated to Houston for Hurricane Katrina (2005), I had plenty of time to play online. I was on Party Poker then. I even won my way on to the Party Poker Millions cruise $10k tournament via sit-in-go "Steps". You had to work your way up 5 levels of sit-n-go's to win the cruise package and entry into the main event. Believe it or not, it was a limit hold'em event. I think it was the only WPT limit event. That was a fun cruise. I almost made it into the money. I busted out on the 3rd day. I finished 113th (out of 900+). The payout cutoff was 99. Besides the tournament, they had a full room of tables going day and night. I was actually the last person to be playing poker when the cruise ended. I won the last single-table sit-n-go they ran prior to docking. I remember beating some guy that had recently won a WPT event in Australia (don't remember who it was now).

I still love me some limit hold'em.

 

[BonScot]

This brought up a bunch of memories for me. I love limit hold'em. That's all there was in casinos when I started (mid 90's). I started playing online on an old site called Pacific Poker (I think it changed to 888 later). Pacific only offered limit hold'em ring games. No tournaments. Also, at first there was no multi-tabling. I made a one-time deposit of $20 and started out playing $.05-.10 LHE. I took every hand seriously and worked on improving my game. I used the 300 big bet bankroll rule to move up to the next level. I moved to $.10-.20, $.25-.50... all the way up until I was playing $15-30 full time (I think that was the highest they offered). I was making a killing for years. Pacific was full of fish. All I did was play ABC basic poker, and got paid off endlessly.

At one point, Pacific added single table sit-n-go's. My favorite variety was the $200 5-handed. It paid the top 3. I would just sit tight and wait for 2 people to bust out (get even money), then went super-aggressive (kind of on a free roll).

When I evacuated to Houston for Hurricane Katrina (2005), I had plenty of time to play online. I was on Party Poker then. I even won my way on to the Party Poker Millions cruise $10k tournament via sit-in-go "Steps". You had to win 5 steps to win the cruise package for 2 and entry into the main event. Believe it or not, it was a limit hold'em event. I think it was the only WPT limit event. That was a fun cruise. I almost made it into the money. I busted out on the 3rd day. I finished 113th (out of 900+). The payout cutoff was 99. Besides the tournament, they had a full room of tables going day and night. I was actually the last person to be playing poker when the cruise ended. I won the last single-table sit-n-go they ran prior to docking. I remember beating some guy that had recently won a WPT event in Australia (don't remember who it was now).

I still love me some limit hold'em.

Cool story. I still can’t believe that they killed off online poker in the US. I only found out about Black Friday after joining PCF.
I did wonder why I wasn’t seeing any Muricans at the table but just guessed that my reputation for achieving mediocrity at .25/.50 poker had spread and scared them all away

 

[Mr Winberg]

This brought up a bunch of memories for me. I love limit hold'em. That's all there was in casinos when I started (mid 90's). I started playing online on an old site called Pacific Poker (I think it changed to 888 later). Pacific only offered limit hold'em ring games. No tournaments. Also, at first there was no multi-tabling. I made a one-time deposit of $20 and started out playing $.05-.10 LHE. I took every hand seriously and worked on improving my game. I used the 300 big bet bankroll rule to move up to the next level. I moved to $.10-.20, $.25-.50... all the way up until I was playing $15-30 full time (I think that was the highest they offered). I was making a killing for years. Pacific was full of fish. All I did was play ABC basic poker, and got paid off endlessly.

At one point, Pacific added single table sit-n-go's. My favorite variety was the $200 5-handed. It paid the top 3. I would just sit tight and wait for 2 people to bust out (get even money), then went super-aggressive (kind of on a free roll).

When I evacuated to Houston for Hurricane Katrina (2005), I had plenty of time to play online. I was on Party Poker then. I even won my way on to the Party Poker Millions cruise $10k tournament via sit-in-go "Steps". You had to work your way up 5 levels of sit-n-go's to win the cruise package and entry into the main event. Believe it or not, it was a limit hold'em event. I think it was the only WPT limit event. That was a fun cruise. I almost made it into the money. I busted out on the 3rd day. I finished 113th (out of 900+). The payout cutoff was 99. Besides the tournament, they had a full room of tables going day and night. I was actually the last person to be playing poker when the cruise ended. I won the last single-table sit-n-go they ran prior to docking. I remember beating some guy that had recently won a WPT event in Australia (don't remember who it was now).

I still love me some limit hold'em.

Cool story! I saw that on TV, I remember Howard Lederer winning. Sadly they editet out the 113th place finisher.

I remember watching it thinking how cool it was that limit was played so fast, the chips really flew into the pot!

 

[JustinInMN]

Cool story! I saw that on TV, I remember Howard Lederer winning. Sadly they editet out the 113th place finisher.

You happen to know that guy?

 

[Mr Winberg]

You happen to know that guy?

I was referring to this

I even won my way on to the Party Poker Millions cruise $10k tournament [...] I finished 113th

It was one of the first poker tournaments I watched (2nd or 3rd) on tv so it was cool reading about someone beeing there.

 

[BonScot]

Progress report - managed to get myself $30 up in a .50/1 game in under two hours...

only to end up breaking even after running into 4 of a kind twice in quick succession (both times the 4th card hit on the river). First time I had the nut flush (started with AQs) and second time I had a QQ and hit another Q on the flop only to lose to a guy with 3333.

Anyway guys getting lucky on the river is what keeps them coming back but my point is that I’m noticing a difference by playing very tight then raising and reraising when I’ve got a hand.

 

[BGinGA]

Yep, the best best simplistic Limit-play advice is to only play strong starting hands, fold when you miss, and keep pounding the pot when you're ahead or favored to win.

 

[BonScot]

Yep, the best best simplistic Limit-play advice is to only play strong starting hands, fold when you miss, and keep pounding the pot when you're ahead or favored to win.

Thanks for the advice. Considering the pot odds is another thing I’ve taken from this thread. I had two over cards (AK) after the turn. Guy before me bet and normally I would have folded but pot odds were 9/1 so I called, hit an Ace and won the pot.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Limit is kind of like a slot machine.

Your opponents need to keep putting money in, and you occasionally have to let them hit that "jackpot". Just make sure you are making them pay for every "spin".

...and be the machine, not the pensioner dropping their retirement checks.

 

[joepro]

My favorite thing about limit poker is the pace of the game. I used to play a fair amount of limit holdem at Borgata, mostly 10/20. When I got married I stopped playing and then the internet games were eliminated. I had a very hard time adjusting to no limit because the pace is so much slower.

In limit, you don't have to make a lot of hard decisions, it's just call, raise, or fold. The bet size is predetermined and stack sizes are mostly irrelevant. There is almost zero Hollywooding and if you're taking too long, you get dirty looks and feel stupid.

When I started playing no limit, I was really frustrated at how few hands per hour were being dealt. I'm more into the social aspects of the game now so I find nl kind of boring. Online is great but still hard to find games. I have warmed up to nl a little and I always loved nl tournaments.

 

[JustinInMN]

My favorite thing about limit poker is the pace of the game. I used to play a fair amount of limit holdem at Borgata, mostly 10/20. When I got married I stopped playing and then the internet games were eliminated. I had a very hard time adjusting to no limit because the pace is so much slower.

I couldn't agree more. I really won't play NL except in home games. Minnesota was also a hotbed for limit because of how the state's gambling regulations evolved. When I started playing in 2003, there was a $60 bet limit in place and one room in the twin cities area. So the big game was $30/60 but they also spread $15/30, $8/16, $6/12, $4/8, $3/6, and $2/4. Two more rooms opened and sometime around 2010-2011 the limit was increased to $100, so rooms started spreading $2-100 spread limit, which became popular as an analog to 1/2, and that thinned out some of the limit games, but we still consistently have $3/6 and $8/16, and $15/30 and $30/60 were replaced with $20/40 and $40/80 respectively, and $50/100 does get played during big tournament series'.

The times I play NL or spread-limit I tilt at the posturing of taking so long to figure whether to open the pot for $6 or $8. The better dealers in limit games will get 30+ hands an hour, I am guessing NL and spread limit games are in the low 20s, I will have to ask next time the track opens.

In limit, you don't have to make a lot of hard decisions, it's just call, raise, or fold. The bet size is predetermined and stack sizes are mostly irrelevant. There is almost zero Hollywooding and if you're taking too long, you get dirty looks and feel stupid.

So this. The difference between limit and NL is there is a decision on every street, and every decision counts for something, the more decisions you make, the better it is for you, presuming you are the player with the edge.

 

[joepro]

Just reading through some of the comments again, I feel that players used to playing nl cash games often don't understand the buy-in structure and bankroll management differences in a fixed limit game. If you are used to playing 1/2 nl, a buy-in of $100 (50bb) or more is pretty standard. For limit holdem, 20-30 bb is normal and will vary according to the stakes. So if you bring $300 to a nl game, that would usually equate to a playing in 5/10 limit game of you are a decent player.

Additionally, there will certainly be more gambling the lower the limits you play, and obviously a free game is useless. When you play for higher stakes, each street requires tougher decisions for all players. A lot of comments here make it sound like limit poker is the same as playing slots, I could not disagree more.

 

[Poker Zombie]

For limit holdem, 20-30 bb is normal and will vary according to the stakes. So if you bring $300 to a nl game, that would usually equate to a playing in 5/10 limit game of you are a decent player.

If you're not buying in for $300+, how are you harvesting the best chips?

Playing limit well is not at all like playing slots, but a lot of people playing limit do play it like slots (at least at lower levels). Hell, a lot of people playing no-limit love to chase the big hands, they just don't tend to play for very long.

 

[BonScot]

Just one more thing...

I should have said earlier that the only limit games I can find are 6 handed so I think I need to loosen up my my starting hands to reflect that. I read this article but I think that the starting hands are too loose. What do you guys think? https://uk.pokernews.com/poker-strategy-theory/limit-holdem-preflop-strategy.htm

UTG: 55+, A5s+, K9s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s, 98s, 87s, A8o+, KTo+, QJo

MP: 44+, A4s+, K7s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 98s, 87s, 76s, A6o+, K9o+, QTo+, JTo

CO: 33+, A2s+, K4s+, Q5s+, J7s+, T7s+, 97s+, 86s+, 75s+, 65s, A4o+, K6o+, Q8o+, J9o+, T9o

BTN: 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q3s+, J4s+, T5s+, 95s+, 85s+, 74s+, 64s+, 54s, A2o+, K2o+, Q6o+, J7o+, T7o+, 97o+, 86o+

Poker tracker was saying that I only played 15% of hands so I started playing the hands above and ended playing 35% of hands.

If I didn’t make a hand on the flop and nobody has acted before me I tend to fire out a continuation bet 90% of the time to see where I’m at. Is that too loose and should I just check? (Poker tracker says it’s good)

I also tend to do that on the turn on drawing hands. Would check / calling be a better move on drawing hands?

After last night’s success tonight has been pretty bad. My poker tracker stats are good preflop and on the flop but I took a kicking and ended up $30 down on a .5/1 game after two hours.

Any decision to call or raise on the turn and river is based on the pot odds. I didn’t have much luck catching anything tonight but I realise that in the long run it’ll work out better for me.

PokerTracker says that I need to improve on the turn and the river:

1. It says i play too many continuation bets on the turn

2. It says I’m too aggressive on the river.

Anything jumping out at you?

 

[Old State]

I loved limit holdem. $2/4 3/6 was our regular weekly home game for several years before NL cash became main stream and the AC casino began to spread the game around 2004-5. I did extremely well at it.

Lots of great advice here. But if I can emphasize one thing it’s the check raise is KING!

 

[JustinInMN]

From those lists I might nit up a bit UTG and MP. Especially 6 handed I am always opening for a raise.

Because of this middling suited hands aren't as valuable at 6 max as in 8-10 handed.

So I would probably be sticking to two Broadway cards onlying this these posts. Suited Aces and maybe connectors like T9 or 98. Opening 55+ for pairs seems fine to me.

The other recommendations are okay but I would probably just raise the floor on the k-hi, q-hi, and J-hi hands by 2-3 ranks.

 

[BonScot]

From those lists I might nit up a bit UTG and MP. Especially 6 handed I am always opening for a raise.

Because of this middling suited hands aren't as valuable at 6 max as in 8-10 handed.

So I would probably be sticking to two Broadway cards onlying this these posts. Suited Aces and maybe connectors like T9 or 98. Opening 55+ for pairs seems fine to me.

The other recommendations are okay but I would probably just raise the floor on the k-hi, q-hi, and J-hi hands by 2-3 ranks.

Thanks again for your advice. Some of those starting hands did seem pretty loose to me.

 

[BonScot]

Book’s here. Some quality quarantine reading...

 

[bigdonkey]

Book’s here. Some quality quarantine reading...

View attachment 434325

Update?

I'm hosting my first limit game in a couple of weeks. Gotta re-read my worn out copy of this book. Back in college I read it way more than I read my text books. Contrary to most, I absolutely love full-ring limit Hold 'em. It's my favorite poker game to play.

 

[BonScot]

Update?

I'm hosting my first limit game in a couple of weeks. Gotta re-read my worn out copy of this book. Back in college I read it way more than I read my text books. Contrary to most, I absolutely love full-ring limit Hold 'em. It's my favorite poker game to play.

I read the book. Haven’t played in almost a year, but in theory I should be unbeatable

To summarise the book: Always fold or raise; never call.

They should just have called the book

“Shit or get off the pot”.