Limit is tough!!

Hey,

I have been trying real hard play limit more efficiently. I am definately better at the sit-n-go games than the limit. Lately I have been playing the .25/.50 or .50/1.00 games. I just can't seem to win at them. I would describe myself as tight/aggresive and it's getting frustrating. I'll increase my bankroll with sit-n-go's, then lose it at limit. It's like a rollercoaster ride. Any suggestions on good articles or good websites or just some plain advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Interested in any answers Sammy cos i'm the same as you - won dont know how much in SnG's, lost loads of it back in ring games.

Best advice I can give is
1. position is everything in limit
2. starting hands
3. there isn't a whole lot of bluffing in limit
4. take a good look at the board (ie you've had the winning hand since the flop, on the river someone comes up over your bet...chances are he has you beat..there are a lot of chasers in low limit games)
5. don't stay at a table you are losing at.

FP posted a good article a few days back (check the blog area) on limit games and the swings that they bring.

Aggression is everything in limit games, regardless of the limits you are playing at. I play around the $3/$6 mark and tbh I havent been doing too well lately but I have had days where I am taking down some nice pots and others where i am continously getting outdrawn with runner-runner chasers

Premium hands are nowhere near as valuable in a 6 handed limit game, particularly at any limit below, say, $5/$10 as players like to see lots of flops, especially once they have some money in the pot from the blinds.

Like I said, aggression is everything. if you raise preflop and miss, you gotta be betting out, and even re-raising if you get raised or bet into, especially with overcards, as players who hit middle or bottom pairs are likely to be betting out and those overcards are most probably live - and with 6 callers preflop the pot odds on offer are normally very good in limit games, hence the ridiculous beats you will run into - and also put on other players. I took down a $130 pot last night with a runner runner flush with my K3 after a K on flop giving me top pair. The betting pattern was raise-raise-raise with like 3 players involved.

Biggest suggestion I would make to any players wanting to be succesful at limit rings - and I learnt this the hard way - is do not play with money you dont wanna lose. I always go to the table with money that I have written off, so if (when!) I walk away from the table broke I dont mind so much. This allows me to play an aggressive game and push players outta pots when I have no hand - a lot of the time I do this by re-raising them on the river, you will be surprised how often players try to steal the pot with no hand by betting out on the river, then folding to a simple re-raise

Good luck

If I had to give three specific tips to limit hold'em, it would be this:

0. Play full ring. Leave the shorthanded tables alone until you're extremely confident at the full ones.

1. Learn a decent starting hand chart, and memorize it. Like the one from Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller, or so. Be tighter than you think you have to be.

2. Learn how to play the flop. That's where you will make the most mistakes if you have decent starting standards.

3. Don't. Ever. Slowplay. I kid you not, you will lose money from doing this. Slowplaying will cost you more money than anything else in hold'em. Not because you may lose a pot that you would otherwise have won, but because you're missing out a lot of money that you would otherwise have won. Got it? Don't slowplay.

Good luck!

/Fredrik

I do not enjoy playing limit but have forced myself to play limit ring games every day recently,and amazingly I am winning and winning pretty big.Can't explain it.Could be becoz I've been very tentative and unsure about my play lately and in limit I've got a little more control...???? Still don't like em' though....lol

I have the best luck with $2/$4 Limit (sometimes $1/$2) because the bets and raises carry more weight. In the lower limits, many players think "It's only another quarter" or "Just another 50 cents" or even "1 more buck" when they are raised or check-raised or limping the small blind, etc.

"I'll increase my bankroll with sit-n-go's" then lose it at limit" Its the exact opposite for me. I do alright in the realy small buyin SNG's but once it gets to $5 and up i dont seem to do to well. Limit ring games are another story though, I actualy make a profit. I dont do too bad when i play sng's, but there not my specialty.

Reading LLHE is somethng i'd DEFINATELY suggest. It has made such a huge HUGE difference in my game...

I rarely play anything outside of suited connectors, Pocket pairs Ak-AT and Ax Suited, and my blinds that have not been raised. play super tight. Even playing tight you get 5 players on the flop in a raised pot.

if you hit a flop, you're almost ALWAYS going to win it. Raise for value, and don't tilt when someone draws out. There are ace chasers, and gutshot followers every time. You just have to deal with the suck outs.

Bluffing is okay RARELY. Sometimes it works, but ONLY if they are on NOTHING. Most of these fish will call with bottom, or middle pair, and will ALWAYS call with top pair any kicker. When you build an image, sometimes a well timed check-raise on the turn and leading into the guy on the river will cause a fold (its worked for me on numerous occasions, but only after you show down premium hands a number of times)

NEVER slow play unless you flop the nuts. Slowplaying a set will lose you money, two pair will lose you money overall. The only time i check a hand is flopping the nut flush, and flopping a boat. I lead out on all other hands, even if i (in the rare event) I flop quads.

Styrofoam's poste prety much sums up limit poker. If you take his advice you should do well.

I find things the other way round - I find the ring games easier to beat... then again, it's the raw aggression side that I've had to work on, which has made No Limit rather tougher than Limit. This is at low stakes, but basically if you're against poor players limit should be fairly easy to turn a profit on - so table selection is as important as anything else - pick a table that suits your style. It's harder to pick up pots uncontested (especially with bad players in there), so you're more looking to jam made hands. By picking a table that has a large percentage seeing the flop you'll be more likely to find calling stations and fish who will pay off that made hand time and again.

Most limit games I play on tend to be very loose callathons with many players calling to the river with ridiculous hands, hence they can be great bankroll builders providing you are prepared to be real patient and understand that due the amount of callers you will suffer more bad beats. Aggression isn't so much a key factor in limit as people are much more likely to call. Overall, if you stick to your A game and play tight, I think limit games can be pretty profitable.

The other thing to note is that when you have mostly calling stations or maniacs, and a couple of tight players, you need to know who the tight players are, and remember not to compete with them. Then when you play a very tight game and come into a pot, you're aiming to not see them involved. If you lose track of that kind of key information, then something like PokerOffice will help you to keep track of them.

By avoiding playing with any tight players, you'll only be entering a pot when you have a hand that's likely to be better than anyone elses.