Fixed limit strategy

Hi all.

I have recently started playing fixed limit. I`m doing ok and ahead of the game cash wise

I am playing reasonably tight, but I wonder if u guys think there is any mileage in playing loose preflop?

I play $1.00/2.00 limits and every table I go to (in the main 10 players) I find one or two of them who play almost every starting hand. Obviously they miss a lot of the time, but I also notice they play every hand and if the play is checked to them after the flop they bet. If they then get a few callers they then bet if checked to again. I have seen a lot of these guys win pots before showdown.

Its ideal for me because I simply check raise them - they normally come along for the ride!!!

I`m not saying they guys are bad players - I have seen a certain amount of success for them. What I can`t answer, of course, is do they win regular. Do any of u guys play this way, and if so, how do u do?

Whereas a loose preflop player with extraordinary postflop skills can be successful at NL, you don't have the implied odds to make up for poor hand selection in limit. While learning the ropes, try to play tight preflop and play the odds postflop. Eventually you'll find spots to open up your hand selection dictated by the situation, but that takes quite awhile.

My strategy for limit is to find a PL or NL game. :-)

Read what Howard Lederer has to say, as he is considered one of the finest Limit players around.

Because of the nature of limit betting, many players will only play premium hands, because the betting can get way out of hand, as there is a tendency to get sucked into a raise....and anotehr raise, and suddenly, that $2 call pre-flop has turned into $8 or more. So, by the time the flop comes, there is already a considerable investment in the pot, and the pot-odds,which, depending upon how the flop came, could be sufficient to entice a player to call post-flop bets. Because of this potential scenario, a preflop raiser can frequently bet out drawing or marginal hands that may normally call in PL or NL.

A word of caution....limit tables are favorites for colluders, as the nature of the limit betting frequently draws more calls into the pot with the "heck, I'm already in for 2X, whats another X or two?"