Limit holdem starting hands...?

Hello.

I`ve been on this site for some time now, but I have only recently started playing limit cash games. I`m doing well, so much so I won`t play SNG`s anymore because I make more cash playing cash

A few points main points I would like to clarify.

• Because of the odds in limit, does it make sense to see most flops when u r on the button.
• When on the button the action is folded to u, if u r holding an Ace with a kicker below say 8, would you raise, fold or call?
• In late position, is it worth limping with sooted connectors? (A lot say yes, a lot say no )

I`ve lots of others, but these are the main ones I can`t make up my mind on!!!

Any other thoughs are always welcome

Ronaldiadio,

I highly suggest picking up Small Stakes Hold'em. It gives a really good idea of what you should be playing from specific positions and how to play from each position. Because the players in Limit are much better than when the book was written you may want to tighten your hand selections a bit from what is suggested, but the book is still owrth it's weight in gold.

This atricle was written by Fred Paulsson, our resident Limit Hold 'em expert: http://www.cardschat.com/small-stakes-holdem.php

Thanks for the kind words, Gord.

* Limit is a much less positional game than no-limit. The button, while my favorite position, is still not profitable for most hands. You should be more aggressive against the blinds in limit than in NL, so that's true for the button of course.

* When it's folded to you on the button, you're essentially in a blind-steal situation. Even if you have AA. Your opponents will respect your raise and expect to see J9o or something, so keep that in mind (for that reason, you can - at least on the medium stakes - be more aggressive with AA when you're raising it on the button than UTG).

* Suited connectors are not at all as powerful in limit as they are in NL. I'd never pay a full blind for anything below 76s and then only if there are at least three people limping before me and I know that the remaining players to act are really passive and would never raise.

If I had to sum it up in a catch-phrase type thing, I'd say that NL is a game of implied odds, and limit is a game of equity. Pick and play hands that have high equity against your opponent's range.

... and I second Gord's sentiment on how Small Stakes Hold 'em is a great book. I loved it when I first read it, and I owe most of my profits to it. Just be warned that the kind of really loose and juicy games Miller writes about don't really exist so much online. The lessons are still applicable, but that's something you should be aware of.

Jennifer Harmon also writes about Limit Holdem in Super System 2 and that's good. I think the a key is aggressivness. For instance I will raise with pairs from almost any position, depending of course on the game. Even if an ace hit I will usually lead out. Why? Because when you bet preflop most people but an ace hand in your range. If you bet out at the ace as long as one of your oppenents doesn't have an ace they will give up often. KNowing your opponent is also very important in limit as well as other games. Is he the type that will call you to the river with bottom pair? Or is he the type that prides himself/herself on making big laydowns. Will he check/raise you and does he check raise with a big hand or as a bluff or both.

According to Harmon and others aggression is very improtant and in order to be aggressive you need to know who you are playing.

You can also use this against others. For instance I was in late positon with 7-8 suited. The flop gave me a gut shot draw, now normally I hate gut shots but I wanted to send a message to the table here. I called an aggressive player and paired the 8 on the river and ended up wining the pot. Normally this would have been a laydown when I didn't hit on the turn but I didn't care if I won this particular hand or not, I wanted the table to see that i would call them down with any sort of hand even though I really wouldn't. It worked too, because villan made it a point to talk about the hand in chat, say stuff like you called all the way down with a gut-shot, etc. After that I didn't have to worry about too many bluffs and was able to get lots of free cards.

Mike Caro talks about that with stud, where you act a little crazy to throw your opponenets off and they have no idea what you may have or what you will do and it makes them cautious against you. This is good for a ring game with low turnover. It's not the same way I would play a MTT for instance.

I mentioned this in another post but Matthew Hilgers Internet Texas Hold'em has really helped me learn LHE.