Numero Uno!!!!! Limit Holdem Part 1

Read first----->First attempt at a Strategy Article - HORSE

Ok well this article is written on the basis that everyone knows the basic rules of Limit Holdem and everyone has an idea of how it works. So lets get straight into it. I firstly need to point out that, this style of play is based around a TAG image and seems to be most profitable, I have allowed for a lot of flexibilty so that it is a tight style and not a solid rock style. I have also reconsidered a few of the things i stated in the HORSE article, so some comments may be contradictory.

The Horse article contains all of the necessary information on levels and what to do in each level. Due to this, I am structuring this article around 4 topics; Preflop, postflop play, Play on the Blinds, and premium hands. I dont want to bore everyone by explaining how to play LHE, im more interested in looking more in depth at this particular game and picking out key positions and points. It is of course a general guide and doesnt take into account the buy in for tourny, the skill of your opponents or the style of your opponents so adjustments need to be made


Preflop

1st Level

Small pots aplenty here, players can make big mistakes here, always playing small pots thinking, well its only 30 more, and suddenly they are down 1/3rd of their original stack. Sensible poker still needs to be played. Now in the first level, preflop raises are not gonig to be respected, so be careful with what you raise with. In early position, I have found that i only want to be raising with aces and kings to build pots. I am then also limping with all other pp's, since one limp from early position suddenly causes the rest of the to bacome infectious and start limping also, providing you with great set odds. I am also willing to limp with suited connectors 9,t+. I am only playing these to hit big however and not to hit 1 pair. A,K and A,Q are also playable, but your unlikely to win a big pot with these at this stage. Id rather see these thrown into the muck first level since a pair is unlikely to win a multi pot, and so your looking for broadway or 2 pair. Its a tricky spot though, it is playable on a tight table so that only a few players see a flop, then you are in a position where tptk is a winning hand, but on a full loose table, id dump it. Anything else im folding

With no limpers infront, in middle position, im once again raising with aces and kings, but i am now also raising with queens and jacks also. From here im limping with small pairs looking to invite more callers into the pot. Raising here is best with a,j+ since you can thin the field and look to win a pot with a pair. Id also now be limping qj+ and suited connectors 6,7+.

With limpers infront, raise with aces and kings praying for some folds. Play queens and lower purely for set value, it isnt profitable to build a big pot pre flop with queens since you are gonig to attract people to see all 5 cards on board where a pair of queens is rarely winning. So set value is most profitable. Also limp with suited connectors 6,7+. This next statement will probably be criticised, but id be folding a,k down with limpers infront from early position, because it just doesnt win enough multi way pots, you lose more big pots then you win limping with a,k in this situation. Raising doesnt help either. Id rather have 9,t s and play for straight flush possibilities in a multi way pot.

Now for late position. With no limpers, raise with j,t+ and pp's 99+. Id fold any lower pp's since the odds just arent there to chase a set anymore. Im now raising with better hands looking to win small pots as opposed to limping with hands looking to win big pots. Dont raise looking to steal, if you have junk, throw it away, dont unnecessarily risk chips.

With limpers before hand, late position plays exactly like middle position, the same hands apply in both situations.

In all situation, call if the pot escalates to 4 bets pre flop, You should be able to win in the long run by sticking to the strategy above and calling the 4 bets

Im leaving blind play since that is a whole new topic i will discuss and is particularly important which people dont take enough care to learn.

2nd level

This plays a lot like NLHE now pre flop, suited connectors are no out of hte window as the multi pots are in the past. All situation snow, if your coming into a pot, come in with a raise. From early position, stick to a,q+ and tt+. Open with raises as that will thin the fields down.

Middle positon. Now id be raising with k,j+ and 55+

Late position. Raise with any pp and jt+.

Button steal now if opportunity present and you have a decent enough holding.

No limping should be seen at this stage.

If you are raised to, it is down to you and your reads aswell as opponent style to figure best course of action


3rd Level

Generally now at this time, blinds are high in comparison to stacks. Not much strategy to be giving. If your the big stack, raise to take free blinds on offer, with basically any decent holding. If your an average stack however, just sit, be patient in all positions, wait for your big hand then push push push. I wouldnt advise stealing since stacks cant take a hit from failed steal attempts, so wait for your hand.



Since it has taken me an hour to write this, and i have some coursework to do, ill leave it at this for today. Tomorrow i will do at least 1 more of the 4 sections mentioned above. I will probably do 1 a day and finish LHE on Friday. There is just so much to think about and write.

Any comments on things you disagree or agree with are appreciated since i am also still looking to improve my game. Also I wont bother making new threads for each section of LHE. Ill just post them all on this thread, so be sure to keep checking back

Before anything, i would like to apolagize for this taking soo long. Its just i have got soooo much work to do with coursework deadlines approaching in 2 weeks time. Therefore, instead of writing it scraps at a time, im going to ask you all to be patient until 2 weeks today. Since that is the coursework deadline so i will have plenty of free time after then to write all of the articles within close proximity.

When i do write these, i will write the above part in the same article as the others, so it is done properly.

I once again apolagize for the wait

Can i also ask a mod to lock this thread to prevent it being bumped up since there will be no need for it once i write everything properly in 2 weeks time

locked on request