My biggest weakness in Limit Holdem

It seems like every time I have a pocket pair and I raise preflop and get insta raised I'm always calling, oblivious to the fact the other guy has a higher pocket pair.. I just played a hand and raised with QQ got insta raised all the way down and odff course the guy had KK..is there any defense for this??

If you are dealt QQ in limit you should always (never say always) raise preflop until you hit the cap , if you are up against AA or KK then you are obviously a dog but you are playing your opponents range for the reraise which will normally include more hands you are ahead of than the two you are behind.

You stand to make a lot af money against an AK that doesn't hit or Ax that make low pair, a lot of limit players will fire at every street whether they hit or not

I would normally lead out the betting post flop and if I hit heavy reraising I may check call down to the river unless reads on the opponent or the board texture make folding the right option (for example 2 opponents see flop and an A and a K both flop and you see a bet and a reraise)

The right thing to do post flop is to keep your wits about you ,you should have a feel for whether you are behind , if you heve isolated one opponent pre flop then you only have to call one small bet and two big bets to reach showdown, not the right way to think but an option

Just have to play the odds. You of course are not allways going to win. But if you play the odds you will come out ahead in the end. Gl

It partly depends on the stakes you're playing for. A preflop raise with Q's is obviously correct, but in a low stakes game, people will call you with just about any two cards. Then, your odds of winning go way down. Some good low stakes Limit payers will just call with pocket Q's and try to ride them to the end, hoping that the donk with J 3 off-suit who called your raise misses his 2 pair.

On the other hand, if people are playing reasonably and logically, or you are playing for higher stakes, then raisng and reraising with pocket Q's is likely to pay off more often. If you happen to run into pocket K's or A's, that's just bad luck and beyond your control. Most likely, you'll either have to pay them off or be sure that your read is accurate and fold the Q's.

phoebepussy said:

The right thing to do post flop is to keep your wits about you ,you should have a feel for whether you are behind , if you heve isolated one opponent pre flop then you only have to call one small bet and two big bets to reach showdown, not the right way to think but an option

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Thats the whole problem.. im oblivious to the fact that yeh he might have a bigger pocket pair...when i had queens i just raised and didnt even look at the fact he WAS raising me, orthat he might in fact have hd KK or AA

Here is a link to an article about putting opponents on a range you might find interesting.

Pocket pairs

When playing queens, I usually come out strong with a 300 chip raise, depending on what level your playing has a big emphasis on how its handled after that. On the smaller sit n goes you will always get some idiot early in the game that will all in on you with nothing, and in the smaller ones I will follow them in. When your playing on the higher levels, if you get a large reraise slow down, typically your going against jacks or better or ak, aq. So in the higher levels keep it manageable to see the flop, in the lower levels follow them in.

cyclone45 said:

Thats the whole problem.. im oblivious to the fact that yeh he might have a bigger pocket pair...when i had queens i just raised and didnt even look at the fact he WAS raising me, orthat he might in fact have hd KK or AA

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You've pretty much just answered your own question here. Even though you have a great starting hand you can't be blinded by what your opponents may or may not have. You always have to factor than in as well and ask yourself why are they reraising me? What could they have. Don't just say I've got Queens the flop came with all unders and now I'm good and bet until the cows come home.

I do the same thing still every now and then but not so often anymore. One example of this was I was dealt pocket 9's and the flop came 8 Q 9. I hit my set and raised with one opponent flat calling me. The turn a 2. I raised he reraised and we ended up capping it out. I was so focused on the fact that I had hit my set that I didn't even stop to consider why he was reraising me on the turn when the 2 couldn't have helped him (other than him having a really bad two pair or pocket 2's) after just flat calling me on the flop. As it turns out he had flopped the straight and I never even saw the possibility of that out there because I was blinded by my set.

Well my question then, is what is the defense for it? I mean, im holding pocket queens, the flop comes unders, and i literally have no defense.

MANAMAL said:

When playing queens, I usually come out strong with a 300 chip raise, depending on what level your playing has a big emphasis on how its handled after that.

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You can't necessarily do a 300 chip raise in LIMIT holdem.

On the smaller sit n goes you will always get some idiot early in the game that will all in on you with nothing, and in the smaller ones I will follow them in.

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It's quite unusual to go all in early in the game when you're playing LIMIT holdem.

lol yeh..in nlhe its easy for me to fold queens...less to lose, perhaps?

lol

unfortunately this does happen alot so before you put alot of your chips at risk with these lower ocket prs take a minute remember what happened too you the last time i n the situation bite the bullet.gl in the future

cyclone45 said:

Well my question then, is what is the defense for it? I mean, im holding pocket queens, the flop comes unders, and i literally have no defense.

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u can't expect to lose none here-it's called a cooler. but you can minimize the loss, it's limit holdem-those minbets you'r giving away are important! and you're only holding one pair even tho the board is low and uncoordinated.

say you capped preflop, and capped afterflop and he still calls, the alarms should go off in your head unless he is a complete donkey, then just check call the blank turn and river.

channing73ny said:

unfortunately this does happen alot so before you put alot of your chips at risk with these lower ocket prs take a minute remember what happened too you the last time i n the situation bite the bullet.gl in the future

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I don't really class QQ as a lower pocket pair.

thebrain001 said:

SOMEONE CAN TELL ME HOW TO PLAY WELL AT LIMIT HOLDEM
DIFFICULT FOR ME

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There is not ONE WAY to play well. Every game, every hand, and every table has it's own best way to play a certain hand.

Too many ways to explain in one post. Best to read a book or two on limit holdem and if you have certain questions, then ask.

When you say this is your biggest weakness, what pairs do you include in this?
I mean its ok to play Q's strong, and obv lose money when you happen to run into K's. But if you do the same thing with 9's or 10's, then I can understand that its a big leak.

Anything 7s or over really...

drew12 said:

The defense for it is folding when ur beat

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which is fairly crucial to being a successful poker play!

seems like whenever I play my pocket Qs , ( and yes if I do play them I put in a good heathly raise) some1 with A-rags calls and always catches their Ace. Most the time I will fold ( after the A-rag player throws all in) unless i have a note on the player usually sayin that they are big bluffers and chasers , and that is usually the rare time that they arent bluffin or chasing and I'm gone.

Most the time I will fold ( after the A-rag player throws all in)

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Don't forget that this thread is about limit holdem.

It would help the poster (and us) a lot not to give NO LIMIT answers to a LIMIT question. There are no 'all-ins' (unless you're shortstacked) and no 'healthy raises' in limit games.

This does not help the discussion in any way. If you're only a NO LIMIT player, those answers are best in a NO LIMIT thread or question.

For the original question and the comment about '77 or better' - you always have to keep in mind that anything less than AA pockets may not be the best starting hand. If you can fold QQ in no limit, then do it in limit. Just because the bets are not 'expensive' in limit, does mean it's a license to chase, but is a good sign that you will be facing a lot of losing hands if you do.

NWF >> LOL. I was typing while you posted your comment, mine just took longer to type.

Any pocket pair can win at anytime. Pocket 2's can beat pocket aces very easy at a limit table. As long as they have a pp they'll keep calling your limited raise fishing for the trips.
In case you can't tell I hate limit hold-em.

aLoser4evR said:

Any pocket pair can win at anytime. Pocket 2's can beat pocket aces very easy at a limit table. As long as they have a pp they'll keep calling your limited raise fishing for the trips.
In case you can't tell I hate limit hold-em.

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The OP is looking for constructive strategies or answers. If you hate 'limit' then why post?

In all honesty tho, even NL has it's chasers. Those who insist they will fish for their flush, gutshot str8 or trips with those pkt 2's. Since you hate limit, you probably haven't spent any time on limit cash games or the final 30% of players in limit MTT's. I do, and I play the nlhe games too. I would say there are as many fishermen in nl as there are in limit. Only the price of chasing changes.

cyclone45 said:

It seems like every time I have a pocket pair and I raise preflop and get insta raised I'm always calling, oblivious to the fact the other guy has a higher pocket pair.. I just played a hand and raised with QQ got insta raised all the way down and odff course the guy had KK..is there any defense for this??

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In this case, just limit your loss. If flop turn and river doesnt show an over pair, it's time to limit your losses. Nothing else much you can do at this point. The preflop raise was fine, after that let re-raiser do all the betting.