A couple of points about NL that I don't think have been addressed:
- There are
loads more resources to help you improve your NL game. Nine out of ten
poker books will focus purely on NL, and it's by far the most popular topic of discussion online. Here alone there are dozens of players who are very good at the game and more than willing to share their knowledge.
With limit hold 'em it's a different matter. There just aren't as many resources (especially cheap and readily available ones) around to help you improve your game.
- I've always thought the loss-reducing aspect of playing limit was overrated. Yes, you can lose your whole stack in a single hand playing NL. But you can be bled to death and lose the same amount of money just as surely if you're making mistakes in LHE. Proper bankroll management needs to be practiced in either game.
- Action probably isn't an issue in either game (particularly online) but if you want the game with the
most action and the most fish it'll invariably be NL.
So as to which you should play... really, it's up to you. They're actually fairly different games, so I'd start with the one I intend to get good at and play more in the long term.
I wouldn't, for example, start out playing limit hold 'em with the intention of moving to NL after I've learned the game because to a large extent you've gotta go back to the start and learning all over again when you make the switch.