Limit vs. No-Limit

If  you are like  me and like to  play fix limit poker, sometimes  you need  the  betting  controlled, when you jump back to no limit table , the bets can  throw  your  game  off.  It is  easy to get  used  to small bets on big cards  so when you see a large  number  of  chips  being  tossed  around  and  all you have  is  maybe  a face card,  it  can  unnerve  you. Remember where you are.  For instance,  you have been playing  limit  hold’em  and  the   average bets have  been $1  a  card  with pots  around $6,  do  not  be  surprised  at  $5  preflop bets when you move  to a  no limit  table. Do not be so quick to fold that K-10.  The bettor maybe holding Q-8. On the no limit table that bet is not big.

Take a few hands to get readjusted to the game. While the rules are the same, the way it is played is different.  Bluffing is   like flirting with death on a no limit table. A large  chip  stack  can make  that sort of  a  play ,  but on a good  table  anyone  that  is scraping  the  bottom  or  hanging out   with a  medium stake  is  not  going  to be  so  quick to make  a foolish play.  Watch the players and   adjust your game to the table.  If after a few hands, about 4 or 5, you still are not comfortable, leave.  At a  table, as  apposed  to  tournaments,  you can  always get  up  and  walk away  at  any time.

At on line  rooms,  a  lot  of  times, you will sit  down and  someone  with  a  good  stack  has  to test  you early.  Remember  your cards  and  think  of  what  the  board can be  giving  the  other  player. To help  with this,  I watch a  table  for  a  few hands  before I put  my chips  on it. Doing this  lets me  see   how  the players  bet  and  what  kind  of  cards they are  betting on. Any pro will tell you that   the more information you have about players and their styles will help you play them better.

For most beginners, the thrill of the “all in “ play in a no limit game draws them to poker but they quickly learn that to sharpen there game and learn, fixed limit tables are a lot safer. This is even truer for those with very limited funds. Nothing hurts more than to have a good hand and have a large stake raise you out of it. That is a strategy some players use and it works. Even with middle of the road cards are all they are holding, a semi bluff bet of good size will win it for them. It’s more of a transition period for beginners going from fixed limit tables. The next step, as outlined in the book “3 9 Off Suit”, is pot limit. There you get a feel for bigger bets and raises and eventually graduate to a no limit table. After that it is higher and higher stakes.

When choosing  the  NL table,  you may  want  to make  sure  it  has  a limit  buy in  and  that no one  seated  has  a  stack very far  above that. If  the  maximum buy in  is  $10  and   you have a  couple  of  stacks   there  with $20  or  more,  you may  want  to skip  it  and  find another  table. The two most important things to remember are know where you are and be comfortable.  The rest is just poker.