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Articles
Differences Between No Limit and Limit Hold'em
Jan. 14, 2004
By: Michael Cohen
Limit is by far the most popular form of poker played in both brick and mortar and online poker rooms. However, the increasing popularity of the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker has sprung more interest in no limit side games. This article will explain the differences between no limit and limit ring games.
Limit is a game of patience and odds. Bluffing and semi-bluffing are not very powerful weapons. Big cards are important at limit, and it is in players' interest to generally bet top pair very forcefully. While an odd hand like a set will occasionally hurt someone with top pair, the losing player will not lose a huge chunk of their stack because of it. In sum, limit is a game of maximizing wins and minimizing losses over a huge run of hands. Generally, one or two hands will not make or break a session.
No limit stresses psychology and 'big hands' much moreso. On any given hand you can double up or lose your entire stack. Because of this, bluffing and especially semi-bluffing are more formidable weapons. Top pair is not a very good hand at no limit because all it can beat is a draw or a bluff. Thus, it cannot stand heavy action unless you are fairly sure your opponent is drawing. In fact, bluffing is so powerful at no limit that most middle to high stakes games go to showdowns less than 20% of the time.
Empire Poker currently does not host very high stakes no limit games, and it caps the buy-ins at 50 big blinds. This decreases the 'fear factor' and spurs more action because people generally cannot lose a lot of money in relation to the blinds on any one hand. Because of this, you should not overdose on bluffing when playing at Empire Poker. In general, you should make one stab at the pot when you do bluff. On occasion take another stab, but certainly avoid bluffing all the way through a pot. Because the buy-in is fairly small, a river bluff is probably going to be called because the players will be close to all in anyway.
When you begin playing the no limit games at Empire, you should adjust your hand selection accordingly. In pots that have not been raised, play more suited connecting cards because they have the potential to win a huge pot when they hit. Also, play pocket pairs a lot. As long as the pot is not raised too much, almost any pocket pair can be played for its set value. A common way a mediocre player will lose his whole stack is when he hits top pair against an opponent's set.
A key difference between limit and no limit is the amount of information you can afford to relay to your opponents. In limit, it almost does not matter if your opponents know the strength of your hand in the later stages of the pot. Since the pot is so huge in relation to the bet, you or they will probably call on the river, provided the hand can beat a bluff. If you have top pair and they have a busted flush draw, they cannot bluff you out of the pot on the river at a limit game.
In no limit, letting your opponent know the strength of your hand is disastrous. If you make a small bet when your hand is weak and a strong bet when it is strong, good opponents will quickly realize this and adjust accordingly. If you have top pair while your opponent has a busted flush draw on the river, he or she has the chance to bluff you out of the pot if there is something else out there that is scary. Thus, you should generally bet based on how you want the pot to be played and the strength of your opponents' hands. For example, if you have top pair with a flush/straight draw out, you should make a fairly strong bet so your opponent cannot draw cheaply. Another example would be if you flop a very strong hand and there is very little chance someone has a decent second best hand. In this case, you should try to trap your opponents/induce bluffs with smaller bets. A final example would be what's known as leading into an opponent's raise. If an opponent represents a strong hand and you hold the nuts or the near nuts, you should consider betting small, hoping your opponent will raise you. You can then re-raise all in and trap your opponent for a big win.
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