The Sky's the Limit, Baby

In poker, this is certainly true. With hard work and a ton of critical thinking, anyone potentially can work his way up to the hallowed grounds of the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker. However, if you make the wrong decision about the limits you should play, you won't ever get to see the sky because you will be entrenched firmly in the gutter. So much of your success in poker relies on the first decision you ever make, which is whether to sit down at a particular table or not.



There are so many factors to consider when making this decision that it would be fruitless to attempt to list them all here. I will run through my thought process when I have been deciding what level to take on, and also what happened to me to influence my decision to move up, or down, to another level. I will explain the differences in limits, as well, at least as I see them.



Let's take a look at the decision to move up in limits first. Please keep in mind that this column is written from my point of view, so the limit definitions may not apply to others, and certainly won't apply to high-limit players. For instance, my high limit is $100-$200 and higher, which is a limit I don't even play yet. For the purposes of this column, I will be addressing only my low and middle limits, because they are the only ones I have any experience playing.



Here are my definitions of the limits in my poker world, thus far; I'll be sure to update it when I am cleaning up in the $200-$400 games:

I began my playing career at the $3-$6 level at Lucky Chances Casino in Daly City, right outside of San Francisco. Now, it's certainly possible that I should have started even lower – say, at the $1-$2 level, which I think was the lowest limit there. It should be noted that it is rarely a mistake to try to take on a limit that's lower than where you think you should be. If you are correct in your assessment, you should win there, which will enable you to move up pretty quickly.



With that said, these extremely low limits really require the least amount of true poker skill, which is probably pretty obvious. They are filled mostly with individuals who are either learning the game or are just playing for fun, and thus aren't really concerned with the amount of money they lose, because it is typically pretty small. The winners at this level are those who understand the fundamentals – namely, betting position and which hands to play where.



If you play in these games, you should be able to win consistently by simply playing the correct cards in the correct positions – that is, early, middle, and late. Other players will be playing so many strange combinations of opening hands that you will never need to make any kind of fancy moves. In fact, fancy moves will actually be the death of you, because no one will be at a level where he can understand what you are trying to represent. Forget all of that and just stick to the solid stuff, as it'll be enough to win you pots.



One factor to consider at the low limits, though, is frustration. Either because the limits are low enough or the players are just beginning and thus are bad enough, most hands will get shown down on the river. Now, this will earn you many, many extra bets from opponents who are chasing their long-shot hands, but several times they will end up catching those hands. This will cause you to pull your hair out and drink 32 Red Bulls in 15 minutes. Such is life at the low-limit tables. You should be winning a lower percentage of hands like this, but your pots should be much bigger when you do win. Hopefully, at the lower limits, you will get enough practice being outdrawn that you won't complain about it when you move up. I think I am almost there.



You also need to be able to discern how you are losing, if you are losing. Are you being outdrawn by long-shot hands or being outplayed? I got to the point in my early career where I was fairly comfortable with the fact that usually when I was losing, it was due to opponents hitting cards late in hands in which they really shouldn't have been involved. If this is the case, you may want to move up to the next level. Keep in mind that with each level you move up, players supposedly are going to play better and with more discipline. I say supposedly because occasionally my $15-$30 game will resemble the tables of my early playing days, much to my surprise. But you want games like that. You will win more money in the long run, but lose more hair in the short run.



At any rate, I decided to move up once I was (a) winning regularly, (b) had improved significantly from when I first started playing, © thought I knew what my opponents were trying to do to me and was usually correct about it, and (d) felt that when I lost, it wasn't due to being outplayed, but being outdrawn. Conversely, I will occasionally move back down a level if I believe I have been deficient in any of the above criteria. If, for example, I felt that I was off my game and my reads were way off, I would move back down to work on my game a little more. This shouldn't prove to be too difficult as long as you aren't an ego player, which you should be striving not to be, anyway.



Once you move up to the middle limits ($10-$20 up to $60-$120), you will begin to play some real poker. I recently moved up to play $15-$30 and occasionally $25-$50. Concepts like position and hand selection are givens at this stage. If you play poor hands, and often play them from out of position, you are going to wind up as meat. It just isn't a philosophy that you can make work. Yeah, yeah, I don't care what Gus Hansen does. Always remember this: You are not Gus Hansen. Besides, for every hand you see him magically win on television, there are probably several he loses, or you would lose if you didn't knock the winning hand out of the pot, as he does.



I immediately look at those at my table upon sitting down to try to identify the weakest players. They are the people with whom I want to get into pots, and I will even make ill-advised raises sometimes in order to get heads up with them. Ideas like this aren't even considered at the lower limits mentioned earlier. Players who reraise early-position raises with hands like A-J and worse are targeted so quickly by the others around them, it can be humorous. If all of the players seem to be trying to knock each other out of pots in which you are involved, you should ask yourself why this is. It isn't because you have the nicest smile and are the most fun to play with.



The aggression level kicks up several notches here, as well. There will be far fewer players of the check-and-call variety. People will be attempting to take away pots whenever they sense weakness. They will be far more willing to take chances in order to put themselves in position for big scores. At the lower limits, players are playing just their cards and are scared off by any aggressive moves. This won't be true as you move up. If someone thinks he has you beat, he won't be dissuaded by a few raises in front of him.



There is also a lot more energy put into switching up my play now. I try to play the same hands in different ways, so as not to alert my opponents to what I am trying to do. I used to always raise with position and a flush draw on the flop, regardless of other circumstances. I often got free cards, but then was allowing the other players at the table to take the pot away when my flush card didn't come, and also to get away from me when it did come. I don't want them to be so sure that I have a busted draw when I do, and I don't want them to throw their hand away so confidently when I hit.



You won't be able to make the same plays in the same situations consistently anymore, either. Your opponents will be able to pick up on you too easily. Switching, and re-switching, gears becomes much more necessary now.



I once heard John Juanda say that as long as you are willing to learn and adapt in poker, you will be all right. That is what I constantly try to remind myself as I am playing. You have to be a chameleon at the table, changing from one style to another, and then back again. That is what the best poker players are able to do. By preventing everyone around them from ever getting comfortable, they are able to slip into the most blissful position of all – the winner's circle.

Joe Sebok can be found most Sundays in the fall yelling, "Go, Bears." You can reach him at [email protected], and can view all of his past columns at www.barrygreenstein.com under the "joepoker" link.