Limit Versus No-Limit Strategic Differences - Part I: Introduction

Perhaps you are one of the many players who move between limit and no-limit hold'em. If so, you may not be making all of the mental and strategic adjustments that these very different forms of the game require. We will explore these differences by examining the adjustments that must be made in strategic thinking between limit cash games and no-limit cash games.



The starkest difference is your overall approach. Profit in limit hold'em comes from a series of repeated edges. In no-limit, most of your profit will come from the two or three times per night that all of your chips go into the pot. Because of these differences in how you earn the money, each form of the game requires a different approach.



In this series of columns, I will highlight the different approaches you will need to take on each street. In each case, I will discuss the strategies that are most important for each type of poker. Here is a brief overview of the topics we will cover in this series:



• Before the cards are dealt: In limit, we will discuss when to post; in no-limit, how much in chips to buy.



• Before the flop: In limit, hand selection and position; in no-limit, stack sizes and trapping hands.



• On the flop: In limit, pot odds, and raising and check-raising to thin the field; in no-limit, continuation bets, position, and implied odds.



• On the turn: In limit, assessing the risks of the turn card, and hand reading; in no-limit, avoiding and springing traps.



• On the river: In limit, value-betting; in no-limit, reopening the betting, and bluffing.



This column will focus on the first of these topics – the strategic differences between limit and no-limit hold'em before the cards are even dealt.



Before the cards are dealt: Imagine that you walk into a cardroom, put your name on a list, and get called for your game. You walk over to the table and there is just one seat, so you take it. If it is a limit hold'em table, what is your first major decision? The answer is: when to post. Should you take the big blind, post between the small blind and the button, or wait until the button passes and post behind?



Many experts have theories about the correct answer, and I have mine, as well. But the reality is that even though this is the most important decision you can make before the cards are dealt, it is not all that important in the greater scheme of things. Someday I will devote a column to it, but you will not have huge differences in your lifetime earnings if you choose to post differently than a particular expert recommends.



What is the first major decision you will make if you are taking your seat in a no-limit hold'em cash game? Unless it is a restricted buy-in game, you must decide how much in chips to buy. In a limit game, this decision is not very important, as the minimum buy-in is always enough to get you through a hand or two. In a no-limit game, this decision is critical, because every chip you decide to purchase will be at risk as soon as you get a hand.



So, how much in chips should you buy? The answer depends primarily on three factors:



• Your bankroll



• Your ability



• Your opponents' abilities and stacks



Your bankroll: You certainly don't want to put your entire bankroll on the table in a no-limit game. At a minimum, you want to be prepared to rebuy two or three times and still have buy-ins for several more days' sessions. You don't want a single bad beat, unlucky hand, or poor play to leave you unable to continue the game.



Your ability: In general, the better you play, the more chips you can buy. No-limit hold'em is actually two different games: short stack and deep stack. In short-stack no-limit, if two players like their hands, they typically will be all in before the flop or on the flop. Deep-stack no-limit has considerably more play and puts your large investment at risk later in the hand. You can be trapped, and people can call your earlier bets because of the large implied odds of potentially winning all of your chips.



For example, assume that you and your opponents are playing $5-$10 no-limit with stacks of $400. You hold A-K and raise to $40 before the flop. Two players call, making the pot $135. The flop comes K-7-5. You make a continuation bet of slightly more than half the pot, $75. One of your opponents folds, but the other makes it $200 to go. The pot is now $410, and you must call $125 more. If you call, your remaining stack will be $160 and the pot will be $535. Clearly, you will be pot-committed for the rest of your chips, so you may as well push all in now.



Now let's look at a deep-stack example. Instead of $400, your stack is $4,000, and your opponents' stacks are equivalent. Assuming the betting went the same way, let's look at your decision after the raise on the flop. You are still faced with a $125 raise, but now you have $3,760 remaining if you call. This presents you with much more serious options. If your opponent has two pair or a set, you are in deep trouble, and potentially can lose all of your chips for what is currently a small pot. If your opponent has a hand like K-Q, you may want to optimize your winnings. In addition, your opponent may just be testing you with some type of draw. However, you are out of position, and if you simply call, you will be faced with a similar dilemma on the next two rounds. It's not the point of this column to tell you how to proceed, but simply to state that when you are playing with a deep stack, your decisions become dramatically more difficult in similar situations.



Deep-stack no-limit hold'em therefore requires considerably more skill than short-stack does, and you should buy a deep stack only if you possess this skill. Otherwise, be content to play short-stack hold'em, and seriously consider leaving the game if your stack gets quite deep.



Your opponents' abilities and stacks: The final consideration is how well your opponents play and how much in chips they have. If one of your opponents is a particularly bad player, you want to make sure you have him covered, as he is likely to be the primary source of your profit. On the other hand, if one of your opponents is particularly dangerous and has a deep stack, you may want to buy in shorter to avoid early costly confrontations with this player.



Of course, since you just sat down, you may not have a good idea of how well your opponents play. In that case, I recommend buying in fairly short until you learn more. You can always add chips to your stack later in the game if you find it advantageous; you can't take some away if you believe you would be better off with a lesser amount on the table.



Conclusion: I hope you are beginning to see that limit and no-limit hold'em are considerably different games, requiring different thought processes and skill sets. In fact, apart from the fact that you receive two cards, the board has five cards, and the hand rankings are the same, these games are very different in their objectives and how play proceeds.

Barry offers poker lessons tailored to the specific strengths and weaknesses of the individual student. Please visit his web site at http://www.barrytanenbaum.com/ or e-mail him at [email protected].