Limit Versus No-Limit Strategic Differences - Part II: Before the Flop

Your strategy before the flop is fundamentally different in limit and no-limit hold'em cash games. We will examine two key aspects:



• Hand Selection



• Raising



Hand Selection: In limit hold'em, hand selection is critically important. Because limit is a game of repeated edges, if you invest your money in situations in which you do not have that edge, you cannot win in the long run.



In early position, play only strong hands, as you do not know how many players will be in the pot and cannot rely on getting the volume you might need to play weaker, drawing-type hands.



As your position improves, you can assess how many players are in, and decide whether you are getting a reasonable price to play hands that rely on volume pots, such as small pairs and suited connectors. Because you will not make a winning hand very often, you need to be sure there is a substantial pot, so that the money you win when you do make a hand is greater than the money you lose when playing hands preflop and then throwing them away when you miss them.



In no-limit, hand selection is far more a function of stack size than the number of players. You can play a hand that does not win very often, even without many players, if both you and your opponent(s) are deep enough. In that case, the money you can win (potentially every chip they have) will greatly exceed the money you may lose when you have to fold.



For example, let's look at pocket pairs, which can flop a set, a well-hidden but very powerful hand. Assume that you are playing limit hold'em and have pocket threes on the button. An early-position player raises, and everyone folds. Clearly, you should fold. You will flop a set one time in eight, roughly, and the pot simply never gets big enough for you to make up the money you lose when you miss. (I know that some of you reraise, and hope the raiser has A-K and your pair holds up, but this is a highly risky play and a long-term loser, even though it occasionally works.)



Now, let's take the same situation in no-limit. The early-position player raises and everyone folds to you on the button with your pocket threes. Now what do you do? The answer is: You have no idea how to answer the question until I tell you how many chips you have. OK, the blinds are $1-$2, you have $600, and your opponent has raised to $8. Now how should you play?



Oops, the answer is that you still cannot respond until I tell you how many chips your opponent has. If he has $20 left, you should fold. You still will flop a set roughly one time in eight, and will put up $8 with the prospect of winning another $20 (a total of $31 if the blinds fold) if you hit it. Clearly, this is a losing proposition. However, if your opponent has $400, you have an easy call. Certainly, you won't win all of his chips every time you hit your set, and sometimes you will even hit your set and lose, but the price is clearly favorable. You easily can see a way to win a great many chips if he happens to have a good hand and is willing to pay you off when you make your hand.



Thus, in limit, you can play volume hands only if the situation and the number of opponents are correct; in no-limit, you can play many of these hands if you and your opponent are deep enough. Hand selection in no-limit is really a function of stack size (and your opponents' abilities and tendencies).



Raising: Preflop raising is a critical element in limit hold'em. First, if you're not called, you win the blinds. Note that in limit, the blinds represent a significant percentage of your raise. If you are playing $10-$20 with $5-$10 blinds, your preflop raise to $20 could win you $15, 75 percent of your bet. Second, you can try to limit the number of players by raising and reraising to protect your hand.



When you raise players who already have voluntarily put money into the pot, your aim is to create a larger pot, presumably because you are a favorite (although it could be to get a large pot going if you happen to have a volume hand and a large number of opponents). After putting money in, players rarely fold, because that one incremental small bet does not give them any incentive to fold. They are getting a good price to see the flop.



Finally, in limit, you would be remiss not to raise with your better hands, as you will win more money when you win, and will discourage players not yet in the pot from joining and costing you money when they hit an unlikely hand.



Preflop raising in no-limit is a much different animal. First, most players generally raise more than the minimum, typically between half of the pot and the whole pot. In no-limit, you do not want to make many minimum raises, as it offers your opponents excellent odds (especially considering implied odds) to beat you. It also reopens the action to people who already have entered the pot.



A reraise is a much larger wager than the raise. For example, in a no-limit game with $1-$2 blinds, a typical opening raise could be around $7 or $8, and sometimes more depending on the players and action. If a raise was $8, a typical reraise might be around $20 more. This is a very powerful play in a cash game, as it risks a large sum against a hand of announced strength that will likely fold, but may raise yet again. Unless the $20 raiser has a huge hand, he may be forced by a large reraise to fold before the flop.



As a result, you will see more calling and less reraising than in a limit game. The constant threat of being reraised out of a pot, coupled with the large implied odds that seeing a flop can provide, tends to keep reraising down. It is a rare and very powerful play.



Another opportunity to raise occurs after a number of players have called the blind. This is common in many no-limit cash games, as players with a variety of hands vie to see inexpensive flops, hoping to hit a monster hand and double through someone. A player on the button, or even in one of the blinds, can take advantage of the (presumed) weakness shown by the limping players by making a substantial raise, hoping to win the pot right there. Sometimes the first limper may have aces or kings (a common play in no-limit, but much less common – and less advisable – in limit) and come back over the top, but most often, the raiser simply forces everyone to fold and takes the pot with no flop.



Conclusion: The key preflop element in limit hold'em is hand selection, which is a function of position, the number of raises, and the number of players in the pot. In no-limit, these elements take a back seat to the stack sizes of opponents and the entry price to try to win them.



Preflop raises in limit can be made with somewhat more speculative hands, especially from later position, than in no-limit. In limit, you always will call a single reraise. In no-limit, you frequently cannot call because of the far larger size of the reraise, and the message it likely sends about your chances of winning.



If you are used to playing one form of the game and switch to the other, making these preflop adjustments will help you succeed.



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].