Limit Versus No-Limit Strategic Differences Part III: On the Flop

Your objectives after seeing the flop differ in limit and no-limit hold'em, and therefore your strategies will differ, as well. Let's take a look at two key strategies:



• Check-raising



• Continuation bets



Check-raising: In limit hold'em, assuming you have not missed the flop, you have either a made hand or a drawing hand. When you have a made hand, your objective is to make it difficult for opponents to chase you, either by eliminating them or by making their pot odds as bad as possible. Frequently, you will need to use the check-raise as a tool to accomplish this objective.



The underlying reason for this strategy is the fixed pot odds of the limit game. If one person raises before the flop and gets four callers, there are 10 small bets in the pot. If the raiser then bets, he is giving the next player 11-1. If he can get someone else to bet so that he can raise, he can reduce the odds for the next player to 6-1, a very large difference. At 11-1, an opponent would be correct to take one off for a gutshot, while at 6-1, it would be an error.



Playing a drawing hand in limit is fairly easy. If you are getting the correct price (including implied odds), you should check/call. If not, you should fold. On those rare occasions when you are getting the proper odds on the current round of betting to make a raise a positive expected-value event, you can raise or check-raise. The calculation at all times relates to expected value, and is fairly straightforward.



In no-limit, you can select your bet size to determine what pot odds you will offer your opponent. You do not need to manipulate the betting or check-raise to accomplish this. If you want the next player to see 2-1 odds, you simply bet the pot.



This does not mean that you can't use the check-raise effectively in no-limit; it means that the play takes on a new meaning. Since you can thin the field with a substantial bet, your check-raise now has a more classic meaning: I am so powerful that I didn't want to scare you off by betting, and I wanted more money in the pot, so I checked, expecting you to bet aggressively so that I could trap you with a raise.



Don't forget that in no-limit, you don't need to wait for the turn when the bets double, as players do in limit. You can make a large bet anytime you want.



Your check-raise also sends another message in no-limit. Unfortunately, many times you will miss the flop and decide your hand is simply not worth a bet. In those cases, you will check, your opponent will most likely bet, and you will fold. Well, the last thing you want to do is train your opponents that your check really means, "Please take it." So, an occasional check-raise is important against an aggressive opponent, even if it means risking a free card.



Let's look at an example: You're playing limit hold'em and hold pocket sevens in the big blind. You get a free play after a middle-position player, the cutoff, and the button call, and the small blind folds. After a flop of 9-6-3 rainbow, you suspect that you have the best hand right now, but of course you can't be certain. How should you proceed?



Against typical opponents, you should check. If, as you assume, nobody has much, it will get checked to the button, who, if he is like most button players, will be unable to resist the temptation to bet. Your check-raise will now force most prudent players to fold overcards (K-10, Q-J) with which they might otherwise have called had you simply bet out. You are making it expensive for people to stay in and draw out on you.



In the same situation in no-limit, you are much better off betting most of the time. A lead bet of somewhere between half the pot and the whole pot will announce that you have a quality hand, and will give your opponents a price of less than 3-1 to continue. If you get raised, you can safely lay down your hand almost all the time (unless the stack sizes are very short). If someone calls, you will need to decide how to continue based on the turn card and how the calling opponent plays.



Frequently, if you have a drawing hand in no-limit, you will not be getting a correct current price to continue. You will have three choices, depending on stack sizes:



• Fold if you think your draw is not getting the right price. This typically would be the case if one of you has a short stack, or if your opponent has made a large bet.



• Call if you think the money you might win from your opponent if you hit will justify the odds you need to call. Remember that a straight draw is better than a flush draw if you hope to bust an opponent. Flushes are quite obvious when they get there, and few opponents will pay them off. Straights, notably two-card straights, are better-hidden hands.



• Raise if you think the combined chances of your opponent folding or you drawing out justify the price of the raise. Frequently, you are not getting the right price to draw, but the combined chance that your opponent will fold and you will win the current pot, or that he will call and you will draw out for a larger pot, make the raise a better play than calling or folding. You must know that your opponent is capable of laying down a hand to make this play worthwhile.



Continuation bets: Playing limit hold'em, you raise before the flop. If you get one caller, you will bet the flop nearly 100 percent of the time, whether you have something or not. If you get two callers, you will bet the flop all the time when you hit, and 80 percent of the time when you don't. If you get three or more callers, you will typically bet if you hit and check, planning to fold if you miss. If you bet and get raised, you frequently will be getting a correct price to call and see if you hit your hand on the turn.



In no-limit, if you raise before the flop and get callers, you frequently will bet whether you make a hand or not, unless you have a short stack. With a short stack, typically, you will fold if you miss and push all in if you hit.



With a deeper stack, the question is how much to bet? In general, a continuation bet of around half the pot is reasonable. First, you are giving the next player only 3-1 current odds to continue, which is not enough to justify playing many long-shot draws. In addition, you are giving yourself 2-1 on this bet.



Assume that you make a bet of half the size of the pot, planning to fold if you get any action. In hand A, you get raised and fold. In hand B, you get raised and fold. In hand C, everyone folds and you win. At the end of these three trials, you will have broken even. In many games, you will win this continuation bet far more often than one time in three, making it very profitable.



And, of course, sometimes you have a very good hand when you bet. Now when you get raised, you can reraise and show a significant profit. This effect, combined with your other bets, marks you as a balanced player who bets both good hands and bad, and thus gets you action when you do make a big hand.



Conclusion: On the flop, you need a very different mind-set in moving from limit to no-limit. In limit, you may need to make high-risk checks to be able to check-raise and reduce your opponents' pot odds. In no-limit, you can pick the odds you offer your opponent and yourself.



You also must think differently about your draws, always knowing in no-limit the amount you can possibly win from an opponent if you make your hand.



You will be making continuation bets after raising preflop in both games, but the difference in bet sizes and the risk in no-limit of being forced off your hand makes the math of the situations quite different.



Once you master these strategic adjustments, you should be able to move easily between these two very different games and profit in both.

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].