Should You Switch To No-Limit Hold'em?

Many players don't even think about where they should sit, but Ray Zee, a great player, said that picking the wrong seat was one of the 10 most important reasons for losing. If you make a bad choice, you will have position on the wrong people, and let the wrong people have position on you.

Position is always important, but in no-limit hold'em (NL) it is a bigger asset when you've got it, and a bigger liability when you don't. Choosing the right NL seat is also much more difficult. In limit you must consider only the other players' skills and styles. In NL these qualities have a greater effect on you, and you must also take into account the size of everyone's stack.

Why Position Is More Important In NL
My no-limit discussion group was polled about the relative importance of various skills, traits, and mental abilities in limit and NL. "Understanding and using position" ranked fourth among the skills that were more important in NL than limit for several reasons:

• In NL check-raising occurs much less frequently. In limit you often check-raise to create unfavorable pot odds for your opponents. In NL you can create whatever odds you like without risking free cards which can cost you your stack.

• Setting and avoiding traps are much more important in NL, and they are much easier to do with position.

• Your NL results depend primarily on a few large pots, and you want more information before making decisions that can double up or bust you.

Your Opponents' Skills And Styles
A few general principles apply to both limit and NL, but are more important in NL.

1. Because the weaker players can't hurt you too much, you want them to your left.

2. Because the skilled players are dangerous, you want them to your right. Because they can hurt you more in NL, you really want position on them.

3. To avoid surprises, you want the predictable players to your left, and the unpredictable ones to your right. Since surprises in NL can cost you your stack, having position on the unpredictable ones becomes more important.

Although predictability is related to skill, it is also related to style. My book, The Psychology of Poker, was written when most people played limit poker, and it does not discuss NL. It focused primarily on players' styles, and the chapter on each style contained a section titled, "Where should you sit?"

Since Mason Malmuth and David Sklansky edited and approved the text, I believe it accurately described position principles for limit games. I will summarize some points and say how NL changes your decision.

Loose-Aggressive Players (LAP)
Most discussions of position and styles focus primarily on LAP because they have so much impact on your results and emotions.

Your position relative to LAP, especially the most extreme ones (Maniacs), is even more important in NL than in limit.

In limit sit to their immediate left so they act before you do. Generally, you want to be to the left of loose players, whether they are aggressive or passive. You can raise and isolate them to exploit their tendency to play weak hands.

You want LAP to raise before you act, not afterwards. If you acted first, you may put in one bet, then another with a hand that you would not willingly play for two bets.

However, if someone is predictably loose-aggressive, sit to his right. That predictability can come from two factors:

• Being an utter Maniac who raises nearly every hand

• Telegraphing when he will fold, check, bet, or raise

Because many LAP - particularly Maniacs - lack patience and self-control, they often telegraph their intentions. In fact, they will occasionally act out of turn. You can fold marginal hands and check-raise and slow-play your strong ones.

In NL your decision is more complicated because the size of the bets and raises is so important. You need to win only a few large pots, and nobody builds bigger pots than a LAP, especially a Maniac. You therefore want to be to the immediate right of a LAP who frequently makes very large bets and raises, even if he is not a complete Maniac who raises all the time.

You can check or just call with big hands, hoping he will make a move, which will drive the rest of the table into you. They will often overplay their hands because they don't respect his bets and reraises. Of course, you may slow-play, but be disappointed: He may just fold, check, or call. But you take that chance any time you slow-play, and he is more likely than anyone else to make a large bet.

If you do it many times, and he makes a move only a few times, but traps one or two others, they may be too pot-committed to get away from their hands when you make a large raise. In fact, they may have pushed all in before you have a chance to act.

Your chances of winning a monster pot go way up.

In addition, if you sit to the left of a Maniac, some other players - especially the better ones - will slow-play into him, then trap you between them. You may overplay a hand because you don't respect the LAP's bets or raises, but then find someone to his right pushing all in.

Finally, you will be last when he bluffs, and he may bluff very frequently. If you are to his left and suspect a bluff, but have someone behind you, you can't call with a marginal hand. You would hate to snap off his bluff, but have someone overcall.

The only serious downside to sitting to his right is that you will often be raised when you want to play cheaply. For example, if you limp with pocket fours, hoping to get multi-way action, he may raise too much, knock out everyone else, and ruin the odds for you. This risk is much less important then the preceding advantages.

The bottom line is that you should sit to the left of LAP in limit, but to their right in NL.

Passive Players
You generally - and especially in limit - want passive people - regardless of how loose or tight they are - on your left. Then you don't have to worry much about a raise behind you.

In limit you want TIGHT-passive players (TPP) to your left. You can steal their blinds with very little any risk, but it is much harder to steal from loose-passive players (LPP).

In NL you want TPP to your right. First, blind stealing is much less important than it is in limit. Second, their actions provide much more information than a LPP's because LPP just call, call, call. If a TPP calls ahead of you, you know he has a good hand and can act cautiously. If a TPP bets or raises ahead of you, you can confidently fold everything but a powerhouse. In addition, if a TPP is behind you, and he calls your large bet or raise, you have just gotten a nasty surprise, and you may be in big trouble.

Tight-Aggressive Players (TAP)
Since they are often the best players, you want to avoid them. However the way to avoid them varies between limit and NL.

In limit sit as far away as possible. If you sit to their right, they have position on you, and you certainly don't want to give the toughest players that edge. If you sit to their left, they will steal your blinds.

In NL sit to their left. Blind stealing is much less important, and it is much easier to avoid them when you are on their left.

Final Remarks
We have seen that this decision is more important and more affected by the other players' skills and styles in NL than in limit. My next column will deal with an issue that is almost irrelevant in limit, but critically important in NL: everyone's stack sizes. If you are in the wrong position relative to the big stacks, you have a real problem.

Dr. Schoonmaker ([email protected]) coaches only on psychology issues, such as controlling impulses, coping with losing streaks, going on tilt, and planning your poker career.