Common No-Limit Hold'em Errors Made by Limit Players - Part II

Last issue, we began to explore some of the errors that limit hold'em cash-game players make when they start playing no-limit hold'em. Because the games appear to be so similar, but have major strategic differences, these errors tend to be systemic.

Several of the most common errors are:

• Failure to account for stack size
• Inappropriate preflop raising
• Inability to lay down what may be the best hand
• Overplaying one-pair hands
• Playing too tightly before the flop in deep-stack situations
• Playing too loosely before the flop in short-stack situations
• Failure to control pot size
• Excessive value-betting on the river

Part I discussed the first two errors (you can find it at www.CardPlayer.com). This column will discuss:

• Inability to lay down what may be the best hand
• Overplaying one-pair hands

Inability to lay down what may be the best hand: In limit hold'em, by the time you realize that your good hand may be second-best, it is usually on the turn or river. At that point, the pot often has grown large, and your one or two calls represent a small fraction of it. Thus, laying down the best hand, or what may be the best hand, is severely punished, and most players call in large pots if they have any realistic chance of winning.

Of course, you should not always call in limit hold'em. Reads and logic are quite important and can often result in a saved bet, but a mistaken call is not a huge error.

The scenario is totally different in no-limit. Many times, the size of the bet or bets that you must call to get to a showdown dwarf or nearly equal the size of the existing pot. Calling with the worst hand can often cost you every chip in front of you. As a result, folding what may be the best hand is something you have to do fairly often.

Limit players have a difficult time with this. They have been trained that folding the best hand is a terrible play. The truth is that you can fold the best hand fairly often in no-limit and still be a big winner. You just need to win when you do call and put your stack at risk.

Let's look at an example. In a limit game, you are in the big blind with the 8 7. Four players limp, the small blind calls, and you check. On a flop of K 8 7, you check. A late-position player bets, you check-raise, and he is the only caller. The turn brings the 10. You bet, and he raises. You may be ahead of hands like K-Q, 10-9, or even the 6 5. Of course, you are trailing a set, two bigger pair, and a straight. There are eight big bets in the pot, and it will cost you two more to see his hand if he bets the river, making your eventual price 4.5-1 to see the showdown. Against all but the most timid opponents, you will call most of the time.

Now, switch to no-limit. You (and your opponents) have $600 in a $2-$5 game, and you play the 8 7 with the same five opponents. Again, the flop is K 8 7, you check, a late-position player bets $20 into the $30 pot, you check-raise to $75, and he is the only caller. After the 10 hits the turn, you bet $100 into the $180 pot, and he goes all in. The pot is now $800 and you have $420 left in your stack. You may have the best hand if he is semibluffing, or you may be drawing to either four outs or none (if he has a set). If you are behind, you have little chance, and if you are ahead of a semibluff, you still will lose a significant number of times. You have to win just over one-third of the time to break even. Unless you are up against a player who just loves to bluff, you have to lay this hand down and take the $180 loss. What was a fairly easy call in limit becomes a likely fold in no-limit. Limit players find it hard to make this adjustment.

Overplaying one-pair hands: This is perhaps the area in which limit players make the most no-limit errors, particularly when the stacks are deep. One-pair hands like top pair, top kicker are wonderful in limit. They win far more often than they lose, and thus show a considerable profit. In limit with top pair, top kicker, you typically take the lead somehow, and keep it until someone tells you to stop. Then, you get to showdown and see who wins.

This procedure is roughly the same in short-stack no-limit. If you have a good one-pair hand, you get the money in and see who wins. When the stacks grow deep, however, one-pair hands become very tricky to play. In fact, many experienced players often fold them on the turn rather than become strongly committed.

For example, you hold the A K in a $2-$5 game with $2,000 stacks. You raise preflop to $20 from early position, bringing a late-position player and the two blinds along. On the flop of K 8 7, you bet $60 and the late-position player calls.
Now, the turn is the 10, the pot is $200, and you have $1,920 left. Unless the remaining player is quite weak, he has a set, two pair, or a big draw that may have gotten there. Of course, he also may have a draw that missed. If you bet, say, $150 (making the pot $350) and he raises to $500, you realize that a call by you also commits the rest of your stack, as the pot will be $1,200, and you will likely face an all-in bet on the river. So, if you bet $150, you will either win now, fold to a raise, or play for the rest of your chips with only one pair.

Sure, you may have the best hand, but you cannot afford to force the issue with a one-pair hand, no matter how good it looks. The better play is to check, planning to call a bet like $150, and fold to a larger one. This keeps the pot size more manageable for your stack size, and you can decide how to play the river after seeing the next card. In any event, you will rarely be making a decision for all of your chips on the river.

Many limit players have a hard time seeing this, and a harder time checking or folding an A-K on a king-high board.
In the next issue, I will continue this discussion of common errors made by limit players in no-limit hold'em games.

Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold'em Strategy, and collaborator on Limit Hold'em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies, both available at www.CardPlayer.com. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].