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

Last issue, we continued exploring 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

Parts I and II discussed the first four errors (you can find them at www.CardPlayer.com). This column will discuss:

• Playing too tightly before the flop in deep-stack situations
• Playing too loosely before the flop in short-stack situations

To introduce both subjects, consider limit hold'em books. Almost every one has a starting-hand chart. While these charts vary slightly from book to book, most agree on the types of hands that you should play preflop in specific situations.

Often, these books also discuss which hands to have when you raise, call a raise, or reraise. Likewise, they discuss from which positions you can make these plays with various hand types.

These charts work for limit hold'em because every preflop bet is the same size. As long as almost all of their opponents have enough chips to play the hand to the river, most limit players who follow these guidelines play reasonably well preflop.

No-limit hold'em plays totally differently. Many limit players moving to no-limit keep some form of these limit hand charts in their minds as they play, and, for the most part, continue to follow these guidelines. Unfortunately, in many situations, they are making significant errors by failing to recognize the relationship in no-limit between starting-hand values and stack size.

Indeed, this is a particular case of the general error of failing to consider stack size in decision-making that was discussed in Part I. The most common starting-hand errors are discussed below.

Playing too tightly before the flop in deep-stack situations: In limit hold'em, the size of the pot is governed by the number of players and the number of raises. If you are up against one player, you may win a few bets with the best hand, but you certainly can't win hundreds of bets. Usually, each player will contribute somewhere between three and five big bets. In fact, that is the premise of those hand charts: You should play only those hands with the potential to win a bet, or even a fraction of a bet, over and over.

In no-limit, you can win the entire stack of one or more opponents. So, if both you and your opponents are deep, it makes a lot of sense to see flops with hands that will rarely win but have the potential to occasionally flop a miracle that may enable you to make a huge return on your investment.

The deeper the stacks are, the more hands you can play, looking for your miracle. Of course, you need to make sure that it is a miracle. You do not want to get overly excited with, say, bottom two pair in deep-stack situations.

Let's say that you are playing $2-$5 no-limit with $1,500 stacks. What do you do with the 5 4 under the gun? The limit hand charts say it is unplayable, but with potential implied odds of 300-1, it is usually worth a $5 call. Depending on your table image and the circumstances, you may even elect to raise. Unless the late-position players are overly aggressive preflop and would make disproportionate raises, forcing you to fold, you want to see the flop.

How about if you have the 5 4 on the button, and everyone folds to you? While open-limping on the button in limit would be a terrible play virtually every time, here, a button-limp is OK. A raise might win the blinds, but there is no compelling reason to increase your stack from $1,500 to $1,507. You are trying to win the whole bundle, and letting your opponents see flops that may trap them into losing a lot of chips is a better idea. Again, raising for deception when your opponents are likely to call is a viable alternative.

There are other effects of a (correctly) loose preflop strategy with deep stacks, such as unpredictability, and the credibility to bluff at a lot of flops and turns, but they are beyond the scope of this discussion.

Playing too loosely before the flop in short-stack situations: Employ exactly the opposite strategy when you or your opponents have short stacks. All of those large implied odds go away. Playing $2-$5 no-limit with $200 stacks means your limp is getting you just 40-1 instead of the 300-1 we were looking at earlier. Speculative holdings will not work.

You fundamentally are waiting for a premium hand, and then trying to get all in as soon as possible, run the cards, and see who wins. The shorter your stack, the fewer hands you can play.

Preflop, short-stack no-limit is boring, as you fold hand after hand while waiting for the right situation to get your money in. Deep-stack no-limit is far more exciting, as you are able to play many more hands. Of course, it is also more treacherous. Either way, you must be aware of how your stack size and those of your opponents will affect your starting-hand selection criteria. Thinking in terms of limit hand charts will make your play incorrect regardless of your situation.

Next issue, we will look at the remaining errors that we originally defined.

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].