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

We conclude this series by examining the two final errors on the chart below:

• Failure to control pot size
• Excessive value-betting on the river

I want to emphasize that this list does not reflect the only errors that limit players make when making the transition to no-limit. I selected these because they occur frequently in the games of many of my no-limit students

Previous columns covered the first six errors. You can find them at www.CardPlayer.com

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

• 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

Failure to control pot size: Pot size has its place in limit hold'em, but usually as a basis for calculating risk-reward decisions. Occasionally, controlling pot size in limit makes sense. One example would be in a medium-size pot on the flop when you have a good but vulnerable hand. If you bet, the odds will be right for almost everyone to call. If you check, and get a bet into you on the turn that you can raise, you can now substantially reduce the field because some players cannot reasonably call the double big bet.

However, you will rarely see this situation in limit, and if you do not recognize it or take advantage of it, you will not see much effect on your lifetime earnings. Therefore, limit players seldom think about how their bets or calls will affect the size of the pot.

In no-limit, pot size is critical. Because you can select the pot odds that you wish to give your opponents, you determine the size of most no-limit bets by computing a fraction of the pot. If the pot is $200, it makes little sense to bet $10 (which you may have to do in limit), as it gives your opponents too good a price to draw out. And remember, if they do draw out, it could cost you all of your chips. Similarly, it rarely makes sense for you to bet, say, $1,000 into the $200 pot. You will usually win, but the times you lose will generally cost you more than you will win.

As you bet and raise large fractions of the pot (typically half to three-quarters), the pot grows large rapidly. Sometimes it may grow out of proportion to your hand strength or stack size. You have seen a player bet, have someone raise all in, and then say reluctantly, "Well, I guess I have to call for the size of the pot." Well, the pot got that large because of the bets he put in.

On the opposite side of the coin, sometimes you have a very good hand and really want the pot to grow large to maximize your chances of getting all of your chips in. Here, you should size your bets so that your opponent may think he is getting the right price to call each time.

The key to all of this is anticipation, or, as I like to call it, planning. Before you bet, call, or raise (for example, by following some formula like, "on the flop, I always bet two-thirds of the pot"), consider the strength of your hand, the size of your stack and those of your opponents, the likely size of the pot if you get called or raised, and the bet size you may be faced with on the next betting round. Strive to reserve big pots for big hands.

Excessive value-betting on the river: I love value-betting in limit. The average player does not do it nearly enough. However, it is a different story in no-limit.

Let's discuss value-betting a bit. A value-bet is made on the river with a hand that may or may not be the best. The idea is that you will win often enough when you get called to show a profit.

In limit, this bet is pretty easy. The pot is generally large compared to the bet size. This gives your opponent good odds to call with weak hands, hoping you are bluffing or have overestimated your strength. Also, the amount that you can lose after betting is limited to one more bet. The worst that can happen is that you get raised or check-raised, and you call.

In no-limit, particularly when you are in position after your opponent checks, both of these factors change. First, your bet generally needs to be reasonable with respect to the pot size, for reasons discussed above, so you are risking more money. Second, and more important, you cannot control the size of the raise. In fact, your opponent often can check-raise enough money that you will be forced to fold (given the strength of your hand and the fact that you were value-betting). This is a catastrophic outcome, because if your opponent is bluffing, you lose an entire pot that you could have won because of your pursuit of a small value-bet.

Your decision of whether or not to bet for value depends on stack sizes, math, and your read. There is no question, however, that if you are accustomed to value-betting frequently in limit, you will have to rethink this strategy in no-limit and reduce your frequency considerably.

Conclusion: Limit and no-limit hold'em are fundamentally different games. They both require significant strategic thinking for you to succeed.

The nature of the thought processes, and the parameters you consider, are fundamentally different. It is difficult to make the transition from one form to the other, because you not only must evolve new thinking patterns, but must discard old ingrained patterns.

Of course, many have successfully accomplished this transition. Just remember that when moving to no-limit, stack size, bet size, and pot size are the key parameters. Remember, it is OK to occasionally fold the best hand, and it is OK not to maximize your profit on one-pair hands and other vulnerable holdings.

Both games present great challenges and opportunities. Just be sure that your thought process is correct for the one you are playing.

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].