Limit Hold’em Player’s Mistakes in No-Limit Hold’em

A short while ago, I wrote a column discussing the types of errors we often see from a player who learns limit hold’em before taking up no-limit play. This column will follow up on that previous one by discussing hands in which a student of mine who is a good limit player has trouble making the transition to no-limit.

In limit hold’em, when you have a big pocket pair and flop an overpair on a dangerous board, the normal play is to bet it, because you will pay only a small price if you run into flak. It is usually better to run a risk than give a free card. In no-limit, when facing multiple opponents, you are not under contract to bet whenever you flop an overpair on a dangerous board. Look at this hand from my student.

Student: “I am playing in a $1-$2 blinds game in a Vegas cardroom. I raise to $10 from under the gun with the Q Q, and I have a $300 stack. A loose-playing local calls right behind me, and three other players call; the blinds fold. There is $53 in the pot, and five players. The flop comes 10 9 7, giving me an overpair. I bet $50, and the local goes all in for $200. There is $303 in the pot, and it costs me another $150 to call. I fold. My opponent shows the A 10 and takes the pot; I folded the best hand.”

Bob: “With that type of flop and four opponents, I would check an overpair. Betting this type of flop into a crowd is too dangerous. As you see, any heat after you bet the flop puts you under a lot of pressure, so you will not win that often even if you have the best hand on the flop. This is a fine illustration of the normal play in limit poker being inferior in no-limit. If you had a short stack of $100 or less, going all in is fine, but you are too deep to bet that flop into four opponents. Whether you react to a raise by calling or folding, your long-run results will be poor.”

Our next hand shows that my student fails to realize that he must go all in even though he has reason to worry about having the best hand. He has a good made hand, but may well be up against a better one. Nevertheless, the right play is to raise all in, because he is committed to the pot, rather than see what next arrives on the board and how his opponent reacts to it.

Student: “I am in the cutoff seat with the A Q in this $1-$2 game, and have a $300 stack. A decent-playing tourist limps in from under the gun. Two others limp in, and I decide to just limp instead of raise.”

Bob: “You have a mandatory raise situation here, with what looks like the best hand, fine position, and several opponents who have committed money to the pot already. This is too good a gambling situation to be varying your play.”
Student: “The button and small blind fold. The big blind checks. There is $11 in the pot, and five of us. The flop is A Q 8, giving me the top two pair. The big blind checks. The under-the-gun player has a $300 stack and bets $10. The action is then folded to me. I raise to $40. The big blind folds. My opponent reraises to $100, and I just call. There is $211 in the pot, and two of us.”

Bob: “Why do you just call? This requires a mandatory all-in bet. You have no idea what he has, and there are plenty of cards that would scare you, beat you, or ruin your market. You are too far into the hand to use your position or play guessing games. Calling is a bad no-limit hold’em poker error.”

Student: “The turn is the 7. My opponent goes all in for $150, and I call. He wins with the Q Q for a set of queens, since I failed to improve on the river.”

Bob: “Top two pair against top set is a hand you are supposed to go broke on, as there is no way to avoid this result except by playing badly.”

In our next hand, I will discuss only his preflop play from the big blind. He makes a common mistake by failing to realize that no-limit hold’em is a game of implied odds, not pot odds. He has $2 in the pot and potentially puts $300 at risk with a mediocre hand. The blinds have bad position, and therefore need good hands to play. It is no place to be a bargain-hunter by calling a raise with a drawing type of hand.

Student: “I am in the big blind with the A 8. An early-position player opens with a raise to $8, and everyone else folds to me. I call another $6. There is $17 in the pot, and two of us. We both have $300 stacks.”

Bob: “You should have folded. You are calling out of position, letting the $2 you have in the pot overrule the fact that you are putting your stack at risk in an unfavorable situation. Again, you are playing limit poker strategy in a no-limit game.”

A common error in no-limit hold’em is raising too much with fairly good hands but bad position. Your position matters in limit hold’em, but not nearly as much as it does in no-limit. Again, I will discuss only the preflop play.
Student: “I have the K Q in early position in a $1-$3 blinds game with a $300 stack. The under-the-gun player puts up a live straddle. This player is extremely loose-aggressive and plays total trash. I raise to $25 to isolate the straddler. Unfortunately, the button calls, as does the loose goose. There is $79 and three of us in the pot.”

Bob: “You put your stack at risk with a mediocre hand, attempting to win a small amount when most of the field was yet to be heard from and had position on you.”

In our next hand, my student bets the river with a hand that is highly unlikely to win if called. These hands can make money by betting them in limit poker, because the pot odds there make a call attractive. In no-limit hold’em, you get called by bluff-catchers a lot less often.

Student: “In a full $1-$3 blinds game, I am in the big blind with the J 6. Perry, an excellent player, is in middle position. We both have $300 stacks. An early-position player, Perry, and the cutoff limp in. Everyone else folds to me, and I take a free play. There is $13 in the pot, and four of us. The flop is 9 7 5, giving me a gutshot-straight draw. Everyone checks. The turn is the 7, and everyone checks again. The river is the J. I bet $10, and Perry calls me. Perry wins with the J 10 because he has me outkicked. Should I have bet the river?”

Bob: “No. You bet into three opponents from first position, so you probably are not bluffing. What hand will call that you can beat?”
As you can see, my student’s limit hold’em experience is hindering him in no-limit hold’em.

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered from Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons: e-mail [email protected]. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert’s Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called
www.fairlawsonpoker.org.