The Complex Beauty of Limit Hold'Em

At this point, it’s useless to complain. Another limit hold’em tournament was dropped from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule this year — the shorthanded event, which had always been the most entertaining of the bunch by far. Just four years ago there were six limit hold’em tournaments on the WSOP docket (counting mixed hold’em, which was always a limit event in disguise). Now we are down to two.

As discouraged as I am by this development, I am not surprised. In an age when no-limit hold’em bracelet events routinely draw thousands of entrants, the WSOP will look for every excuse to pack as much no-limit as possible into our summers. I finally understand this basic truth. Personally, I think there’s plenty of room for both disciplines (and I’ve written before of how I don’t think it makes financial sense for the WSOP to put all its eggs in the no-limit basket), but it’s time for me to at least accept the relative unpopularity of my favorite game. OK, then. If limit hold’em needs more support in order to get more than two events at the WSOP, then I’ll just have to make people like limit hold’em more!

What makes a game catch on? A lot of action? A high speed of play? Meaningful decisions on every street? Limit hold’em has all those qualities in spades, along with endlessly complicated strategy at the expert level. Below are some typical limit hold’em situations that show the kind of thinking the game requires. I hope these hands also help to illustrate why I find the “min-bet” variety of poker so enjoyable.

Hand No 1: The action folds to the button who raises, and you three-bet from the small blind (SB) with pocket deuces. The big blind (BB) folds and the button calls. The flop comes J-7-5 rainbow. You bet and the button calls. Here’s the first fun thing about limit hold’em — when the button fails to raise here, you can be reasonably sure you have the best hand (in no-limit you’re always playing a guessing game with unimproved small pairs). The turn comes an ace and you decide to check. Now your opponent bets. Do you call or fold? I love that this is even a question. In no-limit, you could hardly consider calling down with a small pair on this board, but if you consistently fold too many pairs to scare cards in limit hold’em, good players will pick you apart. Whereas it’s normal to check and call the turn with top pair in no-limit, it’s normal to check and call the turn with lousy pairs, or even ace-high, in limit. Do you like playing more hands to the river? Sounds like added entertainment equity to me.

Hand No. 2: A mid-position player opens and you call from the BB with A-5 offsuit. (In limit we get to call with these hands!) The flop comes J-5-2 with two hearts. The preflop raiser bets and you check-raise. (Isn’t it great to be able to check-raise here for value?) Your opponent calls and the turn comes the 6. You bet, and your opponent calls again. The river is an offsuit eight — and the question is, do you bet your hand for value? To restate: Do you bet fourth pair on the river, when a flush draw has come in, and when your opponent has called on both the flop and the turn, and expect that he’ll call again with a worse hand? Knowing when to make the thinnest of value bets and when to simply check is the skill that most separates professional players from amateurs. Limit hold’em gives players more opportunities to hone this skill than any other game. There’s almost no better feeling in poker than betting ace-high on the river and getting called by a worse hand. Limit players have this happen to them a lot.

Hand No. 3: You raise on the button with K-Q offsuit, and a very aggressive player who is a regular in no-limit tournaments (but is playing limit tonight) three-bets from the SB. The BB folds and you call. The flop comes 8-4-3 with two clubs. The SB bets and you call. The turn is a six, bringing backdoor spades. Your opponent bets again. Do you call, intending to often call again on the end? Do you call, intending to fold most rivers? Or do you simply fold? Another beautiful wrinkle to limit hold’em is that no-limit players don’t necessarily know how to play the game, which can create dynamics that demand incredibly loose calls, especially with a hand that has a reasonable chance to improve. Calling down a no-limit player’s bluff with king-high and winning might be one of the few feelings better than value betting thin and getting paid.

If you like thinking, and if you like pitting one range against another, and if you like making marginal value bets and marginal calls and occasionally pulling off a successful bluff getting 20-to-1, then may I suggest you try limit hold’em? It’s a perfect game for people who love poker.

(P.S. In case you were wondering, I recommend folding hand No. 1, checking hand No 2, and calling hand No. 3. If you’re interested in learning my reasoning, please let me know on twitter @Matt_Matros. The more converts I get, the more limit columns I’ll write!) ♠

Matt Matros is the author of The Making of a Poker Player. He is also a featured coach for cardrunners.com.