Limit Hold ‘em Poker School

Limit Texas Hold‘em is one of the most complex forms of poker that there is. Do not let anyone fool you who thinks that no-limit is far and away the toughest game out there. Limit hold’em traps the unwary and the technically inept. If you cannot play well post flop then you will be slaughtered in limit.

At no-limit play, players often work around the problem of technical deficiency by buying in for less money and in many cases, the table minimum. At Limit Hold’em you have no such cushion and a minimum stack in this form of poker does not protect novice players as much as it does in no-limit. There will be no all-in shoves in order to try and exploit an over aggressive blind stealer.

You cannot eliminate positional disadvantages by blasting someone out of the pot like you can in no-limit. Limit hold’em demands that you play well not just before the flop and on the flop but on the turn and river as well. I often think of limit hold’em as the “perfect” form of poker. The high level of variance is a test in its own way as the frequency in which players see turns and rivers means that the better hand will be outdrawn frequently.

This can mean that limit hold’em will be the most frustrating form of poker available for the vast majority of players. I am going to be writing regular articles on limit hold’em over the coming months and in particular, the play of certain hands. I also want to peel away the myth that limit hold’em is not as sophisticated as its no-limit counterpart.

In the coming weeks and months, I will be looking at pre-flop play, play on the flop, turn and river and all of the individual situations that could arise on each individual street as well. Like the play of overcards for example. This one situation is one of the most misplayed situations in limit play.

Let us say that you raised pre-flop with AK after three players had limped in. All three players call the raise and we see a four way flop. The flop comes J-9-7 and it is bet and raised before it gets to you. The number of times that I see players call in these types of situations staggers me.

In this instance the player is calling to hit a hand that may not even be the best hand even if it hits. The correct play is to fold and even though this was a rather obvious example, there will be a greater degree of discussion further down the line.