Squeaking Out Value in Limit Poker

Poker Helper, Sep 2007

No-limit hold’em (NLHE) has been the most popular poker variant for quite awhile, but that doesn’t mean that limit poker is dead. Limit hold’em games of $100-$200 and beyond occur daily. H.O.R.S.E. and unique poker variants such as Triple Draw and Crazy Pineapple are increasing in popularity.

In no-limit poker, pots can become quite large with respect to the blinds. As a result, no-limit poker can potentially be a trapping game. No matter how much small-pot poker you play, most no-limit cash-game sessions and tournaments boil down to the results of a few big confrontations. Making seemingly losing plays for table-image sake to set-up sessions yielding an overall profit is a common ploy. A great way to do this in the no-limit setting is to take lots of stabs at small pots, giving you an aggressive image that will trick your opponents into making big mistakes in big pots.

Meanwhile, in limit poker, you rarely end up in pots that are huge with respect to the blinds and antes. Without huge pots, it’s hard to set your opponents up for big mistakes. A big mistake in limit hold’em might be calling a check-raise on the turn from a tight opponent when you have top pair, and following that call on the turn up with a crying call on the river. This mistake, a big one in limit hold’em, amounts to two big bets (equal to four big blinds). With big mistakes from your opponents resulting in you gaining on the order of a measly four big blinds, being a successful limit poker player really boils down to maximizing your profits in every slight way possible. As soon as you recognize a situation where you can derive marginal profit, you need to pounce...

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