Avoid the Fancy Moves in Limit Poker
This is something that you see new player try quite a bit when they are first starting out in limit. There really is nothing but television to blame for this one as the only poker that is televised is no limit. Limit tournaments are few and far between because producers tend to think it is much less interesting, and the result is that newcomers try and make the same moves in limit as they do in no limit.
Why this does not work is because of the odds that are present in limit poker that you can eliminate in no limit. For instance, if you make a pre-flop raise in limit, there are few draws that will not have odds in a multi-way pot. Once the flop hits and that flush, straight or over card draw is present, you can only make a single bet. If the same thing were to happen in no limit, you could bet 3 times the pot and virtually take away any odds that a player was looking for.
That being the case, you are going to get called. While you will want to keep the hammer down if the draw does not hit, you have to take a second look at how you are going to play when the board blanks you or the draw pops. If you bet, you are going to get called. If you are behind the player, you may very well get check raised.
The issue with all of this is if you get check raised on the river, you pretty much still have to call because of the money that is in the pot. If you are playing in a $20/$40 limit game and bet $40 into a $500 pot and then get raised, it is costing you $40 to see a pot that is worth $620 at that point. Regardless of what you have, you are forced to make the call because of the 15:1 odds.
The entire thought process in limit needs to be straight forward. When you don’t hit, play very cautiously and try to keep the pot to a minimum. If you are the raiser, stay aggressive if nothing hits the board and you think you are still ahead. If you hit, continue to pound the pot and give no mercy to anyone. If the board hits a draw, you are better to back off and give up the pot if that is the hand that you put your opponent on. You do this before you get into the 2 bets and you are forced to call and waste money on the river.
Limit is not a place for fancy moves. Plain and simple, it is about crunching numbers and playing the odds. The ONLY time that you can get away with a move is when you have the absolute nuts. In that case, you can try a check-raise that may set up one bluff down the road, but for the most part, you need to play ABC poker and take the odds when they are there.
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ABC Poker, Limit Poker, Online Poker, Poker, Poker Tips, Pre Flop
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