Make money in Limit Hold’em – Poker Advice

As NL Texas Hold’em poker tables become more competitive all the time, does it make sense for players to go looking for value in limit Texas Hold’em?
That kind of depends on whom you ask. If you ask a NL Hold’em poker maniac, he will probably tell you that not only is limit Hold’em a useless waste of time, it is also extremely annoying, and it is exclusively played by obstructive fish, going against whom for some reason is never profitable. If you ask someone with a solid knowledge about the game (kind of like Howard Lederer) he will tell you that while there are indeed obvious differences between the two betting formats, both games can be profitable for those who know how to approach them.
As a no limit Hold’em player, you will probably find it difficult in the beginning to adapt to the new style. Money is made very differently in no limit Hold’em and in limit Texas Hold’em. This is the issue from which most of the other differences stem as well.

In no limit Hold’em poker, you’re constantly on the hunt for big pots. Even though there are indeed small pot hands and big pot hands, your small pots are mostly aimed at controlling your losses. The big pots, where you can get an opponent or two all-in, are the real money makers. NL Hold’em is basically a waiting game: you lurk in the shadows trying not to lose too much money until the time comes when you can pounce and take down the kill. It makes absolute sense that this sort of thing is extremely exciting for players. The other side of the coin, limit Hold’em is about perseverance. Making money there resumes to sneaking in an extra bet here and there, and working your odds tirelessly. Successful limit Hold’em players are true grinders: they exploit their extremely small edges over and over so at the session’s end, all these small bets and check raises add up. There are no one-pot success stories here.
One of the most widely spread myths about limit Hold’em is the one about big pocket pairs losing a lot of value when compared to no limit Hold’em. Most of the players who advocate this idea base their assumptions on the fact that in limit Hold’em the player is robbed of the tools to protect his big starting hand. The truth is however that despite being deprived of the possibility to make large bets to protect a hand, pocket rockets or pocket kings still retain a lot of value, they just have to be played differently.
According to Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer, when you take a peek at your pocket hand and you see something like pocket kings, your first thoughts should not be focused on stealing the pot. Rather you should set your focus on squeezing the equity out of the hand in the long run. What that means is that you need to be prepared to lose on your pocket kings.

Regardless of the fact that you may well lose on them though at any given time, you need to keep “milking” them each and every time you pick them up. If you do so, in the long run you are mathematically guaranteed to show a profit playing these hands. It just takes time and it takes a lot of patience, not to mention the ability to stave off tilting.

In limit Hold’em, poker players will call you if they have anything resembling a draw simply on account of the pot odds that they get – and not because they’re dumb. If you have the best hand, you have to expect a bunch of players to tag along. That’s okay though, that’s how you build the pot. As long as you’re fairly certain you have the best hand at the table, you need to keep stuffing that pot. The rest is up to Lady Luck, but if you do play all your big starting hands this way, the final word will belong to mathematics rather than luck. They key word here is “long-run”. Learn your lesson, keep your head down and do your job, and hope for the best.