A question that I often hear from newer poker players is: “What should I start off playing, Limit or No Limit?”
I have the same response every time: Limit Poker. And I get the same response from most of them: “Why?”
The reasons are numerous – Limit Poker will force a new player to learn and understand the mechanics of the game. It also teaches you patience and how to spot patterns. The fundamentals are obvious but there are also subtle elements of the game that will play a critical role in developing the foundation of your game – and by extension the type of poker strategy you’ll employ. For the scope of this article, let’s just focus on a few of the bigger pieces.
Understanding the mechanics of the game
For a new player, a No Limit game can move very fast. You may see 10 or more hands played without going past the River. This means that you aren’t being exposed to post-flop play very often because the very nature of No Limit creates aggressive players and tight players, thus the short lived hands that rarely see a showdown. Conversely, Limit Poker will more often go to a showdown (at least at the lower to middle limits) so a newbie gets to see this behavior more often and if attentive, can better grasp the finer points of post-flop play. Overall, you’ll get a better sense of the cadence of the game and how to best play certain hands pre-flop and post-flop.
Patience
When you’re playing Fixed Limit Holdem, two-betting or three-betting with a bluff often will not work. So the game forces you to wait for better starting hands and when to aggressively bet and when to slow down. Regardless of which variant you’re playing (NLHE or LHE) you must understand how to exercise good judgement and have the patience to drop a few Big Blinds while waiting on a decent starting hand. Trying to jam weaker hands at a full ring game in Limit Poker is not a wise choice. This “may” work on a 6-Max table but even then you’re likely to get looked up by someone at the table trying to get a read on you.
Next Steps
I’ll write more about the basic tenants of playing the game and a few Limit Poker Strategies that may help you improve. If you’re truly just aching to dive in and play the big brother version, you can learn more about No Limit Strategy at www.nolimitstrategy.net.