10 Limit Hold'em tips

If you have a good grounding in Limit Hold’em then you’ll have a solid base from which to approach any variant of poker. Here are ten tips to get you started.

1) A big hand means a big bet

There is absolutely no need to get fancy pre-flop with your big hands. If you’re holding a premium hand such as Aces, or a pair of Jacks, then regardless of the action that has gone before, you must raise with them.

Don’t worry if it has been raised and re-raised in front of you. Go ahead and cap<  the betting! The reason for this is that unlike in No-Limit Hold’em, where you can move all-in and blast someone off a hand or raise the pot, you obviously can’t in Limit Hold’em

All you can do is charge drawing hands the maximum to outdraw you.

Hands that you should raise regardless with include Jacks, Queens, Kings, Aces, as well as A-K (suited and off-suit) and A-Q suited.

2) Tight is right

It can be very easy to adopt the mantra of: “Well, it’s only one bet” and blindly toss in a call both pre-flop and on later streets. But this mentality is wrong.

Much like playing No-Limit Hold’em, if you are playing at a nine or ten handed table you want to be seeing about 20% of flops. The top 20% of hands includes hands as weak as A-4 suited and A-9 off-suit, so it’s not like you will just be constantly folding, but you need to avoid seeing flops with trap hands such as J-9 or Q-10 when you may hit your hand but be dominated by a superior holding.

You may not find this out until showdown, at which point you’ve lost three big bets and discovered that the right move was the tight one – folding pre-flop. Calling pre-flop is the lazy option. It is often better to either fold or raise pre-flop so you take the lead in the hand.

3) Think Position

Ever heard the phrase ‘location, location, location’? Poker players have a similar mantra: ‘position, position, position’.

In Limit poker, position is even more important than in No-Limit, because a higher percentage of hands play out on multiple streets. The closer to you are to the button (the best position to be at the poker table) the more information you have to act on. You have the strategic advantage of knowing what other players have done.

Pre-flop this can be as simple as betting when you’re on the button and everyone has folded to you. A hand like K-J off-suit that is unplayable under the gun, can now be confidently bet. If one or both of the blinds come along then you’ve got position on them for the rest of the hand.

On later streets, having position can win you more bets. If an opponent bets into you, then you have the option to raise and can win an extra bet.

4) Beware of Trap hands

As in all forms of poker, Limit Hold’em has ‘trap hands’.

A trap hand is one that looks better than it really is because, if you make your hand with it, another player will likely have made a slightly better one.

Trap hands differ from hand to hand depending on your position, and the action that has occurred. But classic examples of trap hands in Limit Hold’em include:

5) Don’t Draw to Second Best Hands

A frequent mistake in Limit Hold’em is continuing with a made hand that will still lose even if you improve. In a similar vain, drawing to hands that will be the second best hand when you make them is another big mistake.

It is very easy to continue in a hand if you’ve connected with any part of the flop. There are times when you may be in a hand holding a hand such as Q-9 on a 9-J-3 flop and realistically think that your hand is currently the best.

But even if you improve your hand when a Queen falls on the turn or river there’s a good chance that it may help someone else even more. If an opponent holds K-10 he has made a straight, Q-J has made a bigger two pair and you’ll lose a lot of money. Likewise drawing to the bottom end of the straight (holding 3-4 on a 5-6-x board for instance) or a small flush draw will get you in trouble, also if the board is paired it is likely a mistake to draw to straight or a flush as an opponent may well make their full house.

6) Aggression is Key

Being the aggressor in any form of poker is key. When you’re passive and just call, you only have one way to win the pot: by showing down the best hand. But when you take the lead and bet you can win another way – by getting your opponent to fold.

In No-Limit cash games, double and triple-barreling (firing bets on the flop, turn and river) is more dangerous and more expensive – since as you can get raised for your entire stack. However, in Limit this is of course not possible, and as a result players will doggedly chase all the way to the river with even the slightest semblance of a hand.

For this reason, it’s a bad idea to give any free cards. If they want to chase, then charge them for the privilege.

Often you need to give the message ‘I have a hand’ on the flop, turn and river for them to take notice and fold.

7) The Flop

Often three players or more will see the flop, and hopefully we’ll be the aggressor. If it’s checked to us, then we need to decide if we should bet or not. Slowplaying in multi-way pots is not a good idea and neither is bluffing. So if we have a good hand, top pair, good kicker or better then we should bet for value and hope to get called by a worse hand.

If someone has led into us we need to consider the type of hands they could be holding, but if we believe our hand is best then we should raise here, not call, again for value.

If we are in early position holding a big hand then we do have the option of check calling or check raising to build a pot and also to keep players around for the turn when the bets double.

8) The Turn

In Limit Hold’em the stakes double on the turn and many players will decide to see the turn card and now re-evaluate as it’s just got more expensive to continue with any unmade hand and any drawing hand.

With just one card to come the nature of what draws are out there and which have come in will be clearer. For instance if there are two hearts on the board and you believe and opponent is drawing to the flush and you hold a hand such as top pair or two pair then it is imperative that you bet to not only protect your hand but potentially give the drawing hand the wrong odds to draw to their hand.

If you’re in position with a drawing hand, say four to a straight or a flush, then you’ve got the option of taking a free card or betting again.

9) The River

Despite the fact that the pot will often be laying you good odds it is not mandatory to call on the river with a mediocre holding such as third pair or Ace-high, nor is it good practice to!

Likewise if you’re in position and have been drawing to a hand and missed sometimes you can save yourself a bet and just check it down, this is because if an opponent has called you down they are unlikely to fold for a single bet, even if they should. There is often a fine line between calling a bet and folding to a bet on the river and although sometimes you must call due to pot odds, even if you suspect you’re beat, a general rule is that folding an being wrong is a smaller mistake than calling and being wrong.

10) Bankroll Management

The most you can win or lose in a single hand is 12 big bets. So you want to make sure that whenever you’re sitting at a table you have that amount in front of you. Bankroll management is key as without a bankroll you can’t play poker so protecting it and playing within your limits is crucial. You need at least 200 big bets and a number closer to 400 is better. So playing 25c/50c Limit Hold’em you’d need a bankroll of at least $100 and ideally it’d be closer to $200.

Important This advice assumes that you’re a recreational player who can replace their bankroll from another income source.

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