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When relatively new players who are most familiar with
no-limit hold'em sit down at a limit hold'em table, the game can sometimes
confuse them. Those players who have been successful playing a loose game at
low-level no-limit hold'em are at the biggest risk when they sit a limit
hold'em table. They get fooled into playing just as loosely in limit as they
would in no-limit because the amount they can lose is capped, and then they
find themselves dropping full buy-ins when their opponents don't fold. These
players never stop to think that the amount you can win on any given hand is
just as limited as the amount you can lose - and over time your losses will be
greater than your wins.
Because the key to winning at limit hold'em is to make the right decision
consistently over time, the best way to start winning is to tighten up your
pre-flop hand selection so you are less likely than your opponents to mistakes
after the flop comes. If you're just starting to play limit hold'em and you're
getting involved with over 30% of your starting hands you may get lucky here
and there, but chances are you won't win consistently. Getting your percentage
down is easy when you cut out the hands with the lowest expected value, or
EV, a measure of how much you're likely to win if you repeat the same bet
over time.
Off-suit aces and off-suit kings, are some of the hands that can get you in
the most trouble. If these hands flop top pair with the A or K they will be
dominated a good percentage of the time. If they pair their side card on the
flop, at best they've usually hit middle pair and will have to draw out in
order to win the hand. The best advice is simply to toss hands like A-8 and
K-T every time you see them. If you find yourself tempted to play these hands
anyway, try to do so only when you're in position and several other players
have come into the pot in front of you so you'll have good pot odds if you hit
a big hand. If you don't flop two pair or trips with an uncoordinated board,
let go - otherwise you'll lose too much money in the long run to make playing
these hands even marginally profitable.
Low suited connectors like 6-5 and 3-2 are just as much trouble as the
off-suit aces and kings. They can look just as inviting as the higher suited
connectors, but they're much more difficult to play after the flop because
they're prone to being out-drawn. Imagine, for instance, that you flop a flush
with 5-4 suited in position with four other players in an unraised pot. It's
likely that you have the best hand right now, but anyone with the A, K, or Q
of spades is probably going to come along when you bet out. If you flop a
straight in the same pot with the same cards, the chances of a single card on
the turn or river giving someone else a higher straight are decent because
there was no preflop raise. In both of these cases anyone who flops a set can
always hit a full house if the board pairs. There are just too many ways to
lose with low suited connectors to make them worth playing in most
circumstances.
Finally, the low offsuit Broadway starting hands can almost always be safely
eliminated from the range of hands you're willing to play. Hands like Q-J,
Q-T, and J-T are great when they manage to hit a straight or an open-ended
draw on a rainbow board, but the chances of finding yourself involved in less
favorable situations on the flop are much greater. Much like the off-suit aces
and kings, the danger of being dominated when you hit top pair is too great.
Even if you hit two pair, you're still in danger of being out-drawn by a hand
that had you dominated before the flop, or by two suited cards if the board
doesn't have three different suits.
All of these hands can look attractive to new limit hold'em players, but the
math of playing them will outrun their beauty over time. The good news is that
the only requirement for eliminating these hands from your repertoire is
willpower. If you let EV guide your decisions these hands will be easy to
toss, and the bets you would have lost will be saved so you can get them in
the pot in more favorable situations.
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