Crash course in LHE

[Reel Deal]

Got the call from our local poker room today and I'm officially signed up for the NLHE tournament with Tom McEvoy on Thursday night... now, if I get knocked out early the only games they have are stud, LHE, limit omaha and limit pineapple and I'd rather sit down and play LHE for an hour or so than drive all the way back home. Only problem is I have almost no experience with LHE.

Should I bother? I believe they have $1/$2 limit... if you were to sit down at that table what should your buy-in amount be? Any other advice? I googled "LHE strategy" but nothing very solid came up.

Thanks.

[Talking Poker]

Fortunately for you, there will be a brand new LIMIT video posted on this site within the hour. It's tailored to 6 max, but you may still get some useful tips out of it, as I talk a good bit about the differences between NL and limit play.

As for your buy in, as long as you can reload whenever you need to, it doesn't really matter. But I think $100 should be plenty for a 1/2 game. That will hold you.

Of course, none of this matters anyway, since you're oging to be going deep in the tourney. GL!

[BrianSwa]

you should be able to sit and be able to cap the pot on every street and preflop, other then that there is no set amount to sit with.

[Kurn]

Generally, I buy in for 25 big bets and have 15-25 in my pocket in case I hit a bad run. So for 1/2 that's $50 on the table and $30-$50 in reserve.

Strategy: Don't cold call raises unless there are callers between you and the raiser. 3-bet or fold.

Play very tight for an orbit or two to get a feel for the table. If its passive and 6+ people are seeing the flop, you can limp any suited connector from any position. In most limit games you can limp 22-66 in EP, but if you're 2 or 3 off the button and its folded to you fold/raise those hands 70/30 or so. Not enough implied odds in those cases.

If people play passively and call alot postflop but don't take the lead much, suited connectors are better than small pairs. The opposite is true if the table likes to get jiggy postflop. Then small pairs are better since you'll fold on the flop if you don't flop a set.

Play AA like a monkey. Play KK like a slightly more mellow monkey. In LP, fold AQo to an EP or MP raise, but 3-bet the CO and maybe one seat to his right or if the raiser is on the loose side.

Don't think "its only one more sb to call" That's the classic big bet player mistake in limit. Limit is about making fractions of bets on repeat mistakes and avoiding the same.

Make your big laydowns preflop and your loose calls on the river. Bad limit players do the opposite.

On the flop, unless you've flopped a big draw, either raise or fold. The raise is to protect your hand and/or clean up your outs (ex. You limp on the button with A3s. 6 way pot for 1 sb. Flop comes 8-5-2 rainbow, one of your suit. Checked to player on your right who bets - you raise to drive out overcards, Bigger guts like 97 and AT-A4 and maybe get a free look at the river). limit is about incremental increases in your equity. Once every session or two, you'll hit an A after doing that, take down the pot and the guy who folded a bigger A will get annoyed. I love that.

Disclaimer: The above is trimmed down and hardly complete. Unlike NL, which is about winning whole stacks, limit is about squeezing out an extra bet here, saving a bet and a half there, etc.

Oh, screw it, just beat McEvoy.

[Aequitas58]

Nice post, Kurn. +Rep. And it looks like I bumped you from the "dull" green to the neon "SHIPITHOLLA" green.

Sweet.

[Aequitas58]

Sorry for the double post, but to the OP: Back in the day, I found a great 6max LHE article on the FlopTurnRiver forums by hypermegachi (if I'm recalling his name correctly). It was done quite well, IMO.

[MAYHEM45]

This is the only sentence you need to read regarding limit poker. NH.

[Boobie Lover]

OK NL donk here asking a question. If the tables are really loose passive (like 8+ to a flop) is it correct to raise all pairs preflop to build a huge pot for when you flop a set?

[Reel Deal]

"SHIPITHOLLA" <------- LMAO!!! That is gold!

[Reel Deal]

You must spread some reputation around before giving it to Kurn again

TY sir!

[Talking Poker]

Nice post, Kurn.

I'm quoting this part because it can't be stressed enough:

Also:

This is exactly what I was getting at in today's video, where I said how in limit, the "implied odds" all but vanish as compared to NL...

Two quick comments I'd like to add:

OTB, I'm raising with AQo if there are multiple limpers in front of me and it's a loose game. You probably have the best hand right now, so raise. They will all come along and you won't always hit the flop, but it's still usually +EV to build a pot when you have the best hand.

Also, I don't think always raising or folding on the flop is correct at all. There are plenty of times, based on your position at the table when you want the guys behind you to call (like if you have a big draw or flopped a monster), where you should just call.

[Kurn]

I agree, but he wanted a crash course for one night, and I think the learning process for limit is aided by approaching the flop this way and then incorporating those times when calling is correct later.

[thrash1294]

Great posts got a stud strategy kurn?

[Kurn]

Stud differs from HE in that, while your starting hand stragey is HE is straightforward, it is much more complex in stud. In low limit HORSE I just play really tight. I won't play a 3 str8 or 3 flush for a full bet on 3rd and if I have a split middle pair, I'll tend to toss it unless my kicker is at least as high as the door cards behind me.

In general, if you fold on 4th or 6th your call on 3rd or 5th was wrong.

Live cards, live cards, live cards.

Make sure you have a good idea where you stand on 5th. There are 3 big bet streets in stud as opposed to 2 in flop games. To use a phrase from the movie "Ronin", "Whenever there's any doubt, there is no doubt."

Did I mention live cards?

Kickers? If you have a pair TT+ on 3rd, split or buried, the kicker being a straight flush card to one of the pair cards is a huge plus.

Position? You always have to be aware that position can change street to street, so if you make a play now because you're in position, how does that impact future decisions if you pair your top card or catch a live A and are OOP on the next street?

The Stud section in the original Super/System by Chip Reese is great. Now that I mentioned it, I need to dig out the book and read it again.

I don't play enough Stud High to be comfortable that I'm making optimal decisions a lot of the time. I play a lot of Stud/8 and feel more comfortable with that game.

[bdawg31]

For live play - i have notice that low-level stud games are MUCH tougher than low-level LHE games. People playing stud now-n-days seem to be all locals and they are rock-tight.

Before the Texas Hold Em boom, the stud games were soft - that was what all the new people and tourists played. The Hold Em games (what few that there was) was the tough games cause that was where the serious poker players were.

Now, all the tourists and new players play at the Hold Em tables and all the serious locals play at the stud tables.

This is taken from a sample of my last 6 or so trips to Atlantic City - so take it for what it is worth.