{"id":3924,"date":"2016-08-11T21:35:19","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T04:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamblingwithanedge.com\/?p=3924"},"modified":"2023-06-21T10:56:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T17:56:51","slug":"no-limit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/no-limit\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Limit!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was watching the livestream of the 5k Players Championship from the WSOP (you can watch the archived streams at wsop.com) and the guest announcers, who are high-limit players, were talking about how limit games are making a comeback. Players are finally tiring of no-limit hold’em (NL) and are branching off into the limit and mixed game arena. NL has always been the game of the WSOP Main Event, but beyond that, prior to 2003, NL was rarely spread in cash games and was not nearly as dominant in tournaments as it has been since 2003. The first 20 years of my career were spent playing primarily limit games and this is a trend I\u2019ve waited patiently for ever since the poker explosion of 2003.<\/p>\n

Limit events require different skills than NL\u2019s. At the start of both it\u2019s pretty much like a cash game, although some players choose to establish a table image, either tight or loose, at the early levels that they can exploit at later levels when it means more. Once it gets to the later stages, NL events often become a contest of push\/fold preflop strategies, and the players who win the most races usually final table or win. This is the weakness Lee Nelson and I wrote about in Kill Phil. If we we able to delineate a strategy that would allow even the rankest beginner to have a realistic shot in a NL tournament, there\u2019s something fundamentally wrong with the structure. Our solution was to structure it pot-limit pre-flop, or even limit, and no-limit post flop, where the skill level is more of a factor. But, NL events are entrenched as they are, and change to NL structures will come slowly.<\/p>\n

Limit tournaments, on the other hand, become much more strategic at later stages as the average number of big bets shrinks and every bet is important. I can\u2019t imagine a simple strategy where a beginner could prosper in limit events. And mixed game events require the most rounded skills of all!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another reason I like non-NL events. They\u2019re much more fun! The occasional isolated NL event is fine, but when part of a tournament with a long series of events, like the WSOP, the limit events are a needed breath of fresh air. The games are interesting, players talk more and it\u2019s often an enjoyable experience.<\/p>\n

One the other hand, NL events basically suck! Sunglasses and hoodies are everywhere, few players talk or joke; there\u2019s the stalling, staring and Hollywooding. NL events are long and very stressful (try constantly 3-betting light or  making big bluffs for three long days and your stress levels will sky rocket). When I get done with a limit or mixed event, win or lose I\u2019ve usually had a pretty good time. When I finish a NL event, I feel like I\u2019ve been through a war!<\/p>\n

I really hope the trend away from NL continues, both in tournaments and cash games, until we reach a balance similar to what we had prior to 2003. I think it will be better for everybody in poker.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was watching the livestream of the 5k Players Championship from the WSOP (you can watch the archived streams at wsop.com) and the guest announcers, who are high-limit players, were talking about how limit games are making a comeback. Players are finally tiring of no-limit hold’em (NL) and are branching off into the limit and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2,685],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNo, Limit! - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/no-limit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No, Limit! - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was watching the livestream of the 5k Players Championship from the WSOP (you can watch the archived streams at wsop.com) and the guest announcers, who are high-limit players, were talking about how limit games are making a comeback. 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