Titel Poker-Strategy: Common No-Limit Hold'em Errors Made by Limit Players - Part II Autor/Erfasser externe Quelle Firmenportrait Swiss Poker System powered by HELP.ch

BY: BARRY TANENBAUM  pokerbear@cox.net
 
Inability to lay down, and overplaying, hands
Last issue, we began to explore some of the errors that limit hold'em cash-game players 
make when they start playing no-limit hold'em. Because the games appear to be so 
similar, but have major strategic differences, these errors tend to be systemic.

Several of the most common errors are:

• Failure to account for stack size
• Inappropriate preflop raising
• Inability to lay down what may be the best hand
• Overplaying one-pair hands
• Playing too tightly before the flop in deep-stack situations
• Playing too loosely before the flop in short-stack situations
• Failure to control pot size
• Excessive value-betting on the river

Part I discussed the first two errors (you can find it at www.CardPlayer.com). This 
column will discuss:

• Inability to lay down what may be the best hand
• Overplaying one-pair hands

Inability to lay down what may be the best hand: In limit hold'em, by the time you 
realize that your good hand may be second-best, it is usually on the turn or river. At 
that point, the pot often has grown large, and your one or two calls represent a small 
fraction of it. Thus, laying down the best hand, or what may be the best hand, is 
severely punished, and most players call in large pots if they have any realistic chance 
of winning.

Of course, you should not always call in limit hold'em. Reads and logic are quite 
important and can often result in a saved bet, but a mistaken call is not a huge error.

The scenario is totally different in no-limit. Many times, the size of the bet or bets 
that you must call to get to a showdown dwarf or nearly equal the size of the existing 
pot. Calling with the worst hand can often cost you every chip in front of you. As a 
result, folding what may be the best hand is something you have to do fairly often.

Limit players have a difficult time with this. They have been trained that folding the 
best hand is a terrible play. The truth is that you can fold the best hand fairly often 
in no-limit and still be a big winner. You just need to win when you do call and put 
your stack at risk.

Let's look at an example. In a limit game, you are in the big blind with the 8h 7h. Four 
players limp, the small blind calls, and you check. On a flop of Kh 8c 7d, you check. A 
late-position player bets, you check-raise, and he is the only caller. The turn brings 
the 10d. You bet, and he raises. You may be ahead of hands like K-Q, 10-9, or even the 
6d 5d. Of course, you are trailing a set, two bigger pair, and a straight. There are 
eight big bets in the pot, and it will cost you two more to see his hand if he bets the 
river, making your eventual price 4.5-1 to see the showdown. Against all but the most 
timid opponents, you will call most of the time.

Now, switch to no-limit. You (and your opponents) have $600 in a $2-$5 game, and you 
play the 8h 7h with the same five opponents. Again, the flop is Kh 8c 7d, you check, a 
late-position player bets $20 into the $30 pot, you check-raise to $75, and he is the 
only caller. After the 10d hits the turn, you bet $100 into the $180 pot, and he goes 
all in. The pot is now $800 and you have $420 left in your stack. You may have the best 
hand if he is semibluffing, or you may be drawing to either four outs or none (if he has 
a set). If you are behind, you have little chance, and if you are ahead of a semibluff, 
you still will lose a significant number of times. You have to win just over one-third 
of the time to break even. Unless you are up against a player who just loves to bluff, 
you have to lay this hand down and take the $180 loss. What was a fairly easy call in 
limit becomes a likely fold in no-limit. Limit players find it hard to make this 
adjustment.

Overplaying one-pair hands: This is perhaps the area in which limit players make the 
most no-limit errors, particularly when the stacks are deep. One-pair hands like top 
pair, top kicker are wonderful in limit. They win far more often than they lose, and 
thus show a considerable profit. In limit with top pair, top kicker, you typically take 
the lead somehow, and keep it until someone tells you to stop. Then, you get to showdown 
and see who wins.

This procedure is roughly the same in short-stack no-limit. If you have a good one-pair 
hand, you get the money in and see who wins. When the stacks grow deep, however, one-
pair hands become very tricky to play. In fact, many experienced players often fold them 
on the turn rather than become strongly committed.

For example, you hold the As Ks in a $2-$5 game with $2,000 stacks. You raise preflop to 
$20 from early position, bringing a late-position player and the two blinds along. On 
the flop of Kh 8c 7d, you bet $60 and the late-position player calls.
Now, the turn is the 10d, the pot is $200, and you have $1,920 left. Unless the 
remaining player is quite weak, he has a set, two pair, or a big draw that may have 
gotten there. Of course, he also may have a draw that missed. If you bet, say, $150 
(making the pot $350) and he raises to $500, you realize that a call by you also commits 
the rest of your stack, as the pot will be $1,200, and you will likely face an all-in 
bet on the river. So, if you bet $150, you will either win now, fold to a raise, or play 
for the rest of your chips with only one pair.

Sure, you may have the best hand, but you cannot afford to force the issue with a one-
pair hand, no matter how good it looks. The better play is to check, planning to call a 
bet like $150, and fold to a larger one. This keeps the pot size more manageable for 
your stack size, and you can decide how to play the river after seeing the next card. In 
any event, you will rarely be making a decision for all of your chips on the river.

Many limit players have a hard time seeing this, and a harder time checking or folding 
an A-K on a king-high board.
In the next issue, I will continue this discussion of common errors made by limit 
players in no-limit hold'em games.