Limit or No Limit....that is the question.....

[womble chris]

what do people prefer playing and what do you find more profitable?

personally, as i expect with everyone NL i find more of a buzz, but as for profitable im not sure.


Sometimes i get real bad runs and can lose a lot at NL, but other times i question how i cannot win loads when i get the hands and hit the draws, so its a tough one.

The worst is when you grind out some money for like an hour only to then get a couple of real unlucky hand.

So on both counts id say NL, but the swings can really in NL can be a test of sanity at times!

[flanks]

it is quite simple really. Most people would agree that if your in a tournament PL/NL is far more fun, especiallya s your maximum loss is capped (your entry) and so you can just get on with playing.

However, if you are a pro and want to make money then it has to be limit. A percentage player will always, absolutely always, win at limit poker, largely because of idiots who think to themselves 'oh I may as well call, it is only another £5'. Of course it can be frustrating because the fish always gets lucky sometimes, but over time the pro will always clean up.

[christian_harris]

Whilst I agree totally with flanks on the profitability issue, NL is much more fun, and personally I can't stand grinding my way through a game of limit, even if I am winning...

[womble chris]

hmmm...as im playing this whole summer to make money looks like ive spent over half my time playing the wrong sodding game! (NL rather than limit)

oh well.....

i just find limit so dull to be honest, i just keep on playing and can go so long without seeing a flop/pairing the flop. Whereas if im in a patient mood i can make all that blind money lost in good hand.

Plus, i think good luck is a long term curse for me, as it means i think - oh i could get lucky and go all in when im short staked. Or if i need to hit a flush on the river and the pot is already big ill too often try a semi-bluff by betting big despite bad implied pot odds thinking he'll fold or i may well still hit the flush....

[christian_harris]

As flanks said, if you play disciplined poker then you are more likely to win than other players (this applies in all forms of the game).

Calculate your pot odds (and implied pot odds) and base your decisions on that.

Also you might try using something like Poker Tracker - a programme which analyses both your play and that of your opponents.

Finally I like to take notes as I'm playing on my opponents - this has the double benefit of firstly knowing what they are likely to do in different situations, and secondly it helps alleviate the boredom of not getting any hands, as there's still something to concentrate on.

[womble chris]

cheers for the advice, belive me, it is needed and appreciated.

i definetely need to be more disciplined when i play so ill try that more, plus being in the right frame of mind when i play, as somethings i play to try to make to much in a period.

Between this and my previous post, i tried the limit again, and won 80!
played 2-4 on a created 3 player table, first two were bad players, a replacement i then got good cards and then left when this guy who was playing well came along!

the only other thing i like to do to help increase profit is very obvious but only play okay or bad players, too often i know players are good and try and usually fail to outplay them.



anyways, cheers again and im going for lunch and Neighbours, and may if im unlucky catch the end of the Newsroom South-East...oh no....

[christian_harris]

Voila, if you make notes on both bad and good players - note their styles, any hands they show, whether they'll chase a draw when the odds don't justify it etc etc, then you can only ever play on a table where you will KNOW that you have an advantage!

[christian_harris]

Chris,

If I were you and I wanted to play some limit poker, I'd go (according to a recommendation from a reliable source) to Total Poker. Apparently the players there are very poor indeed.

Let me know how you get on!

CH

[womble chris]

I love limit poker!!!!
won about 200 on the limit poker, calling it a day now eyes hurt (lot of poker plus woke up at 6.45am to play early round of golf...dont ask!)

cheers loads for the advice, it sure has paid off, plus i did get a very large number of good hands (although maybe that was because all i played on was a table either 1 or 2 other opponents rather than my usual 4 or 9).

will definitely try out total poker, sounds promising i must say

the number of hands i chased when i know i shouldnt was far less today which was encouraging, i was playing 2-4 for a while then thought before i lose my 140 odd winnings drop to 1-2, where i did well winning another 60 odd.

took up the advice on player notes an have made some detailedish ones, plus at pokerroom.com you can search for players to see what tables they are on if they are playing

Its almost a bit more enjoyable than NL (i wont be saying that tomorrow when i lose my entire student loan for the coming year), as i didnt get that sinking feeling when ive bet a lot on QQ and then someone puts me all in on the turn.....

anyways, hope you get the good luck as i had today and not get the bad luck im going to be getting tomorrow,

enjoy, im off to have a bath so i dont stink out the pub tonight...

[flanks]

*poker genius*

[womble chris]

after my de-stenching bath, i thought sod it, let's ruin my day by playing a bit more and therefore losing lots, and at one point was up $25 by then ended out $10 up on a 0.5-1 and 1-2 one on one.

anyways, the example is, i only had one real big hand (didnt play that long) which i can remember;

i had 45, other guy had 89,

flop 6,7,K
turn 3
no flush draw
river 10

so basically by playing limit i didnt get screwed for like however much i had at the table (if he had more than me), unlike NL.

this means there was a point to me outplaying him to win say 20 off of him as in the limit i didnt lose it all but just the max raising amount.

but i wont say limit is my live all and end all as my cards will get crap tomorrow, i know, i just know...