If you are a tight-aggressive poker player, you need to think playing No-Limit Hold’em if you aren’t already. With appropriate play, not only can you anticipate increasing your win rate, but you can make it much trickier for your challengers to draw out on you.
Basic differences
Initially, let’s explain the basic differences between Limit and No-Limit. In Limit Hold’em, you can only raise the sum of the big blind and most online poker sites will cap the play at 3 raises. In No-Limit Hold’em, the only playing rule is that the lowest be at least the size of the big blind. You can bet your complete stack if you wish.
Sure, it takes more familiarity, experience, and nerve to play No-Limit (NL) well, but it will give back for you if you play it right.
To get you started, the normal raise in NL is 3-4 times the big blind. After the flop, a decent play to make when you have a strong hand is about the size of the pot. If you’re searching for info on the flop, you might consider a bet of 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the pot. You also may think making only a small bet if you’re holding a huge hand and want to get called. Or you can always check-raise in that position. Also be aware that the value of drawing hands that play well in limit games like K-J suited goes way down in NL play. Better hands to have are big pocket pairs or suited connectors.
So, why is it better to play NL?
Simple: It’s a great deal easier to make plenty more money. Playing NL, you can afford to play only your strong hands. For example, in two hours poker online session you can play only one decent hand and still make decent money. You can more than double your stack on any given hand. In Limit poker, you have to continually be winning pots to appear ahead. The blinds come around too fast to sit on your hands. You have to work hard, play for a long time, and play your best game at all times to make decent money at Limit poker.
In NL, you control the pot odds that your challenger is getting. If you see two suited or linking cards on the board, playing the size of the pot into one challenger will make them go against the odds to draw. Sure, they’re still going to hit their draws rarely, but at least you made it a bad play for them to do so.
It takes the right qualities to play at NL games. You can’t be shy, and you have to know how much to play at the right times. If you can’t do that, play Limit poker and come back to play NL when you are ready for it!
Happy gaming!