TomCollins
12-04-2004, 06:04 PM
Chapter 2 - Comparing Pot Limit and Limit
Ciaffone makes five main points regarding the differences between pot limit and limit.
Psychology
Aggression
Surprise plays
Position
Big hand potential
Bluffing is much easier at big bet than limit. When an opponent is weak, it is much easier to move him off of a medium hand than in limit. In limit, it only costs your opponent an extra bet. However, do not take this principle too far. You have to be careful when you use this play. If you do it against an opponent who calls too often, just wait for a hand and make a lot. Against an opponent who is tight, if he is in a hand, he usually has something worth playing. Test the waters, but make sure you give up your bluff if he has a hand. Unless the board brings a big scare, its rare you are going to push a tight player off of a hand beyond the flop. Against tight players, it is usually not worth it to try a bluff once they have shown strength. Ironically, the easiest player to bluff is the solid and thinking player. You can use scary boards to push the opponent off of fairly strong hands. The only danger here is that this player is capable of raising you in a bluff.
Aggression pays is a key concept. This works particularly well against weak opponents who will not do anything tricky. Aggressiveness is important, but, as with everything, this is player dependent. Against hyper-aggressive opponents, it is usually much better to trap. But aggression can just be turned by check-rasing often. Against call stations, aggression must be controlled. Be sure to bet large when holding a strong hand, and you often have the implied odds to chase even further.
Surprise plays can serve two purposes. If you only play monster hands, your opponents can quickly neutralize you by backing off when you are in a hand, unless they can beat your monster hands. So you are likely to win small pots and lose large ones. But if you pull off a few surprise plays, you not only have the potential to win a huge pot, but to set up being paid off by your monster hands. If stacks are deep enough, it becomes correct to chase a longshot hand to surprise an opponent later if you get lucky. Personally, I love this aspect. In position at shorthanded tables, I can play just about any hand against the right opponents. This always keeps them offguard. Most weak players wait for a monster hand against me, and pounce. However, there is a problem in this strategy. For example, if I raise with a garbage hand, such as T7o in Holdem, and one of the players reraises me a great deal, I can get away from my hand fairly cheap. However, many opponents don't get tricky and throw a smaller re-raise with a strong hand such as Aces or Kings. This is an ideal deep money situation. Not only will my opponent fail to correctly put me on my hand if I should get lucky, but I often can narrow his hands down to a limited subset. When the flop comes T72, or I hit a straight draw that later hits, most opponents who wait for monster hands are going to lose their stacks. Also, opponents will often underbet the pot when you have a weak draw, such as a gutshot straight draw in Holdem. Although you don't have the odds to call, it is often times worth it if you can get paid off later, or have a good shot at bluffing if you don't hit. If you can safely get away from hands that become junk, but make a killing when you hit a hand, you will become a successful no limit player.
Position, although important in limit poker, is far more important in big bet. Ciaffone uses the phrase "solid in front, looser in the back". While this concept applies in limit poker, it has a greater significance in no limit. This is VERY important in aggressive games. You must be careful with drawing hands in the front. In more passive games where players tend to bet small or check, I think you can certainly loosen up a bit in the front. But this usually means you can loosen up even more in the back. Having position makes it very easy to bluff at pots by betting when everyone checks. Also, it is easier to steal the blinds or force the pot to be heads up on the flop. With position, it is very easy to win a heads up pot on the flop in Holdem.
Big hands make much more in pot limit. I think the biggest example of this is a set in Holdem. If you have 99 vs AA before the flop in limit poker, you are a fairly big dog to spike a set. In the event that you do spike the set, you will likely earn a few bets from your opponent. In fact, if you had knowledge of your opponents hand, it certainly is reasonable to fold to a raise. However, in big bet poker, it is much easier to make a greater profit when you hit a big hand. Doubling through an opponent when you hit a set is quite likely. So even against a raise when I KNOW my opponent has AA, if the stacks are deep enough, this call is automatic. In fact, it is a small investment to potentially make a huge profit.
Book Group Challenge Progress
Since the last update, I have made it to $405. I took a huge loss Wednesday, but recovered Thursday. I will be ready to move up to $.25/.50 soon. My opponents are becoming much trickier at the $.10/.25 table, as they are much more likely to checkraise. I have to play a bit tighter and make sure I have outs when I make a bet.
Good luck at the tables!
Chapter 3 will be coming shortly.
-TC
Ciaffone makes five main points regarding the differences between pot limit and limit.
Psychology
Aggression
Surprise plays
Position
Big hand potential
Bluffing is much easier at big bet than limit. When an opponent is weak, it is much easier to move him off of a medium hand than in limit. In limit, it only costs your opponent an extra bet. However, do not take this principle too far. You have to be careful when you use this play. If you do it against an opponent who calls too often, just wait for a hand and make a lot. Against an opponent who is tight, if he is in a hand, he usually has something worth playing. Test the waters, but make sure you give up your bluff if he has a hand. Unless the board brings a big scare, its rare you are going to push a tight player off of a hand beyond the flop. Against tight players, it is usually not worth it to try a bluff once they have shown strength. Ironically, the easiest player to bluff is the solid and thinking player. You can use scary boards to push the opponent off of fairly strong hands. The only danger here is that this player is capable of raising you in a bluff.
Aggression pays is a key concept. This works particularly well against weak opponents who will not do anything tricky. Aggressiveness is important, but, as with everything, this is player dependent. Against hyper-aggressive opponents, it is usually much better to trap. But aggression can just be turned by check-rasing often. Against call stations, aggression must be controlled. Be sure to bet large when holding a strong hand, and you often have the implied odds to chase even further.
Surprise plays can serve two purposes. If you only play monster hands, your opponents can quickly neutralize you by backing off when you are in a hand, unless they can beat your monster hands. So you are likely to win small pots and lose large ones. But if you pull off a few surprise plays, you not only have the potential to win a huge pot, but to set up being paid off by your monster hands. If stacks are deep enough, it becomes correct to chase a longshot hand to surprise an opponent later if you get lucky. Personally, I love this aspect. In position at shorthanded tables, I can play just about any hand against the right opponents. This always keeps them offguard. Most weak players wait for a monster hand against me, and pounce. However, there is a problem in this strategy. For example, if I raise with a garbage hand, such as T7o in Holdem, and one of the players reraises me a great deal, I can get away from my hand fairly cheap. However, many opponents don't get tricky and throw a smaller re-raise with a strong hand such as Aces or Kings. This is an ideal deep money situation. Not only will my opponent fail to correctly put me on my hand if I should get lucky, but I often can narrow his hands down to a limited subset. When the flop comes T72, or I hit a straight draw that later hits, most opponents who wait for monster hands are going to lose their stacks. Also, opponents will often underbet the pot when you have a weak draw, such as a gutshot straight draw in Holdem. Although you don't have the odds to call, it is often times worth it if you can get paid off later, or have a good shot at bluffing if you don't hit. If you can safely get away from hands that become junk, but make a killing when you hit a hand, you will become a successful no limit player.
Position, although important in limit poker, is far more important in big bet. Ciaffone uses the phrase "solid in front, looser in the back". While this concept applies in limit poker, it has a greater significance in no limit. This is VERY important in aggressive games. You must be careful with drawing hands in the front. In more passive games where players tend to bet small or check, I think you can certainly loosen up a bit in the front. But this usually means you can loosen up even more in the back. Having position makes it very easy to bluff at pots by betting when everyone checks. Also, it is easier to steal the blinds or force the pot to be heads up on the flop. With position, it is very easy to win a heads up pot on the flop in Holdem.
Big hands make much more in pot limit. I think the biggest example of this is a set in Holdem. If you have 99 vs AA before the flop in limit poker, you are a fairly big dog to spike a set. In the event that you do spike the set, you will likely earn a few bets from your opponent. In fact, if you had knowledge of your opponents hand, it certainly is reasonable to fold to a raise. However, in big bet poker, it is much easier to make a greater profit when you hit a big hand. Doubling through an opponent when you hit a set is quite likely. So even against a raise when I KNOW my opponent has AA, if the stacks are deep enough, this call is automatic. In fact, it is a small investment to potentially make a huge profit.
Book Group Challenge Progress
Since the last update, I have made it to $405. I took a huge loss Wednesday, but recovered Thursday. I will be ready to move up to $.25/.50 soon. My opponents are becoming much trickier at the $.10/.25 table, as they are much more likely to checkraise. I have to play a bit tighter and make sure I have outs when I make a bet.
Good luck at the tables!
Chapter 3 will be coming shortly.
-TC