Will anyone check out my hand histories? [Archive]

PSUinDC

05-16-2005, 12:47 PM

So I've been playing a lot of $1/$2 to clear my sign up bonus (I need to play 1000 Hands to clear $100). I'm at 850 hands and I'm down about $100 which is making my bonus look better and better.

I'm really not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm mainly a NL player, and limit is a bit new to me, but I was wondering if anyone would take a .zip file of my hand histories and look into what I am doing.

I'm confused.

Pokey

05-16-2005, 01:02 PM

If you're used to NL, a few adjustments usually help:

1. Be tighter preflop. In NL, you can limp with more raggedy hands, hoping to hit big on the flop and make a killing. In limit, the ability to hit huge is hampered by the betting structure. Tighten up a bit, especially from early position. Eliminate non-suited connectors, low suited connectors from early or middle position, and the odd speculative hands like Qxs or Ax.

2. Pot Odds, not Implied Odds. When deciding to pursue a hand, check the pot, not the other player's stacks. The concept of pot odds will take you much farther in limit than implied odds will, since the limit structure dramatically shrinks your implied odds in any pot. You're betting to win the current pot; make your decisions accordingly.

3. Bluff less, bet for value more. In NL games, showdowns are FAR more rare than in limit hands. Often, you'll have a few opponents at the table that will go to a showdown with any damned thing: pocket 2s, fifth board pair, K-high, etc. Pure, raw, naked bluffs win far less in limit games than in no-limit. That's not to say you should never bluff; rather, you should be doing so FAR less frequently. If you bluff at a pot more than once every 2-3 orbits, you should have a VERY good reason for doing so. On the other hand, it takes far less of a hand to bet for value. Often, second-best pair will hold up on the river. TPTK is an EASY hand to bet in most situations. Your opponents will bust your bluffs very often, but for the same reason they'll pay off your mediocre hands with horrific abominations.

I hope this gets you started on converting to limit Hold'Em.