[Wolffink]

Well, the obvious answer is to start out playing limit 08. Many of the same principles apply, and you're not facing tricky decisions for all your stack.

I've said a trained chimpanzee can play loose low limit 08 (or loose high limit LOL).

I don't think you will learn bad habits playing limit 08 first. For me, my style in pot limit is I tighten up on the flop a lot more facing strong betting. I get the nuts enough that I don't think I have to play non-nuts hand that might cost me my stack instead of double me up. In limit 08, the flop is a cheap betting round, so sure, why not take a card off and see if you have possibilities?

Pot limit is a lot more interesting if it's a good game (which many of the low pot limits are). I waited too long into venturing into pot limit 08. I was a bit concerned because I always played A-2 in limit 08 but in pot limit, it really isn't much of a hand. So then, what is, I wondered?

If you play the .01/.02 or .05/.10 pot limits and know what the nuts are, have read Ray Zee, and play solid hands, I am convinced you'd do fine also. If you've got a bankroll, even the worst case scenario is that you lose $10 and learn the underfull boat isn't so great. King high flushes suck facing a big re-raise. You'd probably have to learn this anyway at pot limit as in limit 08 they'd be value bets and then routine river call of a raise.

So my suggestion, is though it is best to start out in limit and plug any big leaks in your game, if you really want to play pot limit, it won't be a bad idea if you can start out at .01/.02 or .05/.10 --it's not like you're going to be facing Mark Gregorich there! And wait for the nuts and hope to double up with your hand.

And Pot Limit 08 is a blast! My experience is at the low pot limits is that people play looser preflop than they do at limit because of the implied odds. This goes into contrast to Ray Zee's advice to tighten up your hands. People call too much at low limits, but what makes pot limit 08 so great is that you will get the nuts and people will call you. I suspect people kid themselves that maybe you are going for low and trying to move them off their 2nd or 3rd or 4th best high. Right now Pot limit 08 is my most profitable game. Holdem is a war. I do okay, but like Mason Malmuth said about the difference in Stud & Holdem--in Holdem after you think things through you're still not sure what the best play is. I don't get the nuts often enough in Holdem, but in 08, I do.

So I urge you to play limit 08 first and then as soon as you feel comfortable, switch to the smallest pot limit 08 you can find and be prepared to have fun and be amazed!

There's two good websites that have articles on pot limit 08. Steve Badger's playwinningpoker and Gergery has a series of articles on both limit and pot limit that is quite good.

And remember the two big rules for pot limit--play to scoop and never draw to a hand that may be beaten. These are good rules for limit 08, but you can disregard them and it only costs you a bet or two. If you violate these rules in pot limit, sooner or later, you will be punished. Severely. I know sometimes I've violated these rules, thinking the person was trying to push me off the pot, but if they continue to fire, usually they have the honest-go-God nuts. So the saying "If you call on the Turn, you have to call on the river" --isn't necessarily a good maxim for Omaha.