STT Limit Hold'em tournaments

[Somekid]

Does anybody play these exclusively or a lot? Are they profitable? I never see any discussion of them.

[Skipbidder]

I switched from limit to no-limit something like 4 months ago. I was playing in the limit 55s. There was frequently a delay in trying to get 4 tables up. There weren't always 109s running...so I could only play them infrequently. I moved to nolimit, with the plan to get to the higher levels that weren't always available at limit. So far I haven't gotten there. It is hard to justify making the move to the 55s when I am making more at the 33s or 22s. (I didn't have that problem in limit...each step up was worth it for me.)

I find that the nolimit SNGs are easier for me to play than limit. I have to put in more effort to play the same number of limit tables.

[handsome]

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Are they profitable?

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Not if one takes twice as long as a NL SNG.

[Big Limpin']

they are more card-dependant

[poindexter]

I am a crappy author but a very good limit stt player so bear with me. I used to play limit exclusively but now I play both the 200/15 limit and NL game. IMHO the NL game is more profitable but the limit game is more rewarding. The reasons for the NL game being more profitable are:

1) There is no waiting for games to start. In limit you start waiting for tables to fill at the $50 level and the wait gets longer as you move up. The $200 game will go off only 5-6 times a night on average.
2) Each Limit game takes around 15 minutes longer to complete.
3)not enough players at the higher levels for multi tabling

Why I love limit:
contrary to what everyone else in this forum thinks you don’t always need to get cards to beat the limit game. Limit forces you to learn how to play your hands postflop while in NL you could go an entire tournament only playing preflop. Psychology plays a huge role in the limit game. When you play the same players over and over again you get to know them very well and they know you very well. You knowing that they know you very well allows you to make moves and play your opponent as much as your cards. I believe it is allot easier to transition from limit to nl then vice versa. My advice is simply to play whatever game you are better at. If your game is limit just remember you can always take up nl later.

[DasLeben]

[ QUOTE ]
Why I love limit:
contrary to what everyone else in this forum thinks you don’t always need to get cards to beat the limit game. Limit forces you to learn how to play your hands postflop while in NL you could go an entire tournament only playing preflop. Psychology plays a huge role in the limit game. When you play the same players over and over again you get to know them very well and they know you very well. You knowing that they know you very well allows you to make moves and play your opponent as much as your cards. I believe it is allot easier to transition from limit to nl then vice versa. My advice is simply to play whatever game you are better at. If your game is limit just remember you can always take up nl later.

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That sounds good, but for pure hourly rate considerations, it would seem to me that NL would be the way to go. Reads are important in NL too, but most of the preflop push/fold decisions are clear cut. People run 10 tables or more because of this. If excellent reads are essential in a limit game, I don't see how you'd play more than 2-3 tables.

[poindexter]

"That sounds good, but for pure hourly rate considerations, it would seem to me that NL would be the way to go"

If your 100% out to make money then you should 8 table your NL game like a robot. If you place 35-40% financially you will be doing a hell of alot better then placing 45% 1 or 2 tabling the limit game. I just don’t find it as rewarding and I doubt your improving your game much.

"If excellent reads are essential in a limit game, I don't see how you'd play more than 2-3 tables."

Your right but at the higher levels it’s very rare to have more then 3 tables going Simultaneously. On rare occasions I have played 3 tables at the same time but each game was naturally staggered several levels due to wait time. The staggering allows you to concentrate level 4+ crucial decisions and leave the early level tourneys in the background. In the Limit game I have never played in more the 2 bubble situations at a time but I imagine my game would suffer if I had too.