$2-$6 Spread limit at B&M, my first time, please help!

[Benoit]

I'm going to South Lake Tahoe this weekend and Horizon Casino is offering a $2-$6 spread limit with $1/$2 blinds. Since their max rake is only $4 ($1 every $10) as apposed to next doors $5, it seems like the better deal as long as they have players.

I'm also hoping that the smaller blinds and $6 max bet will give me the least variance, since I'd rather be sure to leave ahead at the end of my trip. And I was guessing 50 times the max bet would be adequate as a buy-in because of the smaller blinds.

Since the blinds are smaller in relation to the max bet, I expect the more correct way to play is wait for stronger hands, which is why I thought this game might have less variance.

Thoughts?

[TripleH68]

Spread limit is fun.

I don't think you should go in with a set preflop strategy. Obviously it will depend on the structure of the game. If it is a limpfest preflop you can play specualtive hands cheaply and go after some big pots. Personally I love these games, but they can be very swingy you know.

[Benoit]

[ QUOTE ]
Spread limit is fun.

I don't think you should go in with a set preflop strategy. Obviously it will depend on the structure of the game. If it is a limpfest preflop you can play specualtive hands cheaply and go after some big pots. Personally I love these games, but they can be very swingy you know.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, I would have thought being able to raise it by 6 preflop or on the flop would help protect my hand and reduce variance? Are you saying that the people who play this will limp in with anything, even if someone pops it to $8 after they already called $2 pre-flop?

...So then $150-$200 buy-in isn't enough to almost ensure a good finish after a session?

[PITTM]

if the "casino next door" youre referring to is harveys, i suggest you go to this "casino next door". i spent a week there in the summer and played 2 sessions at horizon and 4 at harveys, harveys was far and away the better casino, better floor(i believe he was a 2p2er, as he mentioned them to soneone), better dealers, better room, better games. imo. however, the horizon game has some of the worst players ever if you go at the right time. i played the 2-6 about 2 years ago and it was fairly fun, but i prefer limit still.

rj

[Benoit]

Sorry yes I meant Harveys. I didn't mean to call them the one "next door" as a sign of disrespect; actually the one I talked to at Harveys was very helpful too.

So you're saying both were good, but you like the 3/6 fixed limit better. When you did 2-6 spread, did you find everyone would come with you even if you raised the max pre-flop? Or if on the flop the pot was about 15 (5-6 ways), were a lot of them calling down when you bet the max?

I'm just trying to get an idea of how swingy this might be. If you're saying it's more swingy then the 3/6 across the street, then I might be just forced to do 3/6.

[crunchy1]

I'm having a hard time understanding why you're so concerned about swings and variance. There's always going to be swings and variance in whatever game you play. Talking about it now seems so irrelevant - you're going to go to one or the other casino (or both) and the games will be what they will be. For all you know right now - they may both be lagfests. So what!

Yeah - it would be great to go and win and pay for your trip or whatever. But you're never going to assure that this will happen. You could know where the best game is, that has the least variance, etc... etc... This still doesn't guarantee you a win. In fact - it doesn't even gurantee that you're only going to win or lose a little.

It sounds like you're trying to play the game before you even get there. Just go and make good decisions - just like you would in any other session you go to play in. IMO - the only effect that your "low-variance research" is going to have is making bad decisions when you get there and start playing.

[Benoit]

Normally I'm not (but I normally play games like $0.25/$0.50 on PS), but last couple of times I played at a B&M, I went to casino San Pablo where their 3/6 game has a small blind of $2 and a live button of $2. So I quickly found out the extra blinds forced me to play much more then I like.

So it boils down to I have a small bankroll still and I'm comfortable losing $50-$100 if I know I'm still playing well (playing like a donkey is another issue). I do understand that 3/6 or 2-6 both can be swingy, depending on what type of players are at the table.

Anyways, back to the topic. So the consensus is $2-6 can be more swingy from the players it attracts. Is the strategy for 2-6 kind of like NL, except you can't bet/raise more then 6? So for example you might bet 4 or 5 when the pot is 10 on a semi-bluff, or do a max raise pre-flop because you know you have the best hand and want to protect it. Yes?

Edit: Please indulge me, how do you adapt for a spread limit game?

[W. Deranged]

There are two basic points about spread limit to keep in mind:

1. The size of the small end of the spread ($2 here) is usually tiny in relation to the size of the pot, because flop betting often starts out with bets 2 or 3 times as big. So limping in pre-flop is very profitable, and you really should be trying to get in in late position with tons of hands.

2. While limping pre-flop is often very profitable and has large implied odds, calling raises, particularly maximum raises (so to $8) is actually much less profitable. Since the size of the maximum bet pre-flop is the same as the size of the bets on the flop, turn, and river, it becomes much better to exploit equity advantages on early streets. So spread-limit is really a game about punishing opponents who make mistakes on early streets. Your opponents will be making much bigger mistakes drawing and playing weak hands pre-flop in a spread limit structure than a 1-2 structure, since the size of the bets they can hope to make on later streets are proportionally so much less.

This second rule is actually more important from the point of view of most hands you'll play. Obviously, the key is basically to fast-play every thing early. There is no reason to slowplay ever, really, since the bets don't get bigger on the later streets. Just jam early with big hands.

[Benoit]

Sweet thanks. I never would have noticed on my own that calling a max raise pre-flop in this game has bad implied odds. All good things to remember.

I just wish I could practice it somewhere online before I go. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]