Limit Theory Quesiton

Stupid theory question I think about sometimes -- say you had a program that masked all dollar amounts from your play.

So when you sit down at a limit table, you do not know what stakes you are at. You only know that you have 50 BB's in front of you. You still have options to Bet, check, raise fold... etc.. but you have no concept of the dollar values. For all you know you could be at the 50/100, 5/10, 0.5/1 or 0.1/0.25

Without knowing the value of the BB's you were winning or losing, how do you think this would affect your decision making?

[Arnfinn Madsen]

This is very crucial, it is a element to the different dynamics of the different levels. Players in general more easily calls down at the cost of $.20 than of $400 even if theoretically it is the same related to the pot. Thus, usually, more than symbolic amounts of cash has to be at stake to make bluffing profitable.

[Xhad]

That is where table reads come into play. Your average online 2/4 game is tighter than the average 10/20 B&M game where I live.

If I were playing this game, I would play fewer hands than usual until I get a good feel for the table.

I like this way of thinking about playing. You should always think of the money in front of you as betting units and not as money. The problem is that once you start thinking of your chips as money you have the problem of it affecting your decisions (hence the old "scared money...." expression). That is why bankroll management is so important. If you are playing outside of your bankroll your deecisions will be compromised (as well as all the other stuff about not withstanding variance and so on). So you should always approach the game like you described, IMO.

I agree that limits can affect your read of the table- but it should not be the overwhelming factor in making your decision.

[wadea]

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If I were playing this game, I would play fewer hands than usual until I get a good feel for the table.

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[SunOfBeach]

depends totally on whether or not you know you have the bankroll to play the game or not

[Vincent Lepore]

John Feeney, a very famous 2 + 2 Author proposes (I think) that you never stack your chips when playing. Just leave them in a big heap. This way you never know if you are winning or losing. As I said John feeney is a very famous 2 + 2 author. He got famous, at least here on 2 + 2 cause he's smart. I believe you might want to read his book.

Vince

[AaronBrown]

I don't think it would matter much to me. Essentially there are two games, a Poker game to determine your chip wins or losses; followed by a lottery to determine an amount to multiply your winnings by. It would be like playing Poker for lottery tickets.

This is probably a good analogy for life. You might get good at playing the game, but you never know what the chips are worth until the game is over.

[ QUOTE ]
That is where table reads come into play. Your average online 2/4 game is tighter than the average 10/20 B&M game where I live.

If I were playing this game, I would play fewer hands than usual until I get a good feel for the table.

[/ QUOTE ]

i agree, but you should know within about 5 hands what kind of table you are at. 10 hands max.... so worst case, just sit there for 10 hands, and VPIP should be 20-30 at 10 handed so just sit there or play great hands. it shouldn't matter than much.

[UVaHoo]

[ QUOTE ]
John Feeney, a very famous 2 + 2 Author proposes (I think) that you never stack your chips when playing. Just leave them in a big heap. This way you never know if you are winning or losing. As I said John feeney is a very famous 2 + 2 author. He got famous, at least here on 2 + 2 cause he's smart. I believe you might want to read his book.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course, then you have a horrible table image because you're sitting with 300 $1 chips at a 4/8 table and taking up 1/3 of the table. Also, people get mad at you because you take 30 seconds to count out your 16 chip raise.

I agree that you should play for bets and not for dollars or euros. I frequently wonder if I would play slightly better online if I couldn't see my stack size to know if I were up or down. However, I would never want to be sitting with less than 12 big bets (assuming 4 = cap) when the monster comes along. Also, I think whether you're up or down can frequently have an impact on your table image, which is important to consider.