What kind of poker do you play...?

[Jeoke]

I am wondering, for instance, why some people play limit while others play SnG's? What is it that makes you play your game? Do you just like it? Do you make more at it? or for some reason are you better at that then others?

I'm really curious why people play they do.
Are there any skills or traits that are better for differnt games?

[bholdr]

For a beggining poker player, it's probably a good idea to familarize one's self with all the major games, holdem (limit and NL), stud, stud8, omaha and omaha8, both the limit and PL varieties, maybe throw in a few exotics, too, pineapple, draw, lowball, razz, etc.

then find the game that appeals to you most and get GOOD at it.

it also depends on one's goals. if you like live poker, you'd better like limit holdem. if you play online, pick yer poisin.

Personally, i started at NL holdem, i suppose for the cachet of it as much as anything else. then i found out that i liked all the games and took about a month at each becoming decent at the low limits. I played enough tourneys to know that i didn't like winning big hands and not getting paid immediatly for them, and enough SnGs to find that i could make more money in cash games (it all depends on the player, though). then, i chose my games:

stud and limit holdem.
stud and stud8 because it best fits my skillset (patience, good memorization skills, quick math skills, decent hand-reading ability) and limit holdem for profit. also, i do 'just like' stud. more betting rounds, more nuance, more cards on the table, more different game and ante structures, it's just more complex and interesting, imo.

as far as the skills needed to play the various games, they're all very simaler, patience and a willingness to study up being the most important at all games. Some games (such as NL lowball draw and razz) require a vast ammount of patience and a willingness to take bad beat after bad beat. (IMHO)

memory skills are more important in stud games than any of the others, though.

[Slim Pickens]

SnG's keep my attention better, and the predictable ebb and flow of a tournament feels more comfortable to me than the constant wait-and-see aspect of limit, where each hand is exactly as important as the last. Omaha/8 is my stress relief. I'm terrible at it.

Slim

[SheridanCat]

It's a matter of what you like.

Limit HE is common - you can always find a game, so it's a good idea to know how to play it. No-limit HE is fun and, played well, offers a tremendous upside with less variance than limit. NL has also become about as common as limit in casinos, so a game is pretty easy to find.

Omaha/8 is a fun game that can be very lucrative if you find the correct table and know how to play. Omaha High I find maddening and fun at the same time, though there isn't much opportunity to play it live in Chicago.

7 Card Stud seems to be dying around here, and the 1-5 games are boring, but a limit game can be a good change of pace. I haven't really bothered with 7CS/8 yet, but I plan to.

2-7 Triple Draw has my attention now since I read the section on it in Super/System II. I wish I could find a nice low-limit live game around. It's either 1000/2000 at Bellagio or play on UltimateBet apparently.

As for SnG's, people play them because they want the tourney experience and the variance in those games is low. If you play somewhere like PartyPoker and you are decent, you'll should find them profitable.

People play what they find fun and/or profitable. It's a good idea to at least have a clear idea of how most of the games are played. You never know when you'll see what looks like a juicy table.

Regards,

T

[beset7]

[ QUOTE ]
For a beggining poker player, it's probably a good idea to familarize one's self with all the major games, holdem (limit and NL), stud, stud8, omaha and omaha8, both the limit and PL varieties, maybe throw in a few exotics, too, pineapple, draw, lowball, razz, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

I couldn't agree with this more. I started play seriously about a year and a half ago and i heard the phrase "specialize or learn everything" early on and I decided to learn everything and it has been very rewarding. I know people who have built their bankrolls up quicker then me by just playing limit hold em but I will be passing them up soon and I'm general poker skills are stronger and more flexible.

A caveat, I'd stay away from Pot-Limit Omaha until you have a good sized bankroll. That's the only game (and my favorite by the way) that I wouldn't jump right into. Playing some limit omaha8 first if you are interested in Omaha.

[aargh57]

I've been meaning to ask this question myself but was worried about starting a post (actually, a little paranoid about posting anything here). I started playing 7 card stud about 7 years ago (not much just once a month at the casino) but when the hold-em craze hit I knew there would be more action at that. Now I only play limit hold em because my rationale is that
1. It's a very popular game
2. It's played at every limit
3. Why not try to learn one game very well as long as the game is soft?

Is my rationale wrong here? I've heard other games are better but it just seems like it's so hard to get good at one let alone 2 or more games. I even stay away from NL as the strategy is different.

[deacsoft]

[ QUOTE ]
It's a matter of what you like.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is true. I stick to hold'em because I like it the most and it's what I'm best at. To break it down further, I play limit hold'em (full ring games) to pay the bills. The variance is lower than pot or no-limit so it makes it a little easier, at least for me, to make a living at it. However, I am a far superior tournament player (mainly no-limit, some limit, and just starting to play a little pot-limit) than I am a ring game player. I know I don't play in nearly enough tournaments, but I'm hoping to have my bankroll secure enough soon to take some serious time off from the limit ring game grind and play a lot of big tourneys.

[bholdr]

i don't play live, except for home games. But, the general consensus here is that limit holdem is the best game to learn if profit is your goal.

[Tboner7]

I used to play limit but now I only play NL HE. I really can't stand limit anymore. I tried it again a couple days ago and lost my buy-in pretty quickly. In NL, you can have a few bad hands and lose half your buy-in, then in one hand win it all back. I love that.
I tried PL Omaha Hi, did OK for a while and then had a bad beat and lost my buy-in and quit. I bought in small since I wasn't totally sure what I was doing. I think I might try it again though.

[bholdr]

Whatever form/limit one feels most comfortable with is probably the best one to play. i understand your frustration with limit poker, but wait till you lose a grand on one bad beat, you'll be running back to limit real fast, at least, i did.

PLO has probably the highest variance of any poker game, and is thus the most potentially profitable, but one needs a huge bankroll (prob about 40 buyins) to play it as fearlessly as needed to succeed.

GL.

P.S.: Never, ever buy in short. if you flop a MONSTER, you wanna be able to win as much as possible. do not fear, fear is the enemy of any good poker player.