OK,

I am taking a break from poker for a week for a trip I have to make.

When i get back I plan to start learning how to play limit. So far I have only played NL and PL.

I have two long flights ahead of me and will have plenty of time to do some reading.

What is required reading for starting to play limit?

I will assign 2k BR for the project what limits should i play?

Thanks

I did the same exact thing as you...except I started with a 100 dollar BR...now I am playing 3-6 LHE on FT...about to make the jump to 5-10.

read Small Stakes Holdem, Skalnsky and the Theory of Poker, Sklansky...you will be good to go.

with that BR you should be ok to play 3-6, just take it easy at first, you might have a huge downswing...better yet, you might want to start at 2-4.

Matt

Read:

Small Stakes Holdem - Sklansky, Miller, Malmouth
Holdem for Advanced Players - Sklansky


with a 2k roll and being new to limit i would say start off at 2/4. that'll give you 500bb to play with.

if you experience a prolonged downswing you might want to drop to 1/2 until you have confidence in your game.

Why are people advising SSHE for someone starting with a 2k bankroll? That book is geared towards lower games. Try Harmon's section in SS2. I'm sure some of the Sklansky books are worthwhile as well, but I cant personally reccomend them since I dont have them

you can play $3/$6 with a $2000 bankroll and jump to $5/$10 when you hit $3000

Good luck.

<------Limit cash game player


My 2 cents --------> I take it you experienced, possibly skilled in the the world of poker. You have built a nice roll for online limit, so don't start yourself too low. Limit play online is consderably worse than NL, I would start around 2/4 for maybe a week or 2 of play with success, Then move to 3/6. Beating the 5/10 games consistently doesn't take a complete limit wizard. I think you will find the variance is much smaller, and your average gain per session may even be bigger than in the NL games. That's about it..........and don't play out of position These guppies people genuinely do not want to fold.

A 2k bankroll means starting at 2/4 or 3/6. SSHE is very appropriate for those stakes. Middle-limits don't start kicking in until 10/20 or so. HFAP and SS2 are both good, but most people will advise you that they're geared for high-limits (or at least middle-limits) and up.

In my experience, this is completely wrong.

I agree, those that play limit didn't learn from watching TV. All the real fish seem to gravitate to NL because that's what they watch on the tube. Been thinking of switching over to NL for a little while. Not sure if I will make the leap.

this is true for online limit 1-2 and up but usually the low limits in any casino are horrendous even up to 10-20 often the play is terrible.

Like Cobalt said, those books are perfectly fine up to 10/20 online.

Also, they are good to read in order to get a baseline before moving to more advanced stuff like SS2.

Yeah...those two Sklansky books are good for somebody who's already familiar with the game of holdem.

Both are pretty advanced reads though and if you want to gear down I suggest the Lee Jones "Winning Low-Limit Holdem".

Playing 2/4 is a good start because the blind structure is "normal". When you play 3/6, 5/10 or 15/30 you'll need to make slight adjustments with the 1-3, 2-5, and 2-3 blind structures.

As long as you've been successful in holdem already I wouldn't advise playing below 2/4 limits because the rake is tougher to beat the lower you go.

With that being said don't go too crazy the other way either because the quality of players really jump at 10/20 online.

Whoever said to read Harmon's section in SS2 rather than SSHE, I completely and totally disagree. Harmon's section is about 1000/2000, i didn't realize this until I came to the section where she advocated raising preflop with 77, betting the flop of 3 over cards, and if you get action, check call to the river hoping to hit a set or pick off a bluff. i don't think this kind of play would be successful at limits like 5-10. She also advocates at some point calling in mid to late position with Q7 off. Again, not a profitable move at 3-6 or 5-10 IMO. I don't play much limit though so feel free to disagree. I would read SSHE though, SS2 is a good read, but probably won't do much for your game at limits like 5-10.

I respectfully disagree. SSHE talks about loose games with 5-6 or more to a flop. FullTilt 1/2 and 2/4 play with about 3 to a flop. Party is looser by about a half a person. I haven't seen 50% to a flop at 1/2 anywhere except the occasional table with a maniac donk tilting the whole table. I think SSHE has some valuable insights, and some principles that could be usefull, but the specific advice is for games far looser than low limit online play has become. IMO of course.

INPUT

I see 30/60 tables with +40% to the flop...so I know that there are looser tables at lower stakes. Maybe not on FT, but other sites certainly.

And anyway, SSHE also has guidelines for games that are somewhat tighter than that. The point isn't how tight-loose the game is...it's the level of sophistication of opponents. The majority of 1/2 and 2/4 players simply aren't as sophisticated as middle and high limit players. SSHE teaches a straight-forward approach to these games.

Here's my advice:

$2000 is enough to play 3/6, but I'd start out at 2/4 until you get more limit experience. (Actually, since you're new to limit, my REAL advice would be to put $300 on line and play $.50/$1.00 and build your bankroll--if you can't beat the $.50/$1.00, you won't be able beat the 2/4 or 3/6)

Read Small Stakes Hold'em by Miller, Sklansky, Malmuth (we could quibble about stakes and how many people to the flop...blah, blah, blah, but it's STILL the best book out there IMO up to 20/40 limits). Also, read Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by Sklansky and Malmuth.

Post some hands.

This terrible advice made my head hurt.

TOTALLY agree!

This play is like playing 10 man slot machine! Jam and pray. No way to protect a good hand. We call it "Chase the Ace" or "No fold 'em hold 'em".
Horrendous suckouts here.


Good luck!

Like others have said....read SSHE by sklansky. Start out playing some 2/4 online till you feel comfortable with the game, and prove you can win at it. Sure, you have the bankroll for 3/6 but you'll get eaten alive if youve played little to no LHE before.

This guy is serious about limit

Don't switch, NL players get all the women and $$

Wow.


That guy could use a few cheeseburgers, who ever he is!

that looks like Daniel's evil twin Skippy

Is that Worm?

It's been a pretty profitable slot machine for me.

With a 2K BR play live 5/10, if at all possible in your area. The skill level is the same as online .5/1, if not worse. Make sure you read (and understand) Small Stakes Hold'Em first, though.

Why 2K, BTW? I started out with $100 back when I didn't trust the internet. You are rolled for 0.25/0.50 with only $150, and will build that up to $2000 within a few months (moving up limits appropriately), during which time you will learn many many things about the importance of high card strength, fastplaying versus slowplaying, domination, and hand/player reading.

this thread is just a small example of how posting in general will lead to horrible advice.

see my intial post.

read and listen to the following posters in this forum (limit holdem)

Screech, Actuary, Cobalt blue, Pokerplayer24, Alphaomega, Abbaddabba, Zach668, Shimmering Wang, Briguy and a bunch others that i probably forget.

Thanks for all the great responses.

I will do my homework and let you know how it goes. I will report back everycouple thousand hands.

thanks again

B

Oh man, speaking of BAD ADVICE.... if you find yourself agreeing with my dumb ass, you had better take more than a week off poker, son. Look at my avatar, man! It's DAFFY DUCK, from DUCK AMUCK!! I'm A CARTOON CHARACTER! And I'm almost always drunk, so...

My advice?

Start playing at 1/2. Play for a few weeks, until you're confident you're a winning player. This is harder than you think. You need a few thousand hands to get a REASONABLE idea of where you're at, but you still may just run hot.

Post as many hands in this forum as you can. Books are great, but you'll learn to apply the advice so much faster if you give hands to us, and let us skewer you. Even if you disagree with us, you'll learn a lot about the thinking process behind limit hold'em. This is so important. I repeat, THINKING ABOUT THE GAME is SO IMPORTANT. Posting hands will help your hand-reading skills, equity estimation skills, and your critical thinking skills. This is muy importante.

Move up to 2/4. It's only slightly better than 1/2. The first real "big jump" comes at 3/6 I think.

Once you get to 3/6, play at least 20K-35K hands. Keep track of your results. Use POKERTRACKER. It'll help you read other players, and keep track of your own tendencies. It won't let you lie about your results. If you're beating the game, and have a bankroll of about $3000 bucks, move up to 5/10.

OR

Try playing 2/4 shorthanded. I've never been a SH guy, because I'm lazy, but there's a lot more money in it for good players, as you're making more decisions more often (and that's where money comes from).


That's the frist few months of your oddessey. It's important to keep track of your results, so you can't fool yourself. Using Pokertracker helps, because you can easily separate your winnings from limit and NL.


Goodluck, friend, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor,


Wang

comment on lots of others hands as well...even before you feel comfortable..just throw your ideas out..it REALLY helps

I'm not drunk
I'm not a drunk.

Rasty is solid as well..much more than me..I'm a newb, really.

smash aint bad.

when i play cash game i play 80 percent limit holdem.
i'd say with that your perfeclty safe to play 3-6, and still pretty safe to play 5 10.
i played 5-10 with 350 and that was fine

stop.

You had a good run.

MATHEMATICAL FACT: YOUR RISK OF LOSING YOUR BANKROLL IF YOU PLAY WITH 35 BB IS vEWWEE VEWWEE HIGH.

Don't try that at home, kids.

If you have 2k and have never played limit, don't play any higher than 1-2. Play 1-2 full for a while, then try shorthanded. Read small stakes holdem. Anyone who says it doesn't apply to 2-4 is flat out wrong. Ignore CU in 4 years advice. I have read 3 posts by him today, and they are worse than some of my posts in the shorthanded forum.

That's 35 bets.... I've lost that in 10 minutes...

However, you do seem to keep giving sold advice...

maybe he meant he played 5-10 with 350 BB ?

rather than play LHE.
Just put your head in that vice Joe Pesci used in Casino.
much less painful

I advise starting at 1/2, even though u have a 3/6 bankroll.

Just play a few thousand hands at 1/2, then 2/4, then attack 3/6.


I put in $500, played some .50/1 limit, then played 1/2 and have since worked up my broll that way. I learned a lot playing 1/2 limit hold'em and didn't notice a big difference between 1/2 and 2/4 - except that the swings are higher.

Would you rather lose 100bb learning limit hold'em at 1/2 or at 2/4? I'd much rather lose $200 than $400

Post a lot here, lots of good limit advice. And keep asking questions, don't be afraid to get flamed by some punk for asking a "stupid" question.

doubt it...pretty sure he posted that he's 17 years old and my guess he's no zeejustin...but in a good way