Low Limit Poker Strategy| Part 1
When playing lower limit NL Hold em games, it is important to understand that in order to win you typically need to leave your advanced concepts on the rail. The best way to say it, you should dumb down your game. Low limit games are notorious for poor play. Poor play is what makes these tables so attractive to play, yet it is also a big reason knowledgeable players cannot post a trend of winning sessions. This does not mean that you should play stupid, it just means you should treat this game different. We are going to look at how to take advantage of soft games on lower limit games. There are three major things to consider when playing any game, they are: blinds, bankroll, seat selection and competition.
Blinds/Buy-in
A lower limit game is generally considered to be a $2/$2 game or lower. These games typically have a $200 max buy-in or lower. While many people will argue that $200 is not chump change, in the world of poker…it is. These games will generally attract softer competition, which can get a lot of “text book” players in trouble. I respect the “Super System” and other well known advanced poker strategy books, but these books are only half truth when it comes to low limit NL hold em.
Bankroll
Like in any poker game, you then want to think about an appropriate bank roll. Your bankroll is how much money you have behind you devoted to playing poker. This should not include IRA’s or your children’s college fund. It is a roll of money you absolutely can afford to lose. Generally, your bank roll should not be any less than 20 times the buy-in for your preferred game. The most important reason to have this size bank roll is psychology. If you only have $100 or $200 to gamble with and losing that money will make you lose sleep, you will play scared. If you know you have 20 buy-ins to play with, you will be able to play with the proper aggression and take proper risks. However, that does not mean that you should bring your entire bank roll with you to play. I typically bring about 5-7 times the buy-in to play and leave the rest at home. The reason you do not want to bring your entire roll is simple. If you loose more than 7 buy-ins you will probably not be able to play right. Whether these losses where due to poor play or not, you will more than likely be on tilt. You will either play scared or take too many risks trying to “catch up”. I typically call it a day if I loose 5 buy-ins, even if I bring 7.
Seat Selection
If you have time to observe a game before sitting down, it is best to sit to the left of any player who raises a lot and plays aggressive. If you do not have time to observe the table, a good rule is to sit to the left of the big stacks. These rules apply to all games as well, but we needed to mention it. If you do not have a seat choice, just sit down and play. Players will be knocked out and you will be able to change seats if it will benefit you later.
Competition
Now you need to evaluate your competition. The optimable table will consist of 2-3 bad players, 4-5 average players and 1-2 good players (including yourself of course). Too many bad players and the game can be too erratic. Many times it is already difficult to know where you stand in any hand at low limit games, but adding more bad players increases the random calls of players who you did not think stayed with a gut shot draw for a pot sized bet. If there are not enough bad players, the game can be fairly tight and is usually not the best to make money at. Good players help control the game a bit, but you do not want too many of these either. They are your direct competition, they are the only players who will consistently win at these tables along with you. Average players are just in the mix. You can make money on them and they give you the opportunity to make bluffs the bad players won’t fold to and the good players might sniff out.
Note on good players: There will be two types of good players you will encounter, “low limit sharks” and “poker elitist”. Both of these types understand the game of poker completely, they have probably read books, played many hands and have studied the game as if it were an art. The difference between the two players is that the shark understands that “textbook” poker does not apply to lower limit. The elitist is a poker snob and is too smart for his own good. He has read all the books and now he wants to apply them to a game where the “rules” don’t apply and other players don’t play by the “rules”. He is a player that will constantly get frustrated that no one gave him respect after 3 calls, a raise and now his re-raise. He is also a player that will check in the dark with a big hand, thinking it will insight action. It usually just confuses people into checking at low limit games. I have seen these players routinely walk away in frustration and call me a donkey, because they don’t understand how to play low limit. What they fail to understand is their raise 4 times the big blind is still only $8. When they have $400 in front of them along with me, $8 is well worth the risk to “hit” a monster and drain their stack. Elitist can be pooled with the average players if you spot one.
Continued: Low Limit Poker Strategy Part Due
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