Limit or no-limit ... thats the question

Limit Texas Hold'em poker and no-limit Texas Hold'em poker - two casino games with identical rules but with a lot more differences than you probably expect. Before we start reviewing the differences lets pay attention to the betting structure:

Limit Hold'em means that the players are can bet a strictly defined amount each betting round. Let's take a limit game of $1/$2 as an example. The small blind is $0.5 and the big one - $1. In case somebody wants to raise - he can do that only up to $2 pre-flop and on the flop. For a turn and a river the limits are $2 bet and a raise with $2.

No-limit Holdem means that there are no limits on the betting amounts and a given player can bet all his chips in any moment of the game he wants. Let's take a $1/$2 no-limit table as an example again. Here the blinds are respectively $1 for a small blind and $2 for a big one. But if somebody desires to raise - his rise needs to exceed at least 2 times the previous bet, up to the number of chips that player has ofcourse.

Even though the two types of Hold'em differ only in their betting structures the strategies behind those 2 games should be completely different. The reasons for that are:

Strength of the hands - In the limit Texas Hold'em most of the players prefer playing more hands because it is cheap. They know exactly how big their potential loss for each next round will be in advance. That's something they can't know in the Limit Hold'em where each player can limit the count of his opponents for a given hand by raising a big amount and making them give up. That makes the starting hand strategies for the two types of Hold'em to be different as well. So as a summary:

• for the Limit Hold'em: as many players there are before you on the table, so cheaper your participation with a big number of hands will be.


• For the no-limit Hold'em: you need to stick to the better starting hands you have and to try to lower the risks.

Bluffing : In the no-limit Texas Hold'em poker a given hand can be easily won with bluff or semi-bluff. It is not necessary for a player to hold the best hand in order to win. So it can be said that bluffing is one of the most important things a player should consider when playing this variant of Hold'em. Not many people would take the risk to bet with all the chips they have at once in case they aren't sure they're holding a strong hand. So if you're good at bluffing you can make your opponent think you're strong even if you aren't.


In the limit poker it will be a way harder for you to bluff. There is not much sense if you bluff with weak hands as the bets there are low and most of the players would prefer continue playing as the potential risks they take will be low.

Pot Odds: In the limit holdem it is very hard for a player with a strong starting hand (straight or flush draw) to drop-off. That's so because he would most often has the right pot odds to pay and wait for his card which would make his winning hand.

Let's take a flush draw on the turn as an example. In a $1/$2 limit hold'em game there is a $10 pot. A player bets $2 and you must decide if you want to pay so you can see your last hand which can make your flush and respectively to win the hand. The chance for you to make a flush on the river will be 18% in that case. So you have to pay $2 in order to win $12 ($10 pot + $2 player's bet). As your chances are better than 6:1, your call is correct.

But let's see how that applies to a $1/$2 no-limit texas hold'em. You again have flush draw and a $10 pot. But there aren't betting limits as you already know. So let's say this time your opponent doesn't bet $2 but $10 instead. In that case your pot odds are much lower (2:1) than the probability for you to get the flush which means that if you pay you lose in the long term. That's one of the best things in no-limit hold'em - you can always control your opponents' pot odds by betting the right amounts.

Game speed:

The limit variation of hold'em is being played slower. Which means that the number of hands that can be played for a defined period of time is lower than in the no-limit hold'em with the same limits. That's so because in the limit poker the more players play until the end of the hands which means that each hand takes longer time to be ended.