[SingleMaltFan]

Does anyone here play limit tournament games (home/casino/online) ????

I am a limit cash player and Nl touney player, and have recently played in some SnG limit tourneys online, with some good sucess..one first and one third in two tries..now granted these were a) turbo/speed games and b) very low buy-in so i expect fishy and not as challenging as it could be.

so a) who plays b) any books discuss limit tournament play c) where online has the best game and at what level/type of tourney d) strategey thoughts??

hey just puttin it out there for opinions...

thanks all
1malt

[yeltzen]

I play limit tournaments all the time. Mostly stud, but sometimes hold'em.

Just basically play your normal cash game style for the early rounds. Don't try stealing blinds or anything, because it won't work unless you find a guy that's a total rock in the BB (like meeeeeeeeeeeeeee). Once the blinds start to become a decent part of everyone's stack, you can loosen up and start stealing blinds with not so good hands. In the later rounds, just play like you would in a NL tournament, and pay less attention to cash game concepts.

[Colquhoun]

I used to play limit sit-n-gos exclusively. What I liked is that it was loaded with players that were more loose passive (or they would be playing NL) and would stay on hands WAY too long. The key to limit sng's is PATIENCE. It is a mistake to try to force the action, trying to be agressive. With limit, you are inherrently limited in the amount of aggression that you can show. So you need to bet for value, knowing that your opponents will chase often. Yes, they will catch their gutshots once in a while, but you will pound them with this strategy in the end...provided you are patient. Pot odds are king here, especially early on.

The ability to switch gears when it gets shorthanded is very important also. When it gets down to 5 or less, the blinds are rising, and bluffs/steals are more effective and required. The one thing I have realized in limit is that drawing hands like suited connectors that catch a good draw on the flop gain much more value here than in NL games. Since it is cheaper to see more cards and complete your draw, you will inevitably hit more of them, because you wont be chased off them...just make sure you are getting the right pot odds to chase them, and you will end up ahead. That said, high pocket pairs actually have LESS value than in NL simply because you cannot push someone off their draw. Not to say that you shouldn't raise and re-raise with them, just recognise their vulnerability.

One of the things that I liked when I started playing limit sng's is that mistakes are not as costly as in NL. Since you can't make a call for all your chips, reading someone wrong will not knock you out.

The reason I stopped playing them is the site where I play (pokerroom.com) changed their sng structure from blinds increasing every 10 hands, to every 8 minutes. This meant that I couldn't be patient, and had to get luckier. Sometimes in the beginning, the button would only get half way around the table before the blinds would go up. I can't imagine a turbo limit sng...more like bingo than poker.

[gwilkx]

i play limit MTT's frequently ($20-50 range). one thing that's critical IMO is getting a read on which players at the table will call you down with middle pair, hoping to catch their kicker or trips. these players are gold mines and you must find them and raise them for value at every opportunity.

also, don't play around trying to win a bunch of small pots during the first 4-5 levels - it's not worth it in the long run. you need to win a couple of big multi-way pots in order to build a stack for the middle levels. i call more pre-flop with small and medium pairs than i do in NL, and big suited cards go up in value as well.

as in NL, you need to pay very close attention to the texture of the board and be able to read what likely draws are out there (since people will draw in limit, regardless of the pot odds).

in the later rounds, you absolutely can not fall in love with a hand that's likely to be beat. once the blinds are high, check calling to the river is the quickest way to find yourself on the short stack. since it will cost you 6 small bets to see the river (with no raises), you have to consider how much each hand will cost you, and whether it's strong enough to commit that percentage of your stack to.

the one thing that i dislike about limit MTT's is that there is less strategy to the endgame than in NL. you basically have to catch hands late in the game in order to take first.

gw-

[Vitesse304]

I accidentally registered for a limit SNG, and I actually enjoyed it!

Limit play takes more skill to read and understand your pot odds, where NL, any bum can get lucky.

In limit poker, you need to capitalize on people who chase, and jam the pot when you've got some fish on the line.

I still enjoy playing NL SNG's, but for a change of pace, limit games are a good way to improve our game.

[yeltzen]

Originally Posted by Vitesse304

Limit play takes more skill to read and understand your pot odds, where NL, any bum can get lucky.

Eh, I dunno about that.
I played in a $20+2 stud tournament on Stars with this dope who had no idea what he was doing. He chased absolutely everything and kept hitting and hitting... and people just kept betting into him with tiny pairs. By the time I went out, he was the chip leader. It's probably easier for a fish to do well in NL, since one lucky hand can double his chips, but there are definitely bums in limit who get lucky and cash.