While No-Limit Texas Holdem is the most popular form of poker in the world today, many players started playing Holdem in the limit format. Limit Holdem games are still frequently spread in card rooms around the country and online. The problem is that many players enter limit after playing No-Limit Holdem and find themselves unsure how to proceed. Lets take a look at which limit Holdem poker hands that you should be playing and from what position.
Before you get started, you need to remember that in limit Holdem, you will take your share of bad beats. Players will come into the pot when they shouldn’t, stay when they shouldn’t, and suck out much more often than you see in No-Limit. Your edge in the game is being able to extract bets and win bigger pots when your hands do indeed hold up.
Hands that you are going to play aggressively from pretty much any position are your big pairs. Aces, kings, and queens are going to be played for as many raises as you can get into the pot. Jacks can be played aggressively from any position in some cases, but if you are in a tighter game, be careful if you raise with a pair of jacks and face a 2nd and even a third raise. Ace-king suited is a hand that you will want to raise or make a second bet with. Anything beyond two betting will depend on your position and your reads on your opponents.
Once you get to middle position, then you will open your raising range to include all middle pairs. Pairs from seven to jacks fall in this range. If you are facing a raise from middle position, you probably want to call with most middle pairs. You might could raise with tens and jacks, but again, this depends on your read on the situation. If you are facing two or more bets, tens and jacks are about the only pairs you would consider, and even then you may consider a fold. Ace-king offsuit as well as ace-queen suited are hands you will want to come in raising with or calling one raise from middle position. Depending on your opponent, you may consider a call with ace-king offsuit, but you do need to remember that you are drawing.
Late position raising hands will include the rest of the pairs, ace-queen offsuit, and ace-jack suited or even offsuit. A suited ace from ace-eight and up can be candidates for raising. Some people like to make a raise with K-Q or K-J suited. Maybe from the button, but I would shy away from a raise with these two unless you know your opponents. If you are faced with a raise in late position, look at your pairs and ace-queen for a call. Any more than two bets, you really need a strong read on your opponent to make the call here.
Next, let’s take a look at some late position calling hands. These include your suited connectors, any two suited big cards, any suited ace, and any two big cards in general. These are hands you want to see a cheap flop with or in hands where a lot of people see the flop. This way if your hand hits, you are going to likely be paid off handsomely. I am not a big fan of playing a non suited ace below A-8 in late position due to kicker issues. Of course, if there are four or five players in the pot, I may reevaluate this hand.
In the blinds you are going to look at raising with pretty much any of the raising hands listed above. In addition, go ahead and throw in a raise with your two big cards and your suited or non suited ace. The odds of your opponent having you beat are pretty slim, and if he plays back at you, at that point you can evaluate the strength of your hand.
If there is one thing that you will notice from my examples above, you should notice that poker can be situational. Just because I would or would not make a certain play normally, that does not mean that it cannot or should not be done. For example, say for instance you are deal A-2 offsuit on the button. Nobody raises but four players limp in besides the blind. In this case, you will want to play almost any two cards. You almost could play a fork and a spoon in this case. Another example is being in middle position with pocket jacks. You are going to usually call a couple of raises here. However, what if two players that usually only play super strong hands put in a raise and re-raise before you? Odds are your jacks are third best before the flop. Finding a better spot would be ideal.
The point is that poker is situational and you are not going to always follow the above plays to the letter in all cases.
When choosing what limit Holdem poker hands to play, you need to evaluate your position and your opponents in addition to your hand strength. It is important you do this every hand and be consistent with your play. Limit Holdem is about winning pots. Unlike No-Limit, you cannot stack someone and make back your losses in a single hand. Therefore, you need to play the right hands in the right position to give you the best shot to win pots and grow your stack.
