Playing loose in Limit

Obviously the fundamental differences are clear – in Limit you must bet exactly the amounts prescribed by the game in each round, no more or no less.

And because it's less volatile, you will notice from a tactical perspective is that it's tougher to bluff in Limit because the betting levels are regulated.

And therefore position is imperative in Limit as very rarely will you be able to bluff more than one player.

Of course in Limit you can't take advantage of an opponent's moment of madness to recover losses in quick time so position is paramount.

If you are running up big losses in the blinds then you are perhaps calling too many raises pre-flop from these positions when it's shrewd to call to see the flop.

Playing smart post-flop is another key component in Limit and often this boils down to one key ethos – playing loose and shaking off those conservative shackles.

If you are not having the same level of success in Limit it could be that you are playing too tight - not playing suited connectors, avoiding small pairs unless in position, not calling a turn bet without an open ended straight and the list goes on.

Talking of aggression, you really should be open raising Ace-King, Ace-Queen and Ace-Jack from any position and betting post-flop, post-turn and post-river.

They tend to play very well in Limit as when you catch top pair you will often have somebody with a lower kicker calling you the entire way.

Not raising a high Ace in limit is a big mistake as you need to increase your equity edge when opponents are playing with hands like Ace-Five or King-Ten.

Shorthanded limit is all about aggression and betting for value.

You should probably never open limp and also be prepared to bet post-flop, post-turn and post-river with a marginal hand as you can take control of the action by betting or raising.

You may hear inexperienced players claiming that Ace-King, Ace-Queen and Ace-Jack is not the percentage call as you will often lose more than you win with these hands to straights, flushes and small pairs.

Their rationale is that you can not put enough pressure on people to throw away pairs of sevens and eights with a single raise.

But this is only really true in rare cases when are you playing full ring games of say ten players and at least five of those are seeing the flop.

High cards play best against small fields so raising them is the best move unless you are in a game where you will get three or four cold callers in which case forget raising Ace-King, Ace-Queen and Ace-Jack.

Small pairs and suited connectors should only be played in late position or occasionally in middle position at a passive table but most importantly when there are several players still involved.

The implied odds are much much lower in limit so you need a mulitway pot to make these dodgy hands worth playing as they won't hit very often and you need to get paid off when they do.