There is a big difference in playing in no limit Hold’em vs. limit or pot limit.

The thing about limit tournaments is that the limits start out very low. This means you are going to have some players calling every single hand in order to see the flop. If you raise the hand, they will likely call. You cannot initially bet* enough to make these idiots fold their hand.

So let’s say you have pocket Aces. In many of these tournaments you’ll have 5 or 6 people calling you no matter what. Keep in mind pocket Aces only win 32% of the time. That means they are beaten 68% of the time!

When you have so many people calling your hand there is a strong chance that one of these other players will get lucky and make their hand on 4th street or the river.

Don’t raise wildly unless you know you can convince some of your opponents to fold their hand. Wait until later when the limits are higher and you can raise enough to make some of your opponents fold BEFORE the flop. If you get them to fold before the flop you have a much better chance of winning.

Remember that once you see the flop you’ll have seen 71% of the total cards for the hand. There are only 2 more cards coming. If you didn’t get some help for your pocket aces chances are some of the other players at the table did get help for their hands! You might find you’re facing a set, a straight draw, or a flush draw. Don’t be afraid to fold your hand quickly! Don’t be afraid to check and see what your opponents are doing.

With No Limit it is a different story. In no limit you can make significant raises that cause people to fold their hands early. Generally speaking I see a couple of strategies in No Limit.

People who play REALLY tight. They only bet on the top cards: high pairs, suited high cards, or off suit connectors. A connector would be something like Q, J, off suit or 10, 9 off suit. They can make straights in both directions.

On the other side of the coin you see guys that play REALLY aggressive. If they have any Ace they’ll bet wildly. They are hoping to double up quickly and take an early chip lead.

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