Limit Holdem Cash Game Strategy

Learning how to become a winning limit holdem poker player is a continuous process. There is no overnight secret to instant success – it takes years to truly master the game. But don’t let that discourage you because I was only talking about mastering the game. If you want to become profitable, it doesn’t take nearly as long.

It’s important to start with the basics anyways because if you ever want to master the advanced strategies of limit holdem, you’ll need to have a solid base of basic limit holdem strategy.

Limit Holdem Preflop Basics

The most obvious place to start is at the beginning of the hand. Knowing which hands to play and which hands to fold will take you a very long ways to profitability. In some low limit games all it takes is an understanding of preflop strategy to turn a profit.

Having a tight preflop game is where the money is at. You can’t every hand and expect to turn a profit. Hand selection is the key. If you only play strong hands while your opponents play all their hands, you’ll already have a major advantage without even putting in any work.

On average, you should only play about 20% of your starting hands and fold the remaining 80%. It sounds overly restrictive but it’s actually a major advantage that works in your favor. By only playing your strongest hands, you are only investing your money in hands that are more likely to win pots.

Strong starting hands in limit holdem include the following:

In early position:

AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT
AK, AQ

In middle position:

AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99
AK, AQ, AJs, ATs
KQs

In late position:

All pocket pairs
AK, AQ, AJ, AT
KQ, KJ, KT
QJ, QT
TJ
45s – 9Ts (if there are at least two others in the pot with you)

*Note – If you’re wondering about the little “s” next to some of the hands, that stands for “suited.” So if you see AJs that means you can play Ace-Jack as long as both cards are of the same suit. Hand notations that don’t have an “s” next to them mean that you can play the hand whether it’s suited or unsuited.

You’ll notice here that you can play more hands in late position than you can in early position. This is because in late position you have the advantage of acting last in every round of betting. You know what your opponents actions are before you have to make your actions.

Being in late position allows you to play more hands but you still have to be careful with the weaker hands. Hands like KJ are fine in late position but you can’t get too attached to them if you only end up with something like a pair. Other hands like AK have better kickers and will wipe the floor with you if you both hit the same pair.

Limit Holdem Postflop Basics

Playing correctly after the flop is just as important as playing correctly before the flop. You should only continue past the flop if your starting hand connects with the flop to make top pair or better.

This is a very basic strategy but it’s a safe one for beginners. If you stick with the above starting hand guidelines and never continue past the flop with anything less than top pair, you’ll probably start turning a profit in small stakes limit games immediately.

After the flop you want to be the one making bets and raises, not calling them. If your hand is somewhat weak and you don’t feel comfortable betting with it, you shouldn’t feel comfortable calling with it. Instead of getting yourself stuck in that “should I call or fold?” question, you should just dump the hand.

One of the biggest mistakes new poker players make is chasing too many draws. Look, you will rarely have the odds to chase draws in limit holdem so don’t even worry about. Eventually you can learn about pot odds to know exactly when you should chase and when you should fold but for now, don’t even worry about your draws.

The vast majority of your profits in limit holdem will come from you hitting strong hands on the flop and betting them all the way down. The more money you can get in the middle with your strong hands, the better you’ll do in the long run.

Summary

Low limit games can get pretty loose and wild so you’ll suffer plenty of bad beats. Don’t let the bad beats get you down, though. When people put bad beats on you, it means they are making bad calls and you are making good bets.

Just sit tight, wait for strong hands and then bet them. If you do that while at the same time folding all your weak hands, you’ll start turning a profit in small stakes limit games in no time.