To help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of particular poker games, I offer the following brief analysis. Those who have ever played poker online are aware that limit poker was once the most avidly played game on the net. The internet still offers quite a few low and medium limit games, and a few in the $100 to $200 range. The limit game is still easily found online and will continue to be in the future, particularly since only a few players are of the $20 to $40 level of expertise.
What may be considered a significant plus of the game is the amount of literature devoted to it: many of the contemporary books on poker are devoted to limit games. It is a well studied game and it is possible that a thorough student may learn much from the experience of others. As a result decisions are simpler to make in limit hold’em and most of them are easily supportable by basic mathematic tools for quick mental in-game calculations.
To add to this, dispersion is not the factor in limit games as it is in others. Dispersion is a coldly calculating entity that determines who is lucky and who is not. With limit poker, even the lousy player with lousy cards can be the lucky winner sometimes. To understand more about how dispersion affects the game of poker and the game of life, read any of Terry Pratchett’s Rincewind novels.
Generally speaking, all poker is necessarily subject to statistical dispersion: big losses inevitably happen even to the best of players (even when they play ideally with what they have in their hands) and are what turns many off the game in the first place. No-limit and tournaments have higher dispersion than limit games, which means that limit poker is not as psychologically intense. Relatively low bank rolls suffice for limit holdem and there are many specially designed computer programs for limit poker: Poker Tracker and Poker Office offer help which is not to be sneezed at, particularly so for low limit players. These programs are useful both during the game and after, when you want to make an analysis of any part of it or calculate general statistics.
Now for the bad and the ugly. Because of the quantity of information available on the game, there is a large and ever-growing number of knowledgeable, skilled players. So the game while it is easy to find, is not very profitable. Poker rooms make their money from the small amount taken out of the pot for each hand. So, poker rooms earn money not from the number of players, but from the percentage of the total number of hands played at the end of a long series of poker hands. This sum more often than not turns out to be quite a tidy one. Limit games which include good players can wind up with minimal profitability or even a loss.
While the availability of limit poker is not a problem online, off line is another story. There is little exposure in the non-virtual world because limit poker does not include the features that make a poker game attractive to casinos and card clubs. It is the camaraderie around the table, the laughter and chatter, that makes the game rewarding and memorable to most people. This cannot be found online but requires a group around a table. The limit player gets his thrills from the true essence of poker – the combination of cards.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Doyles Room Rakeback and Carbon Poker Rakeback.
Tags: card games, entertainment, Gambling, games, hold em, holdem, limit holdem, Poker, recreation, sports