Who You Callin' a Hamster You Turkey?

OK, enough of this hamster crap!

I have been having this running debate with some tournament poker players as well as cash-game players for months now. There is a big misconception about Limit poker.

The common belief held by many No-Limit and tournament players is that NL Hold'em is a much more intricate game than Limit Hold'em. They say that Limit Hold'em doesn't require much skill and No-Limit Hold'em requires much more skill.

Now I'm not talking about a bunch of Internet whiz kids who have never actually played a live hand of tournament poker.

OK; some of them are Internet players, but I am also talking about really good live tournament players and cash-game players.

And they really do think that No-Limit hold'em is some kind of advanced physics of poker. Worse, they say that Limit Hold'em players are hamsters!

Yes, one of those turkeys called me a hamster (jokingly). They say that Limit players are just running around on our little "one-bet wheel" going nowhere fast.

This hamster's got claws.

It's a limiting belief. Pun intended. First of all, No-Limit Hold'em and Limit Hold'em are not the same game. They are separated by more than just how you bet.

The idea that you "can't protect your hand" in Limit, so it's some kind of weak game, is wrong. You can't protect your hand because you are a bad player! There are different skills to be mastered to play good Limit poker.

Yes, there are also certain skills to playing No-Limit, but why not be an all-around player, rather than a noisy, No-Limit nit!

Limit Hold'em requires a sophisticated table image, one that says I can take you off this hand with one bet, not because of how big the bet is, but because I have a table image that scares you. Limit Hold'em is played to build a stack, not to steal it in a 51%-49% race, like you do in No-Limit.

I am not knocking No-Limit poker. I play No-Limit all of the time. I understand the difference between the two games and my belief is that the No-Limit players who criticize Limit players are often the ones who don't have the skill or the finesse or the patience to play Limit at a high level.

Why not be a complete player and learn the art of mastering Limit and No-Limit?

Lol flippaments.

Speaking of tournament poker, how many times does your tournament life come down to a coin flip? Not to belittle tournament poker, but it doesn't really take much skill to get into a coin flip late in a tournament where you might have a 2% edge and the winner of that hand doubles up in one hand.

A few big hands in the right situation or stage of a tournament can sometimes determine if you have a very successful tournament or a very poor tournament. It's the very exact reason why amateur players have been so successful in past WSOP events.

It would be much more difficult for an amateur player to go up against one of the best Limit players in the world and be put into a situation where they both have to make a thousand decisions instead of 20 or 30 decisions and consistently come out on top.

Limit Hold'em is a much more complex game than people want to believe. You have to make more decisions in Limit Hold'em. You are constantly being tested in Limit Hold'em and you have to make many more adjustments. It's a highly volatile game and you can still accumulate or lose chips quickly.

Another reason I think Limit Hold'em is a skilled game is because players are also playing after the flop more often. Just because you only make one bet at a time doesn't mean those bets don't add up. Limit players consistently play deeper into the hands than the typical No-Limit player.

Liz Lieu, master of subtlety.

Bluffing becomes more complicated. You have to go deeper into the hand to successfully execute a well-timed bluff. When those bluffs don't work out, you are often putting in four or five or more bets to execute that bluff.

In No-Limit Hold'em you can pick your spots. Steal pots. Accumulate a ton of chips in a single hand. Oftentimes you can make one or two moves and win that pot.

In Limit, it's much harder to pick your spots. If you are too patient everyone will bully you out of your chips. If you are too aggressive, over the course of thousands of hands you can be leaking a ton of chips.

I do understand where these tournament and No-Limit players are coming from. The few moves you make in No-Limit Hold'em can be interpreted as more complicated because they involve larger stack sizes and the decisions are more important in that single moment.

In Limit you are making hundreds or thousands of decisions in a single session. Collectively, the cumulative effect of those decisions is just as important as the few decisions you have to make in a No-Limit game. I would say even more important.

Limit Hold'em is complicated because you are constantly making decisions and you have to be accurate and efficient over thousands and thousands of decisions to be an overall winner. If you have a major hole or leak in your game, you cannot win all of your chips back in an all-in situation or a coin flip.

Limit poker, the slow grind.

If you make a hundred mistakes in a Hold'em Limit session, it's much harder to come back from those mistakes. In a No-Limit game, you can make four or five mistakes and win a coin flip and recover all of those lost chips in a single hand. It's much harder to overcome leaks and holes in your game when you are playing Limit poker.

Take the time to understand the game. There are nuances and skills that make Limit poker a very intricate game.

And all of the other rules still apply. Your table image still matters. Understanding the type of player you are against still matters. The math matters.

Not unlike No-Limit poker, you need to be smart about when you bluff. You need to be smart about how you trap players. All of the same skills apply. You just utilize those skills much more often in a Limit game.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Cheers!

-- Liz Lieu -- Poker Diva

www.LizLieu.net

www.iPokerCal.com

Drop by Liz's home site, ChiliPoker, and find out how you can earn a heads-up match with the Poker Diva herself. And be sure to take advantage of PokerListings.com's exclusive sign-up bonus.

More Blogs from Liz Lieu

• David "Chino" Rheem, Poker Pro
• No Poker, Just Six-Pack Abs to Caress
• Preventing Tilt
• What Credit Crunch?