No Limit Holdem

If you have watched any poker on television then you are familiar with no limit hold’em. In fact you would be hard pressed to find any other game. While no limit hold’em is the most popular version of the game for tournament play there are not a lot of people who play it outside of tournaments. This is largely because of the possibility of suffering large losses.

What is No Limit Holdem?

No limit hold’em is by far the most popular variant of poker, at least for spectators. It is the game that you almost always see played on television. Most people when they play themselves will usually play in limit games as they don’t have the bankrolls for no limit games. One of the reasons that no limit hold’em so popular with television audiences is that it allows players to put other players in a position where they may have to go all in. This can make great television but it also makes the game more difficult.

Most people are familiar with how hold’em works. Each player is dealt two cards and there are then five community cards, players have to make the best five card hand using a combination of their cards and the community cards. There is a round of betting before the first three community cards are dealt then before the fourth and the fifth. Like limit hold’em the blinds are a set rate, the difference is that there is no set amount for each round of betting; instead players can bet any amount that they want.

Clearly when you start playing no limit games bluffing becomes much more important than it is in limit games. You can put your opponents in a position of having to go all in if you are able to bluff well. This offers the huge advantage of allowing games to be ended much faster as players are more likely to be knocked out in just a few hands. Of course this is a double edged sword as it also means that you can be knocked out very quickly as well.

Compared to Limit Holdem

Before you even think about playing in a no limits hold’em game you have to make sure that you are good at playing limit hold’em. Once you start playing it is important that you make sure that you take steps to protect your bankroll. It is very easy to go bust and get knocked out of the game; this is something that you have to make sure does not happen. This means that you have to make good decisions about when to play a hand and when not to. You will probably find that you play hands far less frequently than you do when you are playing limit hold’em; this is usually a good thing as most players play too often anyway.