Just a Low Limit Player?

With my girlfriend in town this past week, I played quite a bit of 3-6 and 4-8 limit holdem. That's right, I dropped down and played in the dreaded bad beat fest known as low-limit "no foldem" holdem. Unlike most no-limit players, however, I don't mind limit holdem at all. In fact, I think my psychological make-up makes me more likely to be a successful limit player, as I discussed in an earlier post. Indeed, my hourly "earn" was actually a little better this past week playing low limit than it has been at 2-5 no-limit since I moved out here. Another attractive feature is that the volatility is much less; for instance, it's extremely unlikely I'll lose over $400 in a single day at 4-8, while this is quite common in 2-5 NL. In my opinion, it's also much more enjoyable to play at the same table with a friend, and Brigid did quite well. She has a lot less experience than I had when I first moved up from 2-4 and 3-6 limit games a couple years ago.

Despite all this, I think I'm heading back to the no-limit games soon. My hourly earn is not my only objective, as I discussed in another earlier post. Playing 4-8 limit at this point in my career not very productive in terms of improving my game. For one week, it wasn't so bad to go back and realize what I huge advantage I now have over such inexperienced players. Watching the other players allowed me to review all the basic tells and mistakes that I am always looking for at the bigger games but hardly ever see, and it reminded me of what types of mistakes beginners tend to make and the ways in which people react to bad beats. Now I'm ready to get back to improving my game against the better players again. Besides, my main motivation for playing the low-limit games was that I had a friend in town; that is no longer the case.