Beginner Poker Strategy: Starting With Fixed Limit Poker Games

Limit poker is perfect for players that are new to the game and want to start playing in cash games without risking their bankroll. It’s not nearly as exciting as no limit hold ’em, but it can help you understand that fundamentals of the game while building your bankroll. We’re going to go over some of the very basics of how you should approach fixed-limit real money cash games.

Play Tight-Aggressive. Period.
With fixed limit poker, you have to be interested in making money over the long term instead of having big hands that win you huge amounts while trying to mitigate your losses. You’ll only win a certain amount, so you’ll want to make sure you actually stand a chance of winning. This means that you should be very careful with starting hand selection and position. You don’t have the ability to bluff and use large bets and raises to take down pots, so you have to play purely mathematical poker.

Be Very Selective With Your Hands
If you’re brand new to the game, keep your starting hand selection very tight; stick to high pairs and AK and AQ exclusively, for instance. You will fare much better over the long run and while you won’t make millions, you’ll definitely see enough money to justify the time you’re spending at the tables. If you’re in later position and the betting has been lackluster, you can play small and mid-level pairs in hopes of hitting a set on the flop, but if you don’t see anything that sets you up on the flop, don’t be embarrassed too much and walk away.

Know Why You’re Betting
Many players that are new to the game think they should play hands like pocket 6s all the way to the end since betting is limited, but pot equity is something that applies to every game of poker. If you’re drawing with only a couple of outs, then you’re making a bad decision if you continue calling and chasing. Keeping yourself tight-aggressive means that you will only be playing in 15%-20% of the hands that you’re dealt into and those hands are the ones where you call and bet and raise. The majority of your play should be done with rising in mind since if your hand is strong enough to play, it should be strong enough to raise with.

Online Limit Poker
Frankly, you should look for loose tables where 30% or more players are seeing the flop on average. Playing tight-aggressive poker at a table like that will mean that you are going to get paid over the long term. Capitalize on the players who have a much-too-large starting hand range and take advantage of their fishy tendencies.

And remember: if you’re playing at the table and there aren’t any fish there, you could have scales and gills yourself! It can be tempting to go off-plan when you’re playing limit poker for long stretches, but sticking to your guns is the best thing you can do to make money. Stay tight, stay on-point, get paid.