Most poker players are aware that there are vast differences between NL Texas Hold’em play and Limit Play but many fail to take on board the nuances of Pot Limit Play. While I am teaching you no-limit techniques I think that giving you a few pointers would be of immense help in aiding you to not only understand PL play but to understand poker in general.

This is why position is of greater importance in PL play than NL. Many a time in NL, a player can totally wipe out their positional disadvantage by being able to bet or move all in first. This example also highlights why playing hands that lead to flopping draws can be perilous in early position in PL play. This difference in the two forms of poker can be quite subtle as PL play can be identical to NL when the stacks are not very deep and players can get all in on the flop.

The major difference in the two forms is that NL Hold ‘em poker play allows a player the option to overbet the pot or to move all in and the skill is knowing WHEN to do it. I tend to reserve my all in moves in no limit poker to when I think that there may be a good chance that an opponent has made a second best hand and that they are also weak enough to pay me off OR I can make them lay a hand down.

For instance let’s say that I have the ace of clubs and the flop is all clubs and another club comes on the turn. This board will look fearful to anyone without a flush and even anyone with a flush for that matter because a player needs only to have the lone ace to hold the nuts at that stage.

But an all in move here may just trap a player that has the king of clubs. These are the kind of pots that tend to get checked down simply because everyone is fearful and no one has much of a poker hand. Someone may try to steal but they are not going to risk much without the goods. Everyone will fear that someone is lying in wait with the ace.

But an all in will put an inexperienced poker player to a very severe test who holds the king. Likewise with a flop of J-J-A when you hold A-J, these are the types of flops where you either win big or nothing at all simply because you are holding most of the key cards. Going all in will get a call from a Q-J or anyone with a jack for that matter. Pot Limit is the great leveller for bad no limit players who have no post flop skill.

They simply cannot overbet the pot in Pot Limit and this fact FORCES them to play flops which is something that nearly all novices dislike. The only time that they enjoy playing flops is when their hand is a bit of a no brainer. When asked what the difference was between NL and PL play, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott replied that “a novice off the street in a game of NL would be dangerous but put that same player into a Pot limit poker game and they would stand no chance”.

This is a very important point and it underlines just how many of these nobodies get to the final tables of major poker tournaments and even win them. Far fewer get to final tables of Limit Tournaments simply because they MUST have post flop skill in this form of poker and post flop play is where the true difficulties in hold’em lay.

I am not advising that you play PL above NL because NL is still where the action is now online. But once you understand just how novices and inexperienced players and even “wannabe’s” play post hold’em badly then you will start to understand just WHY I play some of the hands that I do.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson