Start with Limit or NL?

[Indramus]

Hi,

assume someone wants to become a real good and "complete" Hold'em player. Learning and understanding the game are paramount, making money during the apprenticeship is secondary.

Would you recommend to start with Limit or NoLimit Hold'em? Please explain the reason for your recommendation.

Thanks!

[Flavel]

There are some factors you need to consider. What is your bankroll? What is your exp level in poker? What site are you going to play?

If you are just starting, I would suggest limit. You will see more hands and start to develop a technique. In no-limit, one bad call and you are toast. Set goals for yourself in limit. If your bankroll is 100 bucks, play .10/.20 or .25/.50. Once you reach 150.00, play .25/.50. Once you reach 300 bucks, move to .50/1.00. Alays try to have 300x the big blind. This will let you log a lot of hands and get a feel for the game.

Flavel

[Indramus]

Thanks for the answer. Of course the different ways to play Limit and NL are related to the monetary aspects like bet size, pot size, stack size and so on. However, BR management is not my point here.

So, let me ask my question in a different way: Do you think that learning how to play Limit before learnig NL or vice versa, learning how to play NL before Limit, would be an advantage? Or do you think that the order in which to learn Limit and NL doesn't matter.

[CaseS87]

i think that playing limit first is much better. even if your final goal is to play nl, you should start with limit. the main reason being that in limit you dont have to make a lot of hard decisions, and most plays will be "automatic." you can read a good limit book and be a winner in the lowest live and online limits, but in nl you cant get a hand chart and expect to breakeven. to make the transition from limit to nl its best, in my opinion, to begin with sngs, or play short stacked cash games. a limit player jumping straight into full stacked nl games will get destroyed.

[RiverDood]

Start with limit.

If you're losing at first -- or at the very least not crushing the game -- it's much easier in limit to figure out what you're doing wrong and start fixing it. Are you playing too many hands PF? Are you ignoring position and getting stuck too often playing a tricky hand out of position? Are you able to put your opponent on a range -- and then make the appropriate decisions regardless of how "good" or "bad" your hand is?

In limit, a first pass at those assessments is pretty straightforward. There are lots of nuances that keep the game fascinating for advanced players. But you should be able to make the migration pretty steadily from noobie to solid player if you apply yourself.

In no-limit, all the variables come together in more complex ways. After a losing session, there will be so many dials that you could have set otherwise that you'll be hard-pressed to know what would have improved your game . . . and what just would have left you losing money on different hands for different reasons.

Master the basics at limit. Then if you like NL more and think it can be more lucrative for you, make the switch.

[poker_n00b]

Once you get accustomed with limit, you will see how extremely luxureous it is in no limit poker to be able to set the bet sizes yourselves. You will extract superior value from your opponents because you recognize thin value situations.

If you learn no limit first and then switch to limit, I think you will bluff to much and miss a lot of thin value bets. It happened to me as beginner.

A thin value bet is betting you bottom pair or middle pair in position when opponent has checked to you. In this situation you usually check behind in no limit, in limit you have to extract value.

So, if you learn limit first, you will have the knowledge where you can make additional thin value no limit.

However if you real intelligent, I think it doesn't matter what you learn first. As long as you are completely aware of the nuances of both games.

[benfranklin]

Start with limit for two reasons:

1. There is a lot more and a lot better writing available about limit right now, making it easier to get up to speed.

2. The size of the bet is a critical decision in NL. If you start with limit, you can concentrate on learning the other aspects of the game, and add bet size when you move up to NL. Kind of like learning to drive with an automatic transmission, and learning to use a manual shift later.

[Indramus]

Thanks a lot for all your responses! I will follow your advice and concentrate on Limit first.