How difficult is it to become a good limit player?

[ZJ123]

i never really played much limit untill i took a shot at 100/200, and i was a shortterm winner, until i realized i was god awful, and a total luckbox, and there would be lines at the 1/2 games on stars, just for yours truly. SO basically, limit is fun, and anyone can be a short term winner! (by shorttermm i mean like a month, which is about how long i played for) Anyways, the swings at shorthanded are sickening, so be prepared, limit is a sick sick game. And Timex, you obv understand poker Theory..... i would bet you could be a winner at 30/60, in no time, your a smart dude.

[Victor]

timex you could beat any stake so long as you played with horrible players.

if youre wondering how long before you can just step into any 30-60 game on the net and win, well that could be 2 weeks or never. its also gonna be far less likely that you could ever just step into any random 1/2 game and be a winner.

plenty of ppl do tho, and you wont know until you try.

[Micturition Man]

LHE is one of the easier poker variants to learn. It is also one of the most prone to relatively simple rote strategies.

(Trust me I am not some prejudiced 70 year old man who only plays 5 card stud. I am speaking from experience.)

I actually sort of resent that Stox and others have made a name for themselves publishing LHE advice, because I believe I could put a near-total LHE strategy in about 5 dense pages that would make you a winner in any reasonably soft game.

However as others have said LHE is really not where it's at these days. Depending on exactly what limits you play there is more value in NLHE and PLO, or if you play live BOT.

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

Although no limit hold 'em is inherently more difficult, limit hold 'em is something like three years ahead of it in terms of the evolution of strategy and game quality. I have almost no doubt that under present conditions an elite LHE player would be making more playing NLHE after 60 days training than the other way around.

(This does not describe me, BTW, since I'm too busy/lazy to learn NLHE).

[Buffsta8]

very sound pre flop, reasonable game selection and a decent feel for the game and you can be beating most games up to 30/60 online within a month especially if money is fairly irrelevant and you are prepared to lose/splash around. After that beating the higher games is much harder and some people as Victor said just can't adapt enough/arent comfortable enough with the swings to take proper attempts at beating much higher and so never do. Good game to learn and because of the relative simplicity there are a lot of 'ok' mid limit players that make seriously easy games.

[amulet]

the nl games are much softer both online and live.

people here seem to think it is easier then it actually is to learn to play limit really well. nl is more complex, however, limit is not simple. it will take study and play. i think limit is not growing and nl still is.

online the limit games are have become tougher, while then the nl still; seem very soft. if you play mostly online i think you should stay with nl.

if you live in area where there is a lot of poker and has good game selection (like los angeles) then you should beat the middle limit games for a nice hourly rate in time with some work. i don't know how good your understanding of theory and math are. plus your natural card sense. post flop play in limit is not as easy as others here seem to think.

overall a good player will beat both games. however, the nl offers a higher expectation. i know expert players who enjoy limit more. therefore, they play limit.

[mslucky]

I have been playing limit and no-limit for a long time. I know and believe you should move slowly up the ladder and beat all the games in between for a year each. If you really don't want to wait at least try 150 hours per limit. Ok mid-limit players come to the 100/200 and then back down to lower limits soon enough.
I played ABC then, the light came on about knowing thier bluffing and what to do. The light will come on over and over again about different things you learn and that just will take time. That is why time is critical. Watch the good players.
I like playing heads-up and a few friends told me to play a unknown live player that wanted to play. I didn't because I didn't know him. All my friends told me he was sooo bad. It turned out he was a great player online heads-up. The point is everybody thinks he plays bad and they have not gotten to the level he is at. Great play looks bad sometimes.

Never quit learning!

[emerson]

[ QUOTE ]
I have been playing limit and no-limit for a long time. I know and believe you should move slowly up the ladder and beat all the games in between for a year each. If you really don't want to wait at least try 150 hours per limit. Ok mid-limit players come to the 100/200 and then back down to lower limits soon enough.
I played ABC then, the light came on about knowing thier bluffing and what to do. The light will come on over and over again about different things you learn and that just will take time. That is why time is critical. Watch the good players.
I like playing heads-up and a few friends told me to play a unknown live player that wanted to play. I didn't because I didn't know him. All my friends told me he was sooo bad. It turned out he was a great player online heads-up. The point is everybody thinks he plays bad and they have not gotten to the level he is at. Great play looks bad sometimes.

Never quit learning!

[/ QUOTE ]

Your friends were probably judging the guy by full ring, and not short handed standards.

[emerson]

[ QUOTE ]
the nl games are much softer both online and live.

people here seem to think it is easier then it actually is to learn to play limit really well. nl is more complex, however, limit is not simple. .

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe the reason for the general perception that limit will be easier is because it relies more on knowledge than talent. Limit is easier for a good student, thus the good limit players are telling people it will be easy. The good NL player may have lots of natural ability but not be a hard working student. Instincts are more important at NL, and that is something a good student may or may not ever have. But he can still do pretty well at limit on book knowledge alone.

[thebeebster]

a couple people in this thread are saying beating midlimits quickly is unrealistic. but we should be clear which games we're talking about. the 40 at commerce and the 6-max 30 on stars are not exactly the same league.