another limit n00b joining the nl party

Leonid · #1 05-13-2006, 04:45 AM

Just like a lot of the other new guys around here, I'm a limit player whose decided to switch over. I was playing 5/10sh successfully on party for a while, then went through a big downswing and dropped to 3/6sh and broke even at that for a while. By now my friends are all playing no limit - 400nl to be exact. They convinced me to switch over, and that's what I've done and I think I'm going to be sticking around for a while. Anyway, I've played about 2.5k hands at 50nl on party so far and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I did limit hold'em. I went through some hands that I saved and wasn't sure if I had played correctly, and I'm finding that I'm having the most trouble so far being out of position on the turn. Here's an example:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

CO ($50.50)
Button ($46.24)
SB ($186.38)
Hero ($50)
UTG ($44.03)
MP ($31.45)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.50, 2 folds, Button calls $0.50, SB (poster) completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($2) K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, UTG folds, Button calls $2, SB folds.

Turn: ($6) 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

River: ($6) A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets $5, Button calls $5.

Final Pot: $16

I also probably would have raised preflop but this hand was when I had just just started and really had no idea what I was doing. Villian's PT stats are 53/13/1.7 if that helps. I'm conflicted in terms of how I should think about this turn. I certainly see bet folding (I could valuebet against a worse ace and give up if raised here). In fact, I think that's probably the best line - and betting a blank river if he calls my turn bet. I also see some reason to check the turn, in that he may bet a worse pair that he would fold to if I had bet again on the turn. Any comments about anything are appreciated.

Thanks,
Leon

edit: also, I don't remember any details about what my table image was like at the time or what villian was like postflop, but I'll be including those things in future posts.

carnivalhobo · #2 05-13-2006, 05:11 AM

this hand looks fine to me, i like the turn check for pot control.

tufat23 · #3 05-13-2006, 05:32 AM

looks fine. i dont like raising here because you almost definitely will have to play oop vs at least 1 player.

DonkBluffer · #4 05-13-2006, 05:50 AM

[ QUOTE ]
They convinced me to switch over, and that's what I've done and I think I'm going to be sticking around for a while.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good choice. Us NL players get all the hot chicks.

I'd play the hand the same.

xwillience · #5 05-13-2006, 05:54 AM

nh. welcome to NL. theres a lot of people who came over from Limit, myself included. Its 100x better.

[ QUOTE ]
Us NL players get all the hot chicks.

[/ QUOTE ]

im all in baby...

stinkpaw · #6 05-13-2006, 06:38 AM

I don't play 6max so this is more of a question that an opinion:

But against a button limper you don't raise ATs in the SB? Don't you want to either
1) Take pot down now.
2) Get it heads up.
3) Make button and BB pay for the privlidge of playing you in position.

Leonid · #7 05-15-2006, 03:51 AM

[ QUOTE ]
i like the turn check for pot control.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I'm slowly learning how important pot control is in no limit. I learned the hard way last night when I built the pot against a maniac with a mediocre hand and then had to decide whether or not to call his all in bet on the river. After discussing with a friend we agreed on a better line that would keep the pot smaller and get me to showdown easier against the donkey. This is definetly something I had never really thought about playing limit, but is clearly neccessary to consider whne your entire stack may be at stake.

Leonid · #8 05-15-2006, 04:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I don't play 6max so this is more of a question that an opinion:

But against a button limper you don't raise ATs in the SB? Don't you want to either
1) Take pot down now.
2) Get it heads up.
3) Make button and BB pay for the privlidge of playing you in position.

[/ QUOTE ]

My understanding is that being out of position against two players gives you less of a reason to raise preflop due to reason 3 - If you're assuming that they're both calling, you're not charging them to play against you in position so much as you're charging yourself, and committing yourself more, to play your hand when you don't have position on your opponents - obviously a huge disadvantage. You read the hand wrong, but if I was in the SB and only the button limped I would definetly raise here for reasons 1 and 2 - especially considering BB has any two cards, and people will limp just about anything in 50nl. This adds a new reason to raise - because I probably have the best hand.

In the hand that I posted, I was in the BB after 2 limpers and the SB completing, making it much less clear whether or not I should have raised preflop. I think I'm fine with how I played it afterall - being out of position puts you at too great a disadvantage postflop, particularly if you're unlikely to get the hand heads up.