For example, calling three bets with ace high is not an uncommon thing to see in heads up Limit Hold Em games. Nonetheless, it is difficult to do this with a hand like ace high or fourth pair. Hands of this nature, even though they are good hands when playing heads up, are difficult hands to call three bets with. Players will have an easier time playing hands like these if they understand relative hands strength.

Hand Strength

Since heads up games only include two players, hand values change. Playing a-7 from middle position in a full ring game leaves the player very vulnerable to players holding an ace with a higher kicker. In heads up matches, this vulnerability disappears, since the likelihood of both players having an ace in a heads up match is very unlikely. For this reason, an ace is a very strong holding. Small pairs are much stronger in Limit Hold Em than they are in No Limit, since Limit bets are not enough to drive the small pairs out. Getting to a showdown cheaply should be the case with any small pair or an ace high hand that does not hit.

Position

Since Limit Hold Em is about winning or saving a few extra bets, having position is very valuable in heads up Limit games. Having the button is so important, since the player will be last to act on every street. Having position also makes it much easier to steal pots. Whenever an opponent checks to the button, the button player should bet almost every time. A bet should take down the pot a good 80% of the time. We know this because if the player out of position and hits a piece of the flop, he would probably bet since that is typical strategy in Limit Hold Em. When a player has the button, he should want to make the pot as big as he can. When he does not have position, he will want to keep the pots smaller.

Early Strategy

Playing tight in the early stages of a Limit Hold Em tournament is the standard strategy just as it is in a No Limit Hold Em tournament. The blinds are so small in the beginning and typically, they are not worth stealing. Big hands such as Aces and Kings should be played for value, but hands like AK should be given up after the flop if they do not connect. A FL tournament player is well served in playing position in the early rounds, as it is one of the most important concepts in Limit Poker. Players want to be mindful of avoiding trap hands from early position, such as K-J suited, as these are hands that do not justify wasting chips during the tournament’s early rounds.

Mid-tournament Strategy

As the FL tournament progresses, the blinds are going to increase and the stack size of the players compared to the blinds go down. Although blind stealing does not work the same way as it does in No Limit Hold Em tournaments (since players can only raise 2 times the big blind, the BB will always have odds to call and will only fold their worst hands to a raise), players still need to become more aggressive and try to blind steal. Since many hands are going to go to a flop, players are going to have to play post flop poker to continue their stealing efforts. Hands like middle pair and sometimes even ace high are good enough to win, since the big blind will call with an extremely wide hand range. Players should continue their betting into the flop, turn, and river when on a stealing effort during the tournament’s middle rounds.

Strategy for the Closing Stages

The blinds are moving up fast now, and stacks are shrinking. This is when sheer aggression wins. Pre Flop raises are going to steal many more blinds now, since even calling a 2x raise will be expensive for the big blind to call. If a player is contemplating a 3-bet, he will most likely be playing for his stack if he does. Because of these factors, players are going to tighten up and blind stealing now becomes the way to win. Utilize sheer aggression to succeed in the closing rounds of a FL tournament.

Trap hands in No Limit Hold Em, such as KJ and A10 now become very good hands in Limit Hold Em. This is a basic mindset that players should have when starting to play Limit Hold Em. Players such as Phil Ivey must further analyze and understand how their hands should be played, since the player can only bet a fixed amount.

The problem with hands like KJ or 99 for example, is that they only play well when they are heads up with one opponent. If those hands get in multi-way pots, their values drop significantly. So how can players make sure they get heads up with these hands? The way players get heads up in Limit Hold Em is by using the isolation play, possibly the most important play a player can make.

Here is a picture-perfect example of why isolating is so important in Limit Hold Em:

The blinds are 1-2, and the hero has 10-10 on the big blind. A player from middle position raises to 2 with AK. Action folds to 10-10. Should he raise, or just call?

The answer here is an automatic raise, and here is why:

Let’s assume that the big blind, has QJ. If the hero with 10-10 just calls, there will be 5.50 in the pot and it would cost the big blind with QJ only 1 to play for a 5.50 pot. He is therefore getting fine odds to call. However, if the 10-10 player reraises to 4, the player with QJ would fold, since he would have to call 3 to win a 7.50 pot. Here is why it is so important for 10-10 to raise.

10-10 is about 57-43 percent favorite to win heads up against AK. However, if the 10-10 hand just calls and allows the player with QJ to enter the pot, AK then becomes the favorite to win, with 41%. 10-10 drops to having a 31% chance to win and QJ has a 28% chance to win. Reraising is therefore a necessity to playing Limit Hold Em when trying to isolate.

In Limit Hold Em, the aggressive preflop player almost always shoots a continuation bet. This is solid strategy, as a continuation bet will win the pot about 80% of the time. However, what if a player knew that his opponents would only fold to a continuation bet 20% of the time? Should he still use this strategy?

These are the questions low stakes limit cash game players face. Unfortunately, low stakes poker is not very realistic. Since the stakes are so small, many players refuse to fold, knowing they will not lose much money by calling anyway. This can be very frustrating for the player who takes the even the smallest stakes games seriously. Fortunately for the serious players, there is a way to punish the other players out of their money.

Here is the scenario: The serious player makes a raise with AK and is called by the very loose big blind player. The flop comes out with an ace and 2 blank hearts. Yes, a continuation bet here is not a bad play, in fact, it is good. Betting the AK with what is statistically the best hand will make the player money in the long term. However, what if the player with AK knew his opponent will call any continuation bet?

In this case, there is one more way the player can play the hand that might reduce long-term variance. Instead of continuation betting, checking behind and seeing a turn card might be in order. Sure, you are letting him try to catch his flush for free, but it can help the player with AK as well. If the player misses, then AK can bet. The bet will almost certainly make the player with the draw fold now, as the size of the bets double on Fourth Street. Thus, the possible flush chaser is getting worse odds. Additionally, there is only one more card to come. Low stakes FL players play badly, so think of ways to counteract their tendencies.

However, limit holdem players know the maximum amount of bets they are going to lose is small in relation to their stack size. Besides that key reason, No Limit Hold Em players can raise to any dollar amount that they choose, so they can make the big blind have to call a large amount. In Limit Hold Em, the opening raiser can only raise to double the big blinds bet. That means at $2-$4 Limit Hold Em, when a player open raises to $4 and it folds to the big blind, the big blind will only have to call $2 to play for a $7 pot. He will be getting 3.5-1 odds on a call, certainly more than enough to justify making the call with almost any two cards. This important concept shows that a player must defend his blind very often in Limit; otherwise, he is going to be losing money.

Since the big blind will always be getting 3.5-1 on a call, calling with 2-3 suited is the correct play even if the player knows the opening raiser has a hand such as AK. 2-3 is not a big enough underdog against AK to justify folding to those odds.

Players defending the big blind must beware of one key mistake. If a player always defends his big blind, only to fold to a continuation bet whenever he misses the flop then defending the big blind becomes a bad play. Why put more money into the pot just to fold whenever the hand misses the flop (which will be most of the time)? Therefore, it is imperative that a player is willing to call continuation bets with air a certain percentage of the time to make defending profitable.

Obviously then, do not defend the big blind if another bet will not be called without flopping a pair. The other time not to defend is when there is a raise and then a reraise. Then not only will the big blind have to play against 2 other players, but he will not be getting good odds to call, since he will have to call a double bet.

When playing in early position, poker players should typically enter the pot only when they have the strongest of hands. This is because players will often raise from later positions. Because players raise when in position, there will be many weak hands that would have to fold when entering from early position. Additionally, players acting early in a hand will be out of position as the hand progresses. Thus, they will play with a lack of information. For these reasons, poker players should only play hands from early position that can tolerate a raise. Hands that can tolerate a raise are medium to high pocket pairs, as well as some high cards that are both suited and connected, such as Ace-King suited.

When playing from the later positions, players can relax their standards. This is because they have insight to how the players that acted before them. They can use this additional information in making their own decisions. Additionally, because more players have acted before the middle position player, there are less people left to act on their hands, which means the chances of the hand being raised is less as well. Thus, players in middle position can play a wider range of hands than those coming in from early position. From middle position, poker players can add lower pocket pairs and medium suited-connectors to their hand range.

When playing from late position, and especially on the button, a player can open up his hand range to play any cards he sees fit. Though not advised for the weak or inexperienced poker players, the button has the best seat in the house. He acts last in the hand after the flop, and can often bully players off pots. Thus, aggressive players on the button can play any two cards profitably.

Even though the blinds act last before the flop, they are first to act after the flop. Some players make the mistake of playing too many hands out of the blinds. They often feel emotionally attached to the money they were forced to commit as blinds. This is an unprofitable view to take. The blinds will be out of position from the flop on. As a result, they are acting blind. Players should exercise the highest standards in their hand range from the small blind, as well as from the big blind, unless they are moving to defend their blinds. When defending the blinds, a player should come out aggressively, as opposed to passively.