Limit Hold Em tournaments are not very popular since the more prominent and exciting No Limit Hold Em tournaments made for dramatic television viewing. Unlike NL tournaments, the drama and thrill of putting an opponent all in preflop playing power tournament poker does not exist in Limit Hold Em tournaments. Despite this fact, FL tournaments attract many fish, so knowing how to play them can be a profitable venture in any player’s poker career. Limit tournaments are hard work, which require sheer aggression and constant grinding. Like all tournaments, players only have a finite amount of chips, so they must be protected and used wisely.
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.
