Limit vs. No-Limit

        The only things that Limint and No-Limit Hold'em have in common are the number of cards and how they are dealt. That's it. After that, the differences are night and day.There have been many books written about the ins and outs of limit Hold'em.

Limit is the kind of game you see when you go to your local card club or casino.The 2/4, 3/6, 10/20, games. Limit Hold'em is a game of playing good hands, and hopefully preying on fish.
You really need  to know your oddds tables, your pot odds, and have a good poker face. Limit Hold'em is great for beginners and is often referred to as No Fold'em Hold'em.
You do not see this version of Hold’em on TV. In case you didn’t know, at most
card clubs, the LEAST expensive table you may be able to get on is the 2/4 table. What
that means is the blinds are $1, $2, the pre-flop and flop bets are $2, and the turn and
river bets are $4.
Each betting round can only be raised a maximum of 4 times.
It can get expensive, especially for a beginner who is playing incorrectly. On the
other side of things, you can almost always see all the cards as there is really no way for
the other guy to force you out. That is if it's down to two of you. He raises $2 on the flop.
You call. Turn card. He raises $4. You call. He raises $4 on the river. You call. There
is really no way to bluff a guy out since you can’t keep raising.

Or maybe you already made your hand on the flop, want to collect the pot, and
don’t want to see any more cards. Yet the guy you are up against keeps calling, and can
eventually make a better hand. When your hand is made, you don’t want to see any more
cards.
In Limit, you can’t really deter someone from seeing all the cards. This is also
why, in Limit, you NEED to play the best hands. AA, KK, QQ, or AK. Suited
preferably.
In No-Limit, you CAN deter someone from seeing more cards. You CAN throw
money at the pot to do so. In Limit, oftentimes, there is only one way to win. Have the
best hand. In No-Limit, there are 2 ways to win every hand. Have the best hand, OR
make everyone else fold.

Definitions

I am going to define some terms that I will be using throughout the rest of the
book. These definitions will make reading about, and learning poker, a LOT easier. I’m
sure you know most of the terms, but if you don’t, take the time to read through them, or
just refer back to them later if you don’t understand something I say later on in the book.

FLOP: The three community cards that are turned over after the initial round of
betting.

TURN: The 4th community card. Also known as Fourth Street.

RIVER: The 5th and last community card. Also known as Fifth Street.

SUITED: Two or more cards of the same suit, i.e. Clubs, Spades, Hearts,
Diamonds. In poker literature, suited is noted with a small “s”. As in, Ace-King suited
would be, “A Ks”.

OS: The abbreviation for off-suit. Also can be abbreviated o. As in A9os, or
A7o.

CONNECTOR: Two cards that are within 4 cards of each other so as to possibly
make a straight. AK, JT, A2 are all connectors, as are Q8, 62, etc. The connectors that
are “touching each other”, i.e., JT, 78, are better to have as they can pick up the straight
on the low, and high side. There are no gaps between them.

SUITED CONNECTORS: Same as a connector, only suited also. 87s for
example. These are powerful cards as you have the straight, the flush, and the straight
flush in play, pre-flop. These cards usually give you a lot of “outs”.

OUTS: The number of cards that are theoretically left in the deck to complete
your hand, or give you “the nuts”. Outs coincide with Hand Odds to give you your
percentage chance of drawing the, hopefully, winning card.

THE NUTS: A Poker term for the best hand possible in a given hand. You are
always hoping to get The Nuts. You can’t lose if you have the “Nut Hand”. Unless you
fold. Used as an adjective in terms such as “Nut Flush”, “Nut Straight”, and “Nut Trips”.

HAND ODDS: The odds of getting the card that completes your hand. This is a
theoretical number at best, but it gives you something to go by, to see if the pot is worth it
to try drawing the card you need.

AA: Notation for aces as your starting hand. Also known as Pocket Rockets or
Bullets. The best starting hand in Hold’em.

FULL BOAT or BOAT: A full house.

POT ODDS: The % worth you are getting for your bet. If it only costs you $10
to possibly win $100, you are getting “10-1 Pot Odds”. This term is more used in Limit
Hold ‘em than No-Limit.

SIT ‘N GO (SNG): A 1-table game where everyone gets the same amount of
chips for a set buy-in. The game is played in tournament format with increasing blinds
every 10 hands. 10 to a table at PartyPoker, 9 at PokerStars. Top 3 spots win money.

RING GAME: A table where the same folks play the same poker for the same
blinds all the time. People can get up and leave at any time, and new folks can come in.
You can also re-buy in if you are out of money. This is the kind of game most often
played at card clubs.

MULTI-TABLE: A poker tournament that includes more than one table. As
people are eliminated, everyone moves down to one, final table.

SATELLITE: A tournament, often a qualifier, held online to get into a bigger
tournament that is held LIVE in a casino. For online play, any tournament can be
considered a satellite tournament, as no one is actually playing “together”. Each satellite
is someone playing from the comfort of his/her home.

HOME GAME: A game of poker played between you and your friends. Often
there is a lot of bluffing; everyone stays in to see every card, and lower stakes. Not
exactly “real” poker.

POSITION: The spot on the table where you are sitting in relation to the dealer
“button”. To the left of the button are the small blind and big blind. The first 4 or 5 spots
are said to be in “early position”. The person on the button is in the best position,
because he gets to see how everyone else has bet when it finally comes to his turn. On
the button and two to the right are said to be in “late position”. All other spots, in a 9 or
10 person ring, are said to be “middle position”. Playing “In Position” is the single-most
important poker skill that beginners lack, or understand. Early position is bad, late
position is good.

UNDER THE GUN (UTG): The first position after the big blind. It is the first
position to bet before the flop and the 3rd to bet after the flop. Designated position #3 in
this book.

POT COMMITTED: If you have put a lot of chips into a pot, you are said to be
pot committed. Pot committed is a fallacy, and should not be used as an excuse.

TILT/ TILTED: A player is said to be “on tilt” after they start betting crazy.
Usually after having taken a bad beat. You need to learn to control your emotions and
avoid going on tilt.

BAD BEAT: A bad beat is when you lose a hand you were leading and the other
guy catches a card against all odds. Taking bad beats often leads to elimination, or more
often, playing on tilt.