Low Limit No Limit Strategy:
The Importance of Raising

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

I've been playing a lot of hours of low limit no limit hold em on line these days. These are the $100 or $200 maximum buy-in games that frequently include many players who really don't know how to play the game.

There are a few sharks in these waters but many, many clueless or overly timid guppies. There are many things that can be said about these games. But I want you to focus on only one right now. Think about this nugget and it will help your game.

With the blinds so low in absolute dollars, you get many players who will gladly play their hand for just the price of the big blind. Because they are relatively clueless, they will call with just about any cards - as long as it's just for the bargain price of the big blind.

Make it more and they'll fold - unless they've already called, in which case they'll call along for a small raise - figuring that they're already in for a little, what's a little more.

This has a huge impact on how you play your hand. Take advantage of their predisposition and exploit it.

In a nutshell, if you're going to play a marginal hand you usually want to play it for a raise. You want to knock out those players with random hands - making sure that if you draw a powerful hand, they're not going to be sitting there with a freak draw that gives them a higher hand.

Here's an example.

You hold AhJs in middle position. Two player have folded in front of you. You are tempted to just call. You don't have a strong hand yet, after all. Might as well see if you can see the flop cheaply. So you call and get five people seeing the flop with you.

The fop is As7s8c. The small blind checks. The big blind bets $10 in this $1/2 blind $200 max buy-in game. Now what do you do?

These situations come up all the time. So what do you do? You didn't raise. So you have no idea what he has. He could be holding a flush draw and betting on the come. He could be holding 78, and would have folded pre-flop if you raised. Or he could be holding A9 just as easily. You really have no idea.

If you're confidant that he's pushing a lower hand, and if you're therefore tempted to call or raise him, how sure are you that you have the other players beat (whom you let in by not raising)?

OK, you think. That just wasn't a good flop for you. So let me pick another example - a better flop. Would you have been happier with Jh7h6s? At least you know that you've got top kicker with your pair of Jacks. But with five players who might have anything at all, you're still not in an ideal spot are you? Someone may well have called with a low pair, with 87, or maybe they have a flush or a straight draw that you can't knock them off of because they don't understand pot odds, other player don't understand pot odds, and they call your pot sized bet. A straight or a flush card hits on the turn and you're likely dead meat.

A different approach is to throw in that pre-flop raise if you're going to play big cards like AJ, AQ, or KQ. Throw in a raise to knock out the players with completely random or near random hands. That way, if you hit your top pair you'll have fewer players who are likely to be ahead of you.

There are exceptions - but I've found damn few. You probably don't want to play A-x suited for a raise. If you don't hit your flush or a flush draw then you don't want to play that hand at all. And if the right flop comes you're going to have the top hand. So don't bother thinning out the field. Similarly with a low pair in late position. If you don't hit your trips you're folding. And if you do hit your trips you're not worried about a bunch of other people in the pot - you're betting strong anyway.

And of course there are exceptions based on the type of player you are actually up against and where they are sitting. Just because the table as a whole is filled with timid bad players, that doesn't mean that you might have to watch out for someone who is atypically perceptive and taking countermoves against you when you raise on the come - and who might raise you back as a bluff if he thinks you're getting too frisky.

But for the most part, in these low limit passive games push those marginal hands with a raise if you decide to play them. The worst thing in the world that can happen is for your passive play, pre-flop, to get you into trouble with someone with some random hand who called along with you, and who hits some unpredictable miracle flop, catches you totally unaware, and strips you of your stack. Much better to push your hand early, even if you must concede to a combination of a bad flop and betting pressure.

One last consideration on this point. Your raise into an unraised pot against typically timid and weak players will frequently buy you the button - that is to say it will knock out all of the players who remain after you up until the small blind. This will get you last action on all subsequent betting rounds. This is enormously beneficial to you - as you will be able to see how other players react, with their betting action, to the flop, the turn and the river. In games like these, where straightforward play tends to be the rule, you will often be able to pick up the pot by making a bet after the flop - with almost any hand. This is not a certainty of course; some players will slowplay and check raise. But the likelihood of that is, generally speaking, slim. This gives you all the more reason to raise with your hand before the flop.

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