All good advice. The sort of big hands I will come in on vary with the people behind me and (in tournaments) with a whole lot of factors. Speaking of tournaments, I play pretty tight until the blinds and antes make hands very valuable. So even when I have run cold all tournament an ace high all in will often scare off the crew and replenish my stack a bit to allow me to continue waiting for a decent hand.
Back to limit...
I generally count on a tight image to bail me out of necessary bluffs or less than perfect draws but as Koan says everything depends on everything and everybody. Which is another reason for my normal tournament strategy: It gives me time to know them--and time for them to know who I am pretending to be.
Generally speaking I don't play pairs under nine and probably will not go under A,J suited. It takes patience but I love waiting for pairs. So many play suited connectors and grasshopper straights and what not that when the flop does not hit them it leaves you with a lot of options for continuance depending on what/who you are dealing with and whether you hit a set or not. I find internet tournament players can not resist trying to steal if you play weak through the turn. And you can often get them to top up the pot on the river, too. I hate to give anyone a free draw but if a seemingly lucky turn for them will only dig them a grave it can be a good thing...
Also, by having a tight image I can often switch gears from time to time by playing say a J,10 or something that I would not normally play and get free or very cheap draws if say an ace or king hits and they are afraid to bet their queens. Of course a really good player would find out what I have but it is hard for an average player to raise into someone who normally turns over a really high pair or a set.
Limit poker has a lot of variables that need to be handled differently. For instance, in N/L one can force good players off the draw by controlling the pot odds. Unfortunately, with limit (and with poor players) they will simply call all your raises and if you have 5 poor players, your good starting hand is crunched. Koan apparently can deal with this by playing in a bigger blind structure or by being the one with a 6 high straight! And perhaps playing in a bigger game is the only solution to this problem. Now I know a good player can fold those starting aces because after all if you are honest you KNOW when you are beat. But getting all your raises called after having trip aces on the flop and having three guys eventually go to the river with two different flush draws and a straight draw on board is not a good feeling. In N/L only the BIGGEST dummy would be on a bad draw for everything and if he won he would be there for plucking later! But in limit it is now mandatory that they all take the final draw by putting a tiny bit more into the pot. Grrrr...
Sometimes in limit I will simply not bet my great hand before the flop when I know that 3 or 4 people will call. That way some decent money is still in and I (at least) have the option to fold. And apparently many do not have that option! LOL!
One of the most interesting books I have read was by "Anonymous".
amazon.com
It is full of gems and stories from a lifetime of playing limit for a living alongside of Brunson and Tree Top and the like. For instance he says he NEVER plays KQ, KJ, K 10, AJ, A 10 in early position if there is a raise before the flop. He says, "I'll absolutely guarantee you that against AK, KK, AQ, or QQ...7,2 will win more pots than KQ HANDS DOWN! Plus, if you catch nothing on the flop to go with 72, you can quickly get away from the hand, but if something comes out to match KQ you will be almost drawing dead against any of the hands mentioned.
In late position the analysis is somewhat different...
And another small idea. Suited cards make a flush only about 3% more than unsuited cards. So that should never be what anchors your decision. Flush AND a Straight potential is an entirely different situation.
So that is off my chest! Limit is still the only way to go for controlled profit.
As for playing with big pairs, Koan, you have pretty much echoed what Hellmuth said in his first book. He jammed the pot pre-flop with tens or better. Of course when he was born you were thinking of retiring but we gotta give him credit!
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