Limit Holdem takes patience and well time aggression to be successful as No Limit does however, Limit Holdem requires a tighter style of play, especially in lower limit games where by most Limit play occurs. In this section we will inform you of starting hands and where as well as how to play them according to your starting position.

We have grouped together playable starting hands for limit play and put them in 4 groups for our discussion. Each hand mentioned are ranked in their perspective group in order from greatest to least.

Note: (s) means suited

Group 1: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK(s), TT, AQ(s), AJ(s), KQ(s), AK

Group 2: 99, J10(s), QJ(s), KJ(s), AT(s), AQ, T9(s), KQ, 88, QT(s), 98(s), J9(s), AJ, KT(s)

Group 3: 77, 87(s), Q9(s), T8(s), KJ, QJ, JT, 76(s), 97(s), AX(s), 65(s), 66, AT, 55, 86(s), KT, QT, 54(s), K9(s), J8(s), 75(s)

Group 4: 44, J9, 64(s), T9, 53(s), 33, 98, 43(s), 22, KX(s), T7(s), Q8(s), 87, A9, Q9, 76, 42(s), 32(s), 96(s), 85(s), J8, J7(s), 65, 54, 74(s), K9, 108

(The following Group notes for play are instructions for a stable with nominal raises and re-raises before and after the flop)

Group 1 Notes for a play:
Group 1 hands are recommended to be played not matter what position you might be on the table. However, there are variances upon which you should play your hand depending on what hand in Group 1 you hold.

In lower limit games when holding AA particularly in early position players find themselves raising with this hand only for to have multiple players calling and then to have a flop of 2,6,8. When the turn comes and it is a draw card it is hard to get away from the AA at this point and if an high card hits it will be too suspicious for the other players to call making it an unprofitable venture either way. For this reason, we suggest in lower limit games to just limp in early position and this way you will maximize pot value when you are confident you are ahead on the turn and you can get away from the draws that hit on the turn. When holding AA in middle or late positions with two or less callers it is recommended to raise.

The other Pairs in Group 1 should be raised and played according to the flop. When holding KK to TT and you raise pre-flop only to have a higher card hit it is important to remember to respect a raise on the flop without a draw to the turn. It is seen too many times particularly when a player is holding KK he/she doesn’t get away from the hand when an Ace hit’s the flop. It is a losing proposition to money into the pot after the flop in this situation.

Group 2 Notes for a play:
Hands in Group 2 are encouraged to be played with a few exceptions. If there is a raise and re-raise in front of you laying down these hands is not a bad idea. The reason for this approach is that you are likely to miss the flop and not odds to continue in the hand. It is important to play these hands with pot odds in mind. This means calling when there is a raise with multiple callers allows to logically play these hands. (Refer to our pot odds section for more on this topic)

Group 3 Notes for a play:
Hands in Group 3 should be played with caution meaning that you must hit the flop directly or with enough outs to create right amount of pot odds. These hands are more for late position than earlier position play.

Group 4 Notes for a play:
Group 4 hands should only be played in late position with multiple callers in front and no raises.

Miscellaneous notes:
It is important to analyze how aggressive a table is playing which will determine further which Group of hands to play. In an ultra aggressive table where there is constantly raises and re-raises before and after the flop play Group 1 hands in the same manner as mentioned before, however, play group 2 with caution and preferably in middle or late positions. Stay away from Group 3 and Group 4 hands altogether as playing these hands will cost you more money than the pots created when you hit.

The more aggressive the table the tighter you should play. This doesn’t mean if you are playing a tight table to play ultra aggressive. It only means in this situation to play as the Group Notes instruct.

Don’t bluff…ever! Bluffing is for No-limit poker period and for higher stakes Limit.

Don’t chase straight draws unless you have flush draws to go along with your draw. And only do this when the price is right.

Playing too many hands in Limit Poker is the most common cause for many limit poker player downfalls.