Limit vs No-Limit Hold'em: how your decisions change

If you only know one of the two games, read the Texas Hold'em guide for the rules first. The betting mechanics are on how fixed-limit betting works.

Both games are six-handed with blinds of 1 and 2. The only difference is what a bet is allowed to be.

One formula runs through every situation below. The equity you need to call is call ÷ (pot after your call). If your share of the pot is bigger than that, calling shows a profit.

In limit you call 4 to win 32 and need to be right about one time in nine. In no-limit you call 60 to win 120 and need to be right one time in three. Same cards, same opponent, a completely different bar.

You raised on the button and both blinds called. The flop gave you top pair, the big blind check-raised your bet, the turn brought a third club and the river put a king on top of your queens. The big blind bets again.

Your hand

Q♦ J♦

Board

Q♣ 8♣ 3♥ 6♣ K♦

Your pair of queens beats every missed draw, for example T♥ 9♥, which needed a jack on the flop and a jack or a seven once the 6 turned. It loses to any flush, such as A♣ 5♣, to a king and to the sets and two pairs that check-raise flops. You are not betting for value here; you are deciding whether to catch a bluff.

2/4 limit. Preflop you raised to 4, the small blind and big blind called: pot 12. On the flop both checked, you bet 2, the small blind folded, the big blind raised to 4 and you called: pot 20. The big blind bet 4 on the turn and you called: 28. Now the big blind bets 4 on the river: 32 in the pot and 4 to call. Break-even: 4 ÷ (32 + 4) = 4 ÷ 36 = 11.1%, or 8 to 1.

1/2 no-limit. You raised to 6 and both blinds called: pot 18. On the flop you bet 9, the small blind folded, the big blind raised to 21 and you called: pot 60. The big blind checked the turn when the third club landed and you checked behind. Now the big blind bets 60, the size of the pot: 120 in the pot and 60 to call. Break-even: 60 ÷ (120 + 60) = 60 ÷ 180 = 33.3%, or 2 to 1.

In limit the pot answers the question. If this opponent bluffs even one river in eight with a missed draw, folding costs you chips over time, so you call and sometimes lose. In no-limit the opponent answers the question. Against a player who rarely bets the pot on the river without a flush or better, 33% is a bar your queens don't clear, and folding is fine. Against a player who turns missed draws into bluffs, calling is right. The hand is the same; the work is different.

Notice too why the turn went differently. In limit the big blind fired 4 into 20 because one big bet is cheap and it denies you a free card. In no-limit the same player checked, because betting the turn into a scary board would mean risking 40 or more with the stack still behind.

In limit you bet every street and let the fixed size do the work, and you raise with one pair far more often than a no-limit player would. In no-limit you choose three bet sizes, and the third one can put your whole stack in question.

You raised from the cutoff, the small blind folded and the big blind called. The board is dry: no flush draw, and few straight draws until the 4 on the turn.

Your hand

A♠ K♥

Board

K♣ 7♦ 2♠ 4♥ 9♣

Hands that call you down on a board like this are worse kings such as K♦ J♠, pocket pairs such as 8♥ 8♣, and the occasional set such as 7♠ 7♥ that has you beaten from the flop.

2/4 limit. You raised to 4, the big blind called: pot 9. You bet 2 on the flop and were called: 13. You bet 4 on the turn and were called: 21. On the river you bet 4 again and are called: 29. There is no sizing decision anywhere. The river bet is correct whenever you are ahead more than half the time you are called, and against worse kings and pairs you clearly are. If the big blind check-raises the turn or river instead, you call one more big bet and see a showdown; the most the hand can cost you from the flop on is a handful of big bets, never your stack. That is why limit players also raise with top pair when an opponent bets into them: the raise costs one extra bet and worse hands pay it.

1/2 no-limit. You raised to 6, the big blind called: pot 13. You bet 8 on the flop (a bit over half the pot) and were called: 29. You bet 18 on the turn and were called: 65. You have 168 behind. Now you have a real choice. A small river bet of about 30 targets worse kings and pairs; a check keeps the pot at 65 and gives up a little value for safety. If you bet 30 and the big blind check-raises all-in for 168, you face calling 138 to win 263: 138 ÷ (263 + 138) = 138 ÷ 401 = 34.4%. One pair rarely clears that bar against a player who check-raises all-in on the river, so you fold and lose the 30. That risk is why no-limit players talk about pot control with one pair: three streets of value at full size build a pot the hand can't defend.

In limit, almost always. The pot offers a price around 8% and a flush draw hits the next card about 19% of the time, and with several callers you can raise it for value. In no-limit one bet can set a price the draw can't pay.

You called a raise from the big blind with a suited ace and flopped the nut flush draw.

Your hand

A♥ 8♥

Board

K♥ 6♥ 2♣

Count the outs exactly: 13 hearts, minus 2 in your hand and 2 on the board, leaves 9. On the flop there are 47 unseen cards, so the turn is a heart 9 ÷ 47 = 19.1% of the time. If the turn misses, the river is a heart 9 ÷ 46 = 19.6% of the time. Over both cards together you make the flush 1 − (38 ÷ 47 × 37 ÷ 46) = 35.0% of the time. Because you hold the ace, no one can make a bigger flush, though a flush can still lose to a full house on rare boards.

2/4 limit. Under the gun raised to 4, the hijack and the button called, the small blind folded and you called: pot 17. You check the flop, under the gun bets 2, the hijack and the button call: 23. You call 2 to win 23, so you need 2 ÷ 25 = 8%. You have 19.1% for the next card alone, far more than the price. You can do better than call. If you check-raise to 4 and all three call, you put 4 into a street that collects 16, a quarter of the new money, with about 35% of the equity. That is a value raise with a hand that hasn't made anything yet, and it only works because the pot is multiway and the bet is fixed.

1/2 no-limit. Under the gun raised to 7, the hijack called, the button folded and you called: pot 22. You check, under the gun bets 16, about three-quarters of the pot, and the hijack folds. You call 16 to win 38, so you need 16 ÷ 54 = 29.6%. You have 19.1% for the turn card, and you can't count the two-card 35.0% because under the gun can bet again on the turn. The call only works on implied odds: you would need to win roughly another 30 chips on average after a heart arrives, and the third heart is exactly the card that makes a careful opponent stop paying. Under the gun has 177 behind after the bet, so the chips exist; whether they come to you depends on the player.

Rarely in limit once the pot is big, because one bet offers the caller 8 to 1 or better. A pot-sized no-limit bet offers only 2 to 1, which is why no-limit bluffs fold made hands and limit bluffs mostly don't. In limit, pressure comes from the raise, not the bet, and the best-known version is the free-card play.

The river bluff. Go back to Situation 1 from the other seat. In limit, betting 4 into 28 needs to work 4 ÷ (28 + 4) = 12.5% of the time to break even, which sounds easy, but the caller needs only 4 ÷ 36 = 11.1% to call, so almost any pair can call, and your bluff mostly gets through against hands that can't beat a bluff. In no-limit, betting 60 into 60 needs to work 60 ÷ 120 = 50% of the time, and the caller needs 33.3%, so the same pair now has a real decision and often folds. A limit bluff is cheap but rarely works; a no-limit bluff is expensive and often does.

The free-card play. You called an under-the-gun raise on the button with suited connectors and flopped an open-ended straight draw. Both blinds folded.

Your hand

J♥ 10♥

Board

9♣ 8♦ 3♠

Any queen or any seven makes your straight: 8 outs. The turn completes it 8 ÷ 47 = 17.0% of the time, and over both cards 1 − (39 ÷ 47 × 38 ÷ 46) = 31.5%.

2/4 limit. Pot after the preflop raise and call: 11. Under the gun bets 2, you raise to 4, under the gun calls: 19. Your raise cost 2 more than a call. On the turn the bet doubles to 4, and under the gun, facing a raiser who acts after them, usually checks. If you missed, you check behind and see the river for free; the 2 you added on the flop saved the 4 you would have paid on the turn. If you hit, you bet 4 into a pot you built. If under the gun bets the turn anyway, you call 4 to win 23 and need 4 ÷ 27 = 14.8%, still under your 17.0%. The raise also wins the pot outright sometimes, which a flat call never does. The play works because the price of the raise is fixed and the turn bet costs double.

1/2 no-limit. Pot after the preflop raise and call: 15. Under the gun bets 10 and you raise to 30. As a pure bluff that raise needs to work 30 ÷ (25 + 30) = 54.5% of the time; your 31.5% equity when called makes up part of the gap, but not all of it. More important, under the gun can re-raise to 90 or move all-in, and then you have to fold a 31.5% hand or commit 100 big blinds with jack high. If they just call, a free card is far from certain: they can lead the turn for 40 or 50, which costs you much more than the raise saved. Raising draws works in no-limit too, but it is a semi-bluff for stacks, not a cheap way to buy a card.

In limit the raise is always two small bets, so you can't choose a size to isolate one player or push the blinds out. Your edge comes from which hands you play and where you sit. In no-limit the raise size and the stack depth shape the whole hand.

You are in the cutoff with ace-jack and under the gun has limped for 2.

Your hand

A♦ J♠

2/4 limit. You raise to 4: pot 9. The small blind needs 3 to win 9, so 3 ÷ 12 = 25%. If the small blind folds, the big blind needs 2 to win 9, so 2 ÷ 11 = 18.2%, and if the big blind folds too, the limper faces the same 18.2%. Every call in between makes the next player's price better: if the big blind calls, the limper needs 2 to win 11, 2 ÷ 13 = 15.4%. Those are prices almost any two cards can pay, so expect a three- or four-way flop. Two things follow. First, hand selection matters more: you will see the flop against several hands and can't bluff them all out, so hands that make the best hand at showdown (big pairs, big aces, suited broadway) are worth more than hands that depend on folds. Second, position matters more: with so many bets on fixed sizes, acting last on every street is how you save bets with marginal hands and earn extra ones with good ones. Early-position hands are tighter because you'll play them out of position against several callers. If someone raises ahead of you, re-raising to 6 with your best hands is still right, because each extra small bet goes in with an equity edge, but don't expect it to thin the field much.

1/2 no-limit. You raise to 10, a standard size with one limper: pot 15. If the small blind folds, the big blind needs 8 to win 15, so 8 ÷ 23 = 34.8%, and so does the limper if the big blind folds; if the big blind calls, the limper needs 8 to win 23, 8 ÷ 31 = 25.8%. Many hands fold at that price and the flop is often heads-up. If the limper re-raises to 34 instead, you decide for 24 more with 190 behind, and the answer depends on the stack depth. With 100 big blinds a hand like ace-jack calls or folds on the strength of position and the opponent; with 30 big blinds the same re-raise would be a question about going all-in. Stack depth matters far less in limit: the cap on each street limits what any one street can cost, so a single decision rarely puts your whole stack at risk.

The thread through all five is the same. Fixed-limit Hold'em is a game of many small decisions where the pot usually makes calling right and value comes from one extra bet at a time. No-limit is a game of a few large decisions where the bet size decides who can continue. Neither is easier; they reward different habits.

Limit Hold'em. The "H" in HORSE and THORSE is fixed-limit Hold'em, as are all the other games in those rotations, and the five habits above are what a no-limit player has to retrain before the rotation reaches the Hold'em round.

Mix Poker offers Limit Hold'em, not no-limit Hold'em. You can play it on its own or inside the HORSE or THORSE rotation, heads-up or 6-max, free against the Beginner bots in a web browser at learnmixpoker.com or in the iPhone app Mixed Poker Coaching. Every opponent is a computer opponent. To start, open Play, pick an opponent and choose Limit Hold'em or a rotation under Format. In a rotation the game switches every 6 hands, so you'll get a few Hold'em hands at a time, the way a live mix deals them.

If you are coming from no-limit, work through the situations in order: call rivers for one bet, bet and raise one pair for value, count draws against the pot, raise draws for free cards, and expect multiway flops. The learning path for Hold'em players and the list of mistakes Hold'em players make in HORSE cover what comes after Hold'em.