The Best Online Tournament Players - Part III - Limit Hold 'Em
Jeff Henry
February 18th 2006
You wouldn’t necessarily think Limit Hold Em is an entirely different game than No Limit, but it truly is. Limit Hold Em is a funny thing. People berate Limit Hold Em as being second class. Often people will show in a Limit tournament and complain that they didn’t realize it was Limit and state how they hate Limit and Limit is gay, etc. I have had considerable success in No Limit Hold em. Having learned Hold Em playing Limit, some of my earliest and biggest wins were in Limit tournaments. It requires a special talent to be consistently good at Limit hold em, especially on PokerStars, where the blind levels increase quickly as compared to other sites. This might seem to the casual observer to be a minor difference, but it isn’t. For example, on PokerStars, yours truly has had precious little success in limit tournaments, but I win limit tournaments on PartyPoker quite often. Oh, I make the money some on PokerStars, but I just can’t seem to adjust my game there to have the same success I have on PartyPoker.
I’d say this speaks to the fact that I don’t play enough limit on PokerStars, but it also illustrates how much talent is required to be a successful Limit Hold Em player. The best of these players have figured out the difference between Limit and No Limit, and how to adjust their games to the site they are on and the blind structure therein. In my opinion, because of the nature of Limit, consistent wining at Limit is more impressive than it would be in No Limit. And as before, my opinion is based mostly on higher buy ins and mostly on PokerStars and PartyPoker.
Gank is an impressive player at any game, but he has definitely had quality success in Limit Hold Em. One thing that makes me want to give him a shout here is that he plays lower buy ins and wins regularly. This is particularly difficult in Limit because of the crazy play and the amount of chasing that occurs, even when the odds don’t justify the chase. It’s like tiptoeing through a minefield. But, as talented as he is, there are better Limit players.
AmuLeto and smoesmom have had great results in Limit tournaments, but only over a short period of time, so you can’t say for sure whether that represents quality long term play or a slight statistical anomaly. Miss Bec31 and pokerponcho have had solid results over a longer period of time, but their play doesn’t stand out in my mind as much as two others.
This final choice is a tough one. Colson10 is one of the best No Limit Hold em players around, and his success at No Limit is actually eclipsed by his Limit success. On PartyPoker and PokerStars, he has huge wins and consistency that would seem to defy the inherent difficulty of the game.
It is a close call, but colson10 is second best, in my opinion, to AppSt2004. Limit seems to be his specialty. He has been playing limit longer than just about anyone, and has had consistent success over that entire stretch. I have come to expect to see him with a big stack late in the biggest buy in limit online tournaments. He does what I need to learn. He saves bets by laying down a hand when a bad river comes. He also plays aggressively, but doesn’t simply try to run people over like a bull in a china shop. He appears to have a good idea of when he is ahead and will punish players who chase from behind. He also appears to have a good idea of the players around him, knowing who will chase, who the rocks are, and who the calling stations are, and he knows how to combat them all.
Don’t be surprised to hear of final table appearances for AppSt2004 in coming years in the Limit hold em format of the PartyPoker Million cruises. Check him out, and if you can pick up some tips you would do yourself a huge favor.
And as an aside, for those of you who don’t like Limit, think again. The judgment, specialized skills and discipline needed in Limit tournaments actually compliment your No Limit game. I play better No Limit when I play some Limit tournaments as well. I think it has to do with patience and discipline, but it absolutely helps my No Limit game that I play some Limit. Maybe that doesn’t make sense to you, and I don’t have a full explanation for why that is, but I have talked with many Hold Em players who agree with me. Try playing some Limit mixed in with your No Limit, and I bet you’ll see an improvement in your Hold em game overall.
