Limit Texas Holdem Introduction

This article is intended to assist beginner/intermediate players improve their Limit Texas Hold'em game. If you have little poker playing experience, you will need to refer back to this text after/during play in order to review the concepts and strategies outlined. This article will present a simplistic view and offer advice that follows a certain style of play. Accordingly, there will be no in-depth discussion of exceptions and variations in play.

Fixed Limit Texas Hold'em is the most popular version of poker in the world today. It is the favored game of casinos, both offline and online, as up to ten players can participate in each game. Furthermore, weak players have a decent chance of winning in the short term and, in general players do not bust out too quickly and tend to pay rake for a good while before they do.

However, Limit Texas Hold'em can prove deceptive to less skilled players. A false notion held amongst players is that you can simply sit and call down the hands whenever you have pot odds, without taking much notice of your opponents. In fact, this is how a majority of Limit Texas Hold'em players act on low limit tables ($2-$4 or $4-$8). In addition, intermediate players are very commonly afflicted with a lack of discipline (tightness) and a lack of applied aggression (strong attack in the appropriate spots).

In general, an overall tight/aggressive style of play is probably the most profitable, especially in intermediate/strong games. As such, the purpose of this guide is to provide you with information on this style. It will advocate playing few starting hands while trying to take command in many pots and using positional advantage. The suggested strategies focus on pre-flop and flop play as it is here that most beginner/intermediate players make their biggest mistakes. If you play correctly until the turn card, you will not face too many difficult decisions and will be well on your way to becoming an expert player.