Low Limit Poker

Low Limit Poker Cash Games Cash games describes the poker format where the chips in front of you have a real monetary value. If you win a $10 pot, then your bankroll increases by exactly this amount. There are 4 main formats for these games at almost every poker site. Low Limit No Limit Holdem Strategy and Tactics - This is a site devoted to small stakes no limit Texas Hold 'Em poker. You will find information on playing and winning no limit online poker. Poker strategy, tactics, starting hands and play advice within. Deuce-to-seven low is often called Kansas City lowball (the no-limit single-draw variation) or just 'low poker'. It is almost the direct opposite of standard poker: high hand loses. It is not as commonly used as the ace-to-five low method. A low hand qualifies for half of the pot when it is an 8-low or better. If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand scoops the entire pot. Omaha 8 or Better is usually a fixed limit game, meaning players can only bet and raise a set amount - one big blind preflop and on. The best low minimum deposit limit poker sites accept payment options that coincide with their minimum deposit limit to give you the most options. These are the minimum transfer amounts from some popular banking methods, although the minimums might be different to what you'll find as the online casino's minimum deposit.

Once you graduate from playing the Texas holdem micro limits
the next step is the low limit tables. Of course you might have
skipped the micro limits and jumped right into low limit play.

The low limits start at .50 / $1 for limit play and go up to
$3 / $6. No limit ranges from buy ins of $25 up to $200. You
play low limit Texas holdem online at around the same levels
that most land based poker rooms offer their lowest games.

You can’t play for free or micro limits in most land based
poker rooms and casinos. But you can still find limit games as
low as $1 / $2 or $2 / $4 in some rooms and no limit games with
buy ins as low as $100.

Learn the characteristics of low limit Texas holdem games,
bankroll requirements, differences between limit and no limit
play, and strategy considerations below.

Competition

The overall competition at the low limits is almost identical
to what you find at the micro limits. The average player is not
very good and doesn’t pay attention.

Many players have seen poker on television and base most of
their play on what they’ve seen. They bluff too much and can’t
wait to push all their chips into the pot while saying “I’m all
in” whether you can hear them or not.

In addition to poor playing skills they tend to play too many
hands, call more than they raise, and are ripe for the picking
if you know what you’re doing. The average low limit Texas
holdem player is also impatient and ignores bankroll
requirements, pot odds, and anything else that might help them
win.

Your goal is to be almost 100% opposite of the average low
limit player. Everything you just read should be avoided.

You should always be paying attention, play fewer hands,
remain patient, use pot odds, know and follow the proper
bankroll requirements, and raise more often than you call.

Limit vs No Limit

Other than the obvious differences between limit and no limit
play you need to be aware of a few things about low limit Texas
holdem.

Once you learn the ins and outs and are able to turn a
consistent profit at this level you can make good money playing
no limit. A good player can fairly consistently win $100 or more
a day at the $100 or $200 buy in tables. While this won’t make
you rich it’s more than some people make working for a living.

The limit games are usually softer than the no limit games
but your hourly win rate is less because you can only get so
much money in the pot with your best hands.

When you first start playing online if you start at
the low limits consider playing the limit games until you’re a
consistent winner. Then switch to no limit play to accelerate
the building of your bankroll.

When you play limit holdem stick with tight starting hand
selections , play aggressively, and learn to use pot odds inside
out both when you’re betting and when you’re chasing a better
hand.

Use the same things when you switch to no limit play and add
the skills you need to read your opponents. Of course you want
to know as much as possible about your opponents while playing
limit holdem as well, but it can magnify your results playing no
limit.

Bankroll

Keeping a proper bankroll amount is important at every level
of Texas holdem. The amount you need to keep is somewhat related
to how good of a player you are, but even good players have
downswings and losing streaks.

Even good poker players have losing streaks at low limit
Texas holdem.

If this comes as a shock to you, brush up on your odds and
poker math skills. Every player goes through periods where the
short term variance is against them.

Even when you’re in a hand as a big favorite you probably
only have an 85 or 90% chance of winning. But most of the hands
you play have a much smaller edge even if you’re the favorite.
It’s common to have less than a 10% edge in most hands at the
holdem tables.

If you play 100 hands and in each you have a 55% chance to
win you’ll win 55 hands and lose 45 hands. Most Texas holdem
players agree that a 55% chance of winning is a substantial
advantage and will take the odds as often as possible.

But let’s look at the actual numbers. Can you lose 10 hands
in a row and still win 55 out of 100?

Though it won’t happen often, you can and will lose 10
straight hands with only an expected win of 55%. Losing streaks
of five or six straight happen all of the time.

If you lose the first 10 hands with a 55 to 45 edge you still
only need to win 55 out of the next 90 hands to reach the
expected win rate.

Though it makes most players mad when they lose five or eight
or ten hands in a row when they were the favorite, you should be
happy when this happens. Because every hand you lose when you’re
the favorite gets one of the losses out of the way. Every string
of losses as a favorite gets you closer to the string of wins
when you’re the favorite.

Because if you can have a 10 loss streak as a favorite you
can and will have a 10 win streak as a favorite.

All of this discussion about streaks and losing when you’re
the favorite is simply to show why even winning players have to
have bankrolls large enough to keep them in the game when they
hit a rough patch.

Recommended Bankroll Size

The standard recommendation for bankroll size for limit Texas
holdem is 200 to 300 times the big blind. So if you’re playing
$1 / $2 you should have $400 to $600 in total bankroll.
Honestly, if you’re a consistent winner you should be fine at
the 200 times the big blind level at the low limits if you’re
able to block out downswings mentally.

One of the big reasons to keep a large bankroll is so you
don’t worry about anything at the table except making the most
profitable long term plays. Some players keep 500 times or more
the big blind so they’re always properly bankrolled and can jump
up a level if a juicy game opens up.

No limit Texas holdem players should have 20 to 30 times the
buy in. $100 buy in no limit players should have $2,000 to
$3,000 in total bankroll. If you want to have enough to play at
the next level if a good game becomes available every once in a
while keep as much as $5,000 or more available.

At the low limit games many recreational players don’t keep a
separate bankroll because they can easily replace or replenish
it from their regular jobs.

Keeping a Dedicated Bankroll

If you hope to move up to the medium and high levels you
should seriously consider keeping a separate bankroll and use it
only for playing poker. You can make a little money at the lower
levels but if you continue improving and building a larger
bankroll you’ll have an opportunity to make some real money at
the higher levels.

To have the best chance to do this you need to start training
your mind now and a big part of this is keeping a bankroll
separate from your other money.

Strategy

At the free money tables and the micro limit tables you’re
almost forced to play straightforward poker with no bluffs or
fancy plays. At least that’s the way you’re forced to play if
you want to maximize your profit because the competition is so
poor.

Once you start playing at the low limits you can find a few
opportunities to add a few advanced plays and tactics to your
game. The important things are to not go overboard and to
recognize the places where you can alter your play profitably.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking any of this means playing
solid ABC poker isn’t profitable. If you play a straightforward
game including betting when you have a good hand, checking and
calling when you’re behind but have the correct pot odds, and
focus on strong starting hands you’ll be profitable.

But once you reach a point where you’re profitable the next
step is finding ways to improve your profitability. Here are a
couple of areas where you might be able to improve your play.

Bluffing

This is the lowest level of play that you should consider
bluffing unless you have a strong read on an opponent. And even
at this level you should try a bluff sparingly. If you’re
bluffing on the river more than 5%, or one out of 20 times,
you’re probably bluffing too often.

The best places to start introducing a few bluffs are on the
flop and / or turn when you can try a semi bluff from time to
time.

A semi bluff is when you think you might have the best hand,
but if you don’t you have a draw or draws that can improve your
hand.

Take the following scenario for example.

You see the flop holding the ace of spades and jack of spades
and the flop has the king of spades, queen of spades, and the
jack of clubs. This gives you second pair with top kicker, a
flush draw, and a straight draw.

This is the perfect hand to either lead with a bet or make a
raise if an opponent bets into you.

You may have the best hand but an opponent could have a king,
two pair, or possibly a set or straight. You should be willing
to play this hand aggressively in most situations.

Even if you had the same hand without the flush draw it
offers a good place for a semi bluff. You only have four outs
for a straight, but unless the board pairs when you hit a
straight it’s the nuts. Even the few times when the board pairs
your hand is good most of the time.

By playing aggressively you’ll pick up enough uncontested
pots in this situation to make up for the times when you’re
behind and you don’t draw out.

Starting Hands

Another tactic you can start experimenting with on a limited
basis is adding a few more starting hands to keep from being too
predictable.

Most of your opponents still won’t be paying attention but
you’ll run into a few good players at the low limits. The
important thing is figuring out which ones they are so you can
alter your play when it can do the most good. In other words, it
doesn’t do you any good to alter your play if the good player
won’t see it or misses it.

Summary

Low limit Texas holdem can still be played for a profit by
anyone willing to learn how to play solid poker. You don’t have
to do anything special in order to win, but you can change up
your play from time to time.

At higher limits you often end up playing the player as much
as you play your cards. But at the low limits you still need to
focus on playing the cards first because the players are often
too unpredictable to get a good read.

Once you master the low limits with simple solid poker start
experimenting with your play. But if you find your results
suffering just go back to ABC poker and keep ramping up your
profits and bankroll.

Lowball or low poker is a variant of poker in which the normal ranking of hands is inverted. Several variations of lowball poker exist, differing in whether aces are treated as high cards or low cards, and whether straights and flushes are used.

Low-poker ranking[edit]

Lowball inverts the normal ranking of poker hands. There are three methods of ranking low hands, called ace-to-five low, deuce-to-seven low, and ace-to-six low. The 'ace-to-five' method is most common. A sub-variant within this category is 'high-low poker', in which the highest and lowest hands split the pot, with the highest hand taking any odd chips if the pot does not divide equally. Sometimes straights and/or flushes count in determining which hand is highest but not in determining which hand is lowest, being reckoned as a no-pair hand in the latter instance, so that a player with such a holding can win both ways and thus take the entire pot.

Lowball variants[edit]

The most popular forms of lowball are ace-to-five lowball (also known as California lowball), and deuce-to-seven lowball (also known as Kansas City lowball). Ace-to-five lowball gets its name because the best hand at that form is 5-4-3-2-A. In ace-to-five lowball straights and flushes do not prevent a hand from being low. You win by simply having the five lowest cards. Deuce-to seven lowball gets its name because the best hand at that form is 7-5-4-3-2 (not of the same suit).^[1]

Ace-to-five[edit]

Ace-to-five low is the most common method for evaluating low hands in poker, nearly universal in U.S. casinos, especially in high-low split games.

Low Limit Poker Starting Hands

As in all low hand games, pairs count against the player. That is, any hand with no pair defeats any hand with a pair; one pair hands defeat two pair or three of a kind, etc. No-pair hands are compared starting with the highest-ranking card, just as in high poker, except that the high hand loses. In ace-to-five low, straights and flushes are ignored, and aces play as the lowest card.

For example, the hand 8-5-4-3-2 defeats 9-7-6-4-3, because eight-high is lower than nine-high. The hand 7-6-5-4-3 defeats both, because seven-high is lower still, even though it would be a straight if played for high. Aces are low, so 8-5-4-3-A defeats 8-5-4-3-2. Also, A-A-9-5-3 (a pair of aces) defeats 2-2-5-4-3 (a pair of deuces), but both of those would lose to any no-pair hand such as K-J-8-6-4. In the rare event that hands with pairs tie, kickers are used just as in high poker (but reversed): 3-3-6-4-2 defeats 3-3-6-5-A.

This is called ace-to-five low because the lowest (and therefore best) possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A, called a 'wheel'. The next best possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A, followed by 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 6-5-4-3-2, 7-4-3-2-A, 7-5-3-2-A, etc.

When speaking, low hands are referred to by their highest-ranking card or cards. Any nine-high hand can be called 'a nine', and is defeated by any 'eight'. Two cards are frequently used: the hand 8-6-5-4-2 can be called 'an eight-six' and will defeat 'an eight-seven' such as 8-7-5-4-A.

Another common notation is calling a particular low hand 'smooth' or 'rough.' A smooth low hand is one where the remaining cards after the highest card are themselves very low; a rough low hand is one where the remaining cards are high. For instance, 8-7-6-3-A would be referred to as a 'rough eight,' but 8-4-3-2-A would be referred to as a 'smooth eight.' Some players refer to a hand containing a 4-3-2-A (in ace-to-five low or ace-to-six low) or a 5-4-3-2 (in deuce-to-seven low) as a 'nut' (thus, in ace-to-five or ace-to-six, a 7-4-3-2-A would be called a 'seven nut').

High-low split games with ace-to-five low are usually played cards speak, that is, without a declaration. Frequently a qualifier is required for low (typically 8-high or 9-high). Some hands (particularly small straights and flushes) may be both the low hand and the high hand, and are particularly powerful (or particularly dangerous if they are mediocre both ways). Winning both halves of the pot in a split-pot game is called 'scooping' or 'hogging' the pot. The perfect hand in such a game is called a 'steel wheel', 5-4-3-2-A of one suit, which plays both as perfect low and a straight flush high. Note that it is possible—though unlikely—to have this hand and still lose money. If the pot has three players, and one other player has a mixed-suit wheel, and a third has better straight flush, the higher straight flush wins the high half of the pot, and the two wheels split the low half, hence the steel wheel wins only a quarter of a three-way pot.

Ace-to-five lowball, a five-card draw variant, is often played with a joker added to the deck. The joker plays as the lowest card not already present in the hand (in other words, it is a wild card): 7-5-4-Joker-A, for example, the joker plays as a 2. This can cause some interesting effects for high-low split games. Let's say that Alice has 6-5-4-3-2 (called a 'straight six')--a reasonably good hand for both high and low. Burt has Joker-6-5-4-3. By applying the rule for wild cards in straights, Burt's joker plays as a 7 for high, giving him a seven-high straight to defeat Alice's six-high straight. For low, the joker plays as an ace—the lowest card not in Burt's hand—and his hand also defeats Alice for low, because his low hand is 6-5-4-3-A, lower than her straight six by one notch. Jokers are very powerful in high-low split games.

Wheel[edit]

A wheel or bicycle is the poker hand 5-4-3-2-A, regardless of suit, which is a five-high straight, the lowest-ranking of the straights.

In ace-to-five low poker, where aces are allowed to play as low and straights and flushes do not count against a hand's 'low' status, this is the best possible hand. In high/low split games, it is both the best possible low hand and a competitive high hand. The best deuce-to-seven low hand, 7-5-4-3-2, is also sometimes called 'the wheel'.

Ace-to-six[edit]

Ace-to-six low is not as commonly used as the ace-to-five low method, but it is common among home games in the eastern region of the United States, some parts of the mid-west, and also common in the United Kingdom (it is the traditional ranking of London lowball, a stud poker variant).

As in all lowball games, pairs and trips are bad: that is, any hand with no pair defeats any hand with a pair; one pair hands defeat two pair or trips, etc. No-pair hands are compared starting with the highest-ranking card, just as in high poker, except that the high hand loses. In ace-to-six low, straights and flushes are accounted for (as compared to Ace-to-five) and count as high (and are therefore bad), and aces play as the lowest card.

For example, the hand 8-5-4-3-2 defeats 9-7-6-4-3, because eight-high is lower than nine-high. The hand 7-6-5-4-2 defeats both, because seven-high is lower still. The hand 7-6-5-4-3 would lose, because it is a straight. Aces are low, so 8-5-4-3-A defeats 8-5-4-3-2. Also, A-A-9-5-3 (a pair of aces) defeats 2-2-5-4-3 (a pair of deuces), but both of those would lose to any no-pair hand such as K-J-8-6-4. In the rare event that hands with pairs tie, kickers are used just as in high poker (but reversed): 3-3-6-4-2 defeats 3-3-6-5-A.

It is called ace-to-six low because the best possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A (also known as a Chicago Wheel or a 64), followed by 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 7-4-3-2-A, 7-5-3-2-A, etc.

When speaking, low hands are referred to by their highest-ranking card or cards. Any nine-high hand can be called 'a nine', and is defeated by any 'eight'. Two cards are frequently used: the hand 8-6-5-4-2 can be called 'an eight-six' and will defeat 'an eight-seven' such as 8-7-5-4-A.

A wild card plays as whatever rank would make the lowest hand. Thus, in 6-5-Joker-2-A, the joker plays as a 3, while in Joker-5-4-3-2 it would play as a 7 (an ace or six would make a straight).

High-low split games with ace-to-six low are usually played with a declaration.

Deuce-to-seven[edit]

Deuce-to-seven low is often called Kansas City lowball (the no-limit single-draw variation) or just 'low poker'. It is almost the direct opposite of standard poker: high hand loses. It is not as commonly used as the ace-to-five low method.

As in all lowball games, pairs and trips are bad: that is, any hand with no pair defeats any hand with a pair; one pair hands defeat two pair or trips, etc. No-pair hands are compared starting with the highest-ranking card, just as in high poker, except that the high hand loses. In deuce-to-seven low, straights and flushes count as high (and are therefore bad). Aces are always high (and therefore bad).

For example, the hand 8-5-4-3-2 defeats 9-7-6-4-3, because eight-high is lower than nine-high. The hand 7-6-5-4-2 defeats both, because seven-high is lower still. The hand 7-6-5-4-3 would lose, because it is a straight. Aces are high, so Q-8-5-4-3 defeats A-8-5-4-3. In the rare event that hands with pairs tie, kickers are used just as in high poker (but reversed): 3-3-6-4-2 defeats 3-3-6-5-2.

Since the ace always plays high, A-5-4-3-2 (also called the Nut Ace) is not considered a straight; is simply ace-high no pair (it would therefore lose to any king-high, but would defeat A-6-4-3-2).

The best possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2 (hence the name deuce-to-seven low), followed by 7-6-4-3-2, 7-6-5-3-2, 7-6-5-4-2, 8-5-4-3-2, 8-6-4-3-2, etc. Hands are sometimes referred to by their absolute rank, e.g. 7-5-4-3-2 (#1, said 'number one', see table).

Low Limit Poker Strategy

When speaking, low hands are referred to by their highest-ranking card or cards. Any nine-high hand can be called 'a nine', and is defeated by any 'eight'. Two cards are frequently used: the hand 8-6-5-4-2 can be called 'an eight-six' and will defeat 'an eight-seven' such as 8-7-5-4-2.

Another common notation is calling a particular low hand 'smooth' or 'rough.' A smooth low hand is one where the remaining cards after the highest card are themselves very low; a rough low hand is one where the remaining cards are high. For instance, 8-7-6-4-2 would be referred to as a 'rough eight,' but 8-5-4-3-2 would be referred to as a 'smooth eight.'

Wild cards are rarely used in deuce-to-seven games, but if used they play as whatever rank would make the lowest hand. Thus, in 7-6-Joker-3-2, the joker plays as a 4, while in Joker-5-4-3-2 it would play as a 7 (a six would make a straight).

High-low split games with deuce-to-seven low are usually played with a declaration.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Low Ball Poker Variants'. WorldSeriesOfPoker.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.