It seems the majority of players online playing poker are playing NL Texas Hold'em ring games (not counting tourneys) vs. limit games. It's a fact that limit is easier than NL yet more people play the NL games? I said before this is great for the true really good NL players but what is the deal? I'm no NL pro and after playing it for a while decided I better drop down to limit and master it first before going back to NL. Are so many people really that good to play NL or is just a trend? With that said should everyones goal be to play NL since there is more money to make? There are a lot of pros that only play limit ring games and make really good money.

I hate NL ring and only play it occasionally.

The reason people are drawn to NL is the big hit. They can sit at a $25 buy in table and win $150. you can't do this at .25/.50 limit, I'd be impressed to see someone wine $100 at 1/2 limit hold em.

we are inherently gamblers so NL is the closest thing poker has to the lottery. You don't need to be a pro to make money at the NL tables just a decent player with a sufficient bankroll.

limit is a crap shoot there is no way to get people out of a hand, if i have rockets i dont want 9 ppl going to a flop with me and if they already have money in and i raise more then likly they are going to call, there is no way to control the odds you are offering so it is almost always a right play to chase cards. i would rather play nl where i can control a lot of the factors

limit a crapshoot? i think not. you'll notice that the main game most of the top pros play is limit. if limit was a crapshoot i dont think this would be the case. and no, if you are in the BB with aces or kings and 9 people have called, (i dont know what fantasy world this is, where the entire table calls, other than .02/.04) raising is not usually the right move, being as you're correct, after they put one bet in, they aren't going to fold to one more, and those hands dont play well multiway. limit is at least 90% mathematical, get that down, play to your pot odds and you will win in the long run.

If you think about Pot odds and chasing, limit is not a game where chasing is worth it unless there's a lot of pre-flop raise. You can't really count on implied odds in this game. (I also, know that in NL you can distort the size of your bet to make it negative EV). IMO chasing is not good at any time!

I mainly play tournaments, I started NL because everybody plays NL, but I'm much better at Limit for 2 reasons :

1-You can do some mistakes without loosing your whole stack
2-Gamblers don't get high stack too quikly by getting lucky.

I used to knock limit for thinking you can't get anyone out and it's just one more bet to call but unless your playing at Party Poker it's not that way. Even then you should be able to grind it out (I'm actually working on this). I guess the better question here is how many people have mastered limit already that are currently playing NL? I understand they are 2 different animals but shouldn't one master limit before playing NL?

I don't think so, they are two completly different games. They both require a lot of skill to master.

I appreciate the complexities of limit but have not mastered them (or come anywhere close to understanding them) myself.

I play exclusively NL SnG and MTTs primarily because I enjoy the format and type of game that results.

I also think that fish who build big stacks in NL are the key to winning tournaments and they provide a ready source of chips to the patient.

I like Limit for ring, and NL for tournament play.

It is not a fact that limit is easier, NL is much more straight forward at the lower levels.

Which game is harder depends on who is playing it.


Now pot-limit, there is a game baby.

I used to only play NL SNG and MTT, because I could never figure out limit. However, with practice I figured it out and it is more reliable than NL, the thing to realise is that bluffing while a part of the game isn't the only thing.

NL is the king right now because of what is on TV, but now anyway I play primarily limit and I plan on keeping it that way and move up levels when I get better and build my BR.