World Poker Tour Different From Our Game
With the ever growing popularity of televized poker, many people are watching the World Poker Tour and getting into games for real money, both online and in the casinos. The problem is that televised Poker Tournaments are nothing like the games that people play regularly, especially the games beginners start with. The World Poker Tour is so much different from a regular game for three major reasons.
First, tournament strategy is completely different from regular ring game strategy. Second, the No-Limit betting structure changes the way the game is played completely. And finally, the World Poker Tour tournaments are played for huge amounts of money, whereas beginners play for a few dollars, which greatly affects strategy.
Limit vs. No-Limit
The first major difference between poker on television and regular poker is the betting structure. The tournaments on television are No-Limit, which means a player can bet any amount he or she chooses at any time. Many poker games are Limit Games. In a limit game, the amounts of the bets are fixed. A 5-10 Limit Game means that the bets in the first two rounds of betting(before the flop and after the flop) must be in 5$ increments. The second two rounds(after the turn and after the river card) are in 10$ increments. Most live and online poker rooms allow a maximum of 4 bets per round. This means that in a 5-10 game, the maximum bet preflop would be 20$.
The result is far more bluffing in No-Limit Games, as well as much tighter play. The fear of being put all-in often forces people to wait for better hands than normal. On the opposite end, players can play with more hands in a Limit game because they know they won't be put to a decision for all their chips.
Tournament vs. Ring Game
Tournament poker strategy is very different from normal Limit Hold'em strategy. In a tournament, results are determined by how close you are to being the last player left in the tournament. Therefore, if you run out of chips before reaching the pay cut, you're done. In a ring game, you can continue to rebuy as many times as you can afford.
The goal in a ring game is to win as much money as possible when you get a winning hand and lose as little as possible when you don't have a winning hand. In a tournament however, you must always be conscious of the elimination aspect. You often have to fold pretty good hands because you can't afford to be put out of the game.
The Big Picture - What it all means to you as a player
Bluffing before the flop, which is a common play in No-Limit tournaments is not an option in limit holdem, especially low-limit hold'em. In fact, in limit hold'em it is very rare that a good bluffing opportunity will present itself. In fact, in low-limit hold'em its never a good idea to bluff.
Also, in a limit game you can usually see more flops. In no-limit its important to be very selective because people regularly go all-in and force you to fold.
Other than that, I would say the most important difference is the way you should play drawing hands. In a no-limit game, playing drawing hands is tough. Example: You're holding 78 of hearts and 6 players including yourself call 10$. The pot is 60$. The flop comes 10 of hearts, 4 of hearts, and A of clubs. The first player bets 20$ and you call, but another player raises 140$, which would put you all-in. At this point the best thing to do would be to fold. Many people make the mistake of calling because they know they have a good draw.
In a limit game, the pot odds almost always justify calling when you are only missing one card for a flush.
Therefore in no-limit you shouldn't even call with the 78 suited before the flop. Most of the time, you'll end up with a low pair, and have to fold. In a limit game, you could play this hand in later position with a few callers in the pot.
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