Poker Zombie
Royal Flush
I will be teaching my group of NLHE tournament players how to play a Pot Limit (Pot-Limit?) cash game. Blinds of 25¢-25¢ (specifically to avoid the question of "is the Small Blind counted as complete)". Buy-ins will be $20-$50. Our regular events are $30 with max one rebuy, so I anticipate $30 buy-ins from most.
I will put out a newsletter so people can learn while they eat, which will give a basic overview. However, I am far from a Pot-Limit specialist. Yeah, I'm the ass that declares "POT!" when I really mean "all-In", and let someone else do the math. I will have help as a few of my players are experienced, but with one key assistant instructor playing boring old golf instead of FUN poker (I'm looking at you @Jonesey07 ) on the night in question, I just want to make sure I am neither over complicating the rules, nor over simplifying.
I'm interested in feedback from PL heroes, as well as from members that have never played a single hand of PL.
The poll is just to determine the use of the hyphen in Pot-Limit.
?
Here is the article. Forgive the formatting, it'll look better printed in a 3-column newsletter. I have not proofed it for spelling/grammar - that comes later after I complete formatting.
“Pot!”
No, this isn’t an article arguing for the legalization of marijuana. I support it, but this month’s article is about Pot-Limit poker.
Pot-Limit is a lesser known version of the game. It’s goal is to fill the gap between (Fixed) Limit poker and No-Limit. It’s aim is to restrict the largest bet you can make, which can minimize potential losses and make it harder for deep-pocketed players to intimidate players on a budget.
Much like No-Limit is the king at Hold’em tables, Pot-Limit is the most common version of Omaha.
This is because Omaha is a higher-variance game, where more starting hands are playable. Pot-Limit makes it much tougher to steal the pot after 6 players have called.
As the term implies, the maximum bet or raise in a pot-limit game matches the pot's size. However, accurately calculating this "pot limit" proves more challenging than it initially seems.
Suppose you are first to act on the flop, and there is $2 in the pot. This case is simple – the most you can bet is $2.
It’s more complicated though if you are already facing a bet, because you have to include the cost of your call into the pot size.
This sounds very strange at first, and it is. In other words, the pot size is defined as:
· Your opponent’s bet PLUS
· The amount in the pot before your opponent’s bet PLUS
· The amount you would have to put in to call.
Once you come up with that number, that is the amount you’re allowed to RAISE on top of the cost to call.
In our 25¢-25¢ game, there is 50¢ in the pot (because of the blinds). If you are the first person to add to the pot (i.e. the first person that did not fold), the most you can raise is 75¢, making the bet $1.
The Big Blind is the first bet (25¢). The Small Blind is already in the pot (+25¢). The amount you would have to pay if you were to just call is also a quarter (+25¢). That raise is added to the cost to call (+25¢), and all that adds up to $1.
Confused? There is a shortcut, called the rule of 3.
If there is a bet in front of you, triple that bet, and add it to whatever else is in the pot.
Here’s an example: 25¢-25¢ game. Before the flop, 4 players limp into the pot by calling. The blinds check, so there is $1.50 in the pot. Flop comes out and 3 players check. The Player Four calls “pot”. Since he is the first to bet this round the math is simple, it is the $1.50 in the pot, which he puts in front of him. The fifth player also like the flop, and also declares “pot”. $1.50 x3 = $4.50, plus the amount in the pot not counting the last bet ($1.50 in the middle), so the raise is $6 more, and Player Five puts out $7.50 ($6 raise over the $1.50).
Pot-Limit can escalate very quickly. Thankfully, Pot-Limit only limits the maximum raise. The smallest raise still remains the amount of the Big Blind or the amount of the last legal raise, just like No-Limit.
I will put out a newsletter so people can learn while they eat, which will give a basic overview. However, I am far from a Pot-Limit specialist. Yeah, I'm the ass that declares "POT!" when I really mean "all-In", and let someone else do the math. I will have help as a few of my players are experienced, but with one key assistant instructor playing boring old golf instead of FUN poker (I'm looking at you @Jonesey07 ) on the night in question, I just want to make sure I am neither over complicating the rules, nor over simplifying.
I'm interested in feedback from PL heroes, as well as from members that have never played a single hand of PL.
The poll is just to determine the use of the hyphen in Pot-Limit.
?Here is the article. Forgive the formatting, it'll look better printed in a 3-column newsletter. I have not proofed it for spelling/grammar - that comes later after I complete formatting.
“Pot!”
No, this isn’t an article arguing for the legalization of marijuana. I support it, but this month’s article is about Pot-Limit poker.
Pot-Limit is a lesser known version of the game. It’s goal is to fill the gap between (Fixed) Limit poker and No-Limit. It’s aim is to restrict the largest bet you can make, which can minimize potential losses and make it harder for deep-pocketed players to intimidate players on a budget.
Much like No-Limit is the king at Hold’em tables, Pot-Limit is the most common version of Omaha.
This is because Omaha is a higher-variance game, where more starting hands are playable. Pot-Limit makes it much tougher to steal the pot after 6 players have called.
As the term implies, the maximum bet or raise in a pot-limit game matches the pot's size. However, accurately calculating this "pot limit" proves more challenging than it initially seems.
Suppose you are first to act on the flop, and there is $2 in the pot. This case is simple – the most you can bet is $2.
It’s more complicated though if you are already facing a bet, because you have to include the cost of your call into the pot size.
This sounds very strange at first, and it is. In other words, the pot size is defined as:
· Your opponent’s bet PLUS
· The amount in the pot before your opponent’s bet PLUS
· The amount you would have to put in to call.
Once you come up with that number, that is the amount you’re allowed to RAISE on top of the cost to call.
In our 25¢-25¢ game, there is 50¢ in the pot (because of the blinds). If you are the first person to add to the pot (i.e. the first person that did not fold), the most you can raise is 75¢, making the bet $1.
The Big Blind is the first bet (25¢). The Small Blind is already in the pot (+25¢). The amount you would have to pay if you were to just call is also a quarter (+25¢). That raise is added to the cost to call (+25¢), and all that adds up to $1.
Confused? There is a shortcut, called the rule of 3.
If there is a bet in front of you, triple that bet, and add it to whatever else is in the pot.
Here’s an example: 25¢-25¢ game. Before the flop, 4 players limp into the pot by calling. The blinds check, so there is $1.50 in the pot. Flop comes out and 3 players check. The Player Four calls “pot”. Since he is the first to bet this round the math is simple, it is the $1.50 in the pot, which he puts in front of him. The fifth player also like the flop, and also declares “pot”. $1.50 x3 = $4.50, plus the amount in the pot not counting the last bet ($1.50 in the middle), so the raise is $6 more, and Player Five puts out $7.50 ($6 raise over the $1.50).
Pot-Limit can escalate very quickly. Thankfully, Pot-Limit only limits the maximum raise. The smallest raise still remains the amount of the Big Blind or the amount of the last legal raise, just like No-Limit.
