Pot-limit hold’em

PLAYING STYLE

Both LAG and TAG styles will work, but be aware that employing a loose-aggressive style of play means you will face many more tricky decisions and your stack will get a lot more exposure than that of a TAG player.

EARLY STAGES

At the beginning of a deep-stacked event you might be playing with 200 big blinds. This figure tends to get halved at each new level, so it suits me to see more flops in these cheaper levels. Position is king in poker, and whether the game is pot-limit or no- limit you’ll be doing yourself no end of good if you can play the majority of pots from position.

MIDDLE STAGES

My raising/stealing activity wouldn’t differ between no-limit and pot-limit even though there are no running antes in pot-limit events. As always, it will depend on my table image, the table line-up, position and stack size.

LATE STAGES

Chipping away is the best tactic, as you aren’t risking your whole stack at any point. However, just as in no-limit there are times in pot-limit events where an aggressive stance is best, and if you can get your chips in before the other guy you are giving yourself an extra chance of winning.

HEADS-UP

Your heads-up strategy should be the same as in no-limit. Unless you’re getting lots of big hands, the best strategy is to play small-ball trappy poker against a loose-aggressive foe and crank up up the aggression against a tight or passive player.