Capped No Limit Games

[Fonzi]

Is it limit? Or is it no limit? You may have seen recently that capped no limit games are growing in popularity on some online poker sites. These games are an entirely different breed than either limit or no limit, and many players seem to not make the proper adjustments to the different structure of these games, making them quite profitable for the rest of us.

Capped no limit games, by definition, put a cap on the betting in any given hand. For example, in a standard $1-$2 no limit hold’em game, if you have $200 and are up against another player with $200, you can both get all of your chips into the pot on one hand. In a capped game, the limit is based on the amount of the cap. In the $1-$2 NL games I like to play on Full Tilt Poker, the cap is $60. So it would take four such hands to get that $200 into the pot. This will not only decrease the amount you can lose, but also decrease the amount you can win, so it is a double-edged sword.

The structure is similar to what is called a spread limit game, except that the spread is very large (in the case of the aforementioned games, it is $2-$60). For that reason, a capped game plays like a hybrid of limit and no limit poker and therefore requires a different strategy than other games. Let’s look at some strategy adjustments we can make to win in these cap games.

• Forget chasing the draws: Don’t try to make hands that require implied odds to be profitable – I’m talking about sets, straights and flushes here. Because you can only win $60 on one hand from each player, you can’t call big raises with small pairs or suited connectors. You won’t make your hand often enough to merit putting the money into the pot. If you can limp for $2 or maybe call a raise to $6 with your 5-5, 7s-8s, and similar hands, then it can be profitable to draw, but don’t invest more than that.
• Overbet for value with strong hands – A funny thing happens when players know they can lose only a finite amount of money on a hand. Many of them are willing to put the $60 cap into the pot with weak holdings. I’ve often seen a player make it $7 with K-J (or something similar) and then call a big-re-raise only to run into aces, kings, queens, etc. I particularly like re-raising to $60 with A-K in these games. Rarely will the initial raiser have the two hands you fear most – aces or kings – and often they will call with a K-J type hand. Many will call with pairs to your raise, but you are still a coin flip to win the hand. If you cap it preflop with A-K you have no hard decisions to make on the flop when you don’t flop a pair, and you get to see all five cards. Be sure that you sometimes make the large $60 re-raise with your big pairs too so you aren’t so predictable.
• Game selection is key – Takes notes and sort out the good players from the bad players. Then you can look for the bad players in these cap games and sit down with them. In the long run, you should be able to take a lot of their chips.

By Johnny Kampis