Module 1 · Lesson 6 of 39 · Free
No-limit, pot-limit and limit; cash games and tournaments
In pot-limit poker, facing a bet of 10 bb into a pot of 20 bb, the largest raise you can make is to 50 bb. You first call, which makes the pot 40 bb, then raise by that whole pot. In no-limit the same raise could be every chip you have, and in limit every raise is one fixed bet.
The hand
The turn in a pot-limit game. The Loose-aggressive player bets 10 bb into a pot of 20 bb. You hold A♣ J♣ with 100 bb in front of you, and he has more.
Predict first
If this game were no-limit, what is the largest raise you could make?
- To 50 bb, as in pot-limit
- All in: to 100 bb
- To 30 bb: three times his bet
Show the answer
Answer: All in: to 100 bb
No-limit has no ceiling but your chips: you may raise all in, to 100 bb. Pot-limit stops you at 50 bb, and in limit a raise is one fixed bet.
Working it out
Pot-limit works in two steps. First count your call into the pot: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40 bb. Then raise by that pot: 10 + 40 = 50 bb, your total bet. In one line, the largest raise is to pot + 3 × bet = 20 + 3 × 10 = 50 bb, with the pot counted before his bet. Before the flop the small blind counts as the pot and the big blind as the bet: 0.5 + 3 × 1 = 3.5 bb is the largest first raise. The smallest raise is the same as in no-limit: here, to 10 + 10 = 20 bb.
In limit poker every bet and raise is one fixed size: 1 bb before the flop and on the flop, 2 bb on the turn and the river, usually with at most one bet and three raises in a round. Each of the three structures can be played as a cash game or as a tournament. In a cash game the chips are money: you buy in for an amount you choose within the table's limits, often 100 bb, the blinds stay the same, and you can leave whenever you like with your chips. In a tournament everyone pays the same entry for the same stack of chips, which are not money; the blinds rise at set times, a player who loses his chips is out, and prizes go to the players who last longest, usually the top 10 to 20%.
Formula
Pot-limit largest raise = pot + 3 × bet, with the pot counted before the bet: 20 + 3 × 10 = 50 bb
Check your understanding
Pot-limit. The pot is 12 bb and he bets 8 bb. What is the largest raise you can make, as your total bet in bb?
Show the answer
Answer: 36 bb
Call first: 12 + 8 + 8 = 28 bb. Then raise by that pot: 8 + 28 = 36 bb, the same as 12 + 3 × 8 = 36 bb.
Limit, with blinds of 0.5 and 1 bb. On the turn he bets and you raise. What is your total bet, in bb?
Show the answer
Answer: 4 bb
On the turn and the river the fixed bet is 2 bb, and a raise adds one more: 2 + 2 = 4 bb.
Which of these is true of a cash game but not of a tournament?
- The blinds rise at set times
- Everyone starts with the same number of chips
- You can leave whenever you like and take your chips as money
Show the answer
Answer: You can leave whenever you like and take your chips as money
Cash game chips are money, and you may cash out at any time. Rising blinds and equal starting stacks belong to tournaments.