AOL Limit Play

Started playing the AOL "Limit" circuit. Actually found out a week or so later that you have to have a certain bankroll (AOL play money) to play with the big boys. At least 2K. Well since I was starting with literally nothing (I would always lose my entire bankroll playing no-limit, run out of money and get $100 bankroll instantly!), I was stuck with the "low" stakes game which was fine with me since the raises were capped at $50.

What I quickly found out playing limit poker was that you better have some kind of "hand" if you were going to take the pot, especially playing with a full ring of 9 players. There seemed to be very little bluffing since someone always either had a high pair, a set (3 of a kind) or a straight. Even though the bets were 5/10, you could quickly lose money and it was hard to gain back. My first couple of nights playing I was catching some pretty good cards and it was not unheard of to win $500 within 30 min to an hour. I thought, dude, this is too easy, like taking candy from a baby. Just got to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. I think I could make money at this. If I just made $200/day that's 50k a year. I can live with that!

It was quite enjoyable the first week as I tried to build my bankroll up. I had it up to around $2600 last week so I thought, OK, let's play some high stakes! At first I observed a game and the bets were capped I think at around $200 or so. I thought this would be a good way to win some bigger pots but it also was a good way to lose the $2600 quickly. I jumped into my first high stakes table and couldn't catch a lick and ended up losing over $700 in about 30 minutes. enough to knock me out of high stakes qualifying. These high stakes guys had some huge bankrolls. Most had over several hundred thousand dollars and some had over a million. Jeez...$200 bets were nothing to them but significant for me so I have not been back to high stakes since then!

Lately, I have not had much luck at limit poker. I am down to around $1300-1400 right now and beginning to question if I can do this for a living. I have been longing for no-limit again. I prefer no-limit because you can make money by having no kind of hand. It feels great to pull off a big bluff. No feeling in the world like it but the money you could lose playing no-limit scares me. However, it is a rush to play and there is so much more strategy involved as far as betting and checking. I love watching the professionals pull it off on TV.

I guess "no risk, no reward" comes into play big time in no limit poker.