I've always been a NLHE player online. I've played plenty of NLHE cash games, SNGs, MTTs, and HU matches. I am unfortunately getting pretty tired of playing NL online, which I don't find nearly as fun anymore, especially compared to live NL play. As everyone says, limit is the game to play online and other than some screwing around at 1/2 Limit tables on Stars recently and some time ago on Party, I have absolutely zero experience playing LHE online. I have played a fair amount of LHE live and feel like I could be a winning player fairly soon (I am beyond the basic WLLHE stage), but I probably will have several leaks in my game early on. Here are some questions I have:

1. What site has the juiciest games? I would imagine that Party has soft games since their NL games are filled with atrocious players. At what limit do players seem to know what they are doing (i.e. when do you have to start playing well to beat the competition?)

2. If my plan is to start out 2-tabling 2/4 and be 3-tabling 5/10 as soon as possible, how many hands should I play at 2/4 before I go to 3/6, and again before I go to 5/10? I figure if I stick to limit I won't go above 5/10 at least for the foreseeable future.

3. What should I be playing, 6-handed or 9/10-handed? What are the advantages of each over the other?

4. What is the maximum that I should lose before I give up the limit experiment? Keep in mind we are talking about 2/4 here. I am prepared to lose $1K but would probably feel like a moron if I lost that much to a bunch of fish.

No love for me from the limit fellas eh?

Mad, I can sympathize with you. I like playing live NLHE because reads are vital in this game (more so than in limit) and they are easier to get when you can actually look at the person.

But for online, I greatly prefer limit. I can play 3 tables in my sleep with Gametime and post a 4 BB/100 win rate at levels up to 3/6. Once you get to 5/10, the players are not really better, there are just a lot fewer idiots.

I prefer Party, full ring games because I'm very tight and like low variance poker. However, if you like to throw around the chips, play the short handed tables. The players are just as bad there.

I'm sure you know this, but maybe other readers don't. Low and middle pocket pairs/suited connectors lose value in a limit game (because implied odds are lower) so adjust accordingly. In EP, I'm very tight - TT thru AA, AK, AQ, KQs - nothing tricky. There is no need to be tricky at these limits. There are plenty of calling stations to pay off your big hands.

I'd recommend playing about 2000 hands at 2/4 and then if you feel comfortable with your game, move up.

If you are a tight player on a full ring table, it would be very hard for you to lose 250 BBs ($1000). Hopefully, if you start out losing you will post some hands here so that we can help plug your leaks. Tons of limit players have the following leaks: 1) too loose preflop 2) calling a bet with just overcards 3) not respecting turn raises. Don't be one of these guys!

Good luck and keep us posted!

I haven't played much limit at other sites, but Party/Empire has some great games. Even at the $15/$30 level you'll find people that will play any two cards. Even better, there are many people who play "any ace" at those levels, and these people can make you a lot of profit.

The biggest difference as you move up is the aggression. People are very aggressive in the $15/$30 games, which means you need to be very tight in EP, as most hands will be raised.

I have always used bankroll to determine the game level I play, so I didn't gradually move up through $5/$10 and $10/$20. (I happened to win a couple tournaments and found myself with the bankroll for $15/$30 and never looked back....). But you need to play enough hands at each level to make sure you are comfortable at the next level.

As far as 6 or 10 handed, that should be based on what type of play you are more comfortable with. I haven't played a lot of 6 handed because I tend to be a tight player and I have found that I can make a good profit playing 10 handed tables (2 or 3 at a time). In the 6 handed tables you need to be more aggressive and looser post-flop (though not really much looser pre-flop). You will probably get a higher BB/100 hands playing 6 handed, but you will also have a higher variance and each game takes a bit more concentration as reads are more important.

Your best bet is to jump in and go. Be careful if you start at limits lower than you are used to in NL as it can be easy to start playing badly when you play limits lower than normal.

Well, I got my feet wet yesterday as I played some uneventful 2/4 Limit on Stars. Sat down with $100 and left with $50 when the table broke up after about an hour of play. I misplayed a few hands, missed a bet here and there, and called some river bets that I probably shouldn't have. I think I have several leaks to plug and will keep working on it. As far as preflop play goes, assuming you don't have specific reads but the table is playing like a typical fishy 2/4 table, what would you open-raise with in EP? TT-AA and AK/AQ? What do you do with AJ and AT? Mucking A9 and below from EP would be standard I assume. I assume you can open-raise with any playable hand in LP down to any suited Ace and KJ/KT. As far as blind defending goes, if it's folded to CO or button who open raises and SB folds to you in BB, what range of hands can you call with? Is it acceptable to defend with a hand like Q9s? A2o? As I play more hands I am sure I will come across more postflop situations, but for now I am going to need to solidify preflop play.

You should read Caro's writings on limit. I think the game is more about setting image and being the guy that looks aggressive, but plays tight. Now, personally, I do not have alot of skill at that yet, but sometimes it actually works out really well for me.

In NL, I am a chicken really...I give up on hands all the time. But, in limit, you can figure out who to push around, who will call down with a horrible draw, and who will fold on the river alot. I think it's important to get the information on the players you are playing as quickly as possible in the lower limits...it helps to take down those extra pots.

As for those questions a while ago...

1)I only play Party...and for good reason. And I think the Jackpot tables are a good investment against horrific competition because they play for it often...keeps the pots higher. Oh, and from my studying of PartyTables, you would do well at any limit with a decent game, even 30/60(Man, some of those idiots are bad!)

2)I would test each limit first, and if and only if you are killing that limit, move up a limit...and feel free to move back if you are making more at a smaller limit. I think killing the games is a reasonable reason to move up, nothing else really...

3)I mostly play ten handed because of the blinds...I am pretty tight but will loosen it up closer to the button. On the other hand...some of the experiences I have had at six-handed tables leads me to believe that there are children with credit cards out there who are just clicking away that raise button whenever they feel like it. Competition is yellow bus special at the six man tables...

4)If I was starting 2/4 I would probably want about 300BB so about $1200. I think I would play two tables at the same time though. I dont' think you will lose to these fish, but you must remember they are FISH. I know one particular girl who plays the 2/4 party tables and has won $1600 in less than a year playing online on her boyfriends account...and she knows nothing except to use common sense and intuition! She stays in on bad draws when she "feels it". Still not understanding that one...although her intuition would probably come close to break even EV plays, which are usually good ones because of the horrible play there...weird.

nolimpin has given you some VERY good advice about hand selection particularly in EP. I concur that KQo should find it's way into the muck in EP without some VERY good reason to play it.

As far as blind defense goes you should look up some articles by Rolf Slotboom on Poker Pages. He has some very good insights into this topic. My own blind defense follows pretty much his philosophy as well. I would much rather call a raise in the BB with a hand like 57s than KJ because many times those types of cards are tied up in your opponents hand with better kickers which lead to extra losses. I routinely muck A rags against steals as well for the same reason but give me 46s and I am seeing a flop against the thief. I play alot of 36 limit with 1.00 Small Blind so there are not too many times I will be seeing a flop from that position and more often than not when I do it is with a raise or reraise against a late position limper or stealer.

I play 4 to 5 tables at all times and if you are planning on doing this or at least playing up to 3 tables I HIGHLY recommend getting PokerTracker. The Game Time + tool is just a remarkable asset to help you keep up with who is doing what at all the tables. It is often very easy to see who the maniacs are even when 5 tabling but you don't as quickly pick up on who hasn't seen a flop in the last year and then they raise, now your AJ on the button has lost alot of value and many times should be heading in the muck preflop. Case in point today, I raise UTG with AQs and get three bet by huge FISH which doesn't worry me a whole lot, but then the Rock of Ages caps it and it's back to me. The old AQs goes in the muck and I might not have folded this hand if I had not been aware of the Rock's stats. FISH ends up winning with AA:) and Rock had QQ. Not a particularly nice spot for AQs.

Play extremely tight in EP and don't go overboard in loosening up in MP and don't be afraid to fold when you know you are beat. Good luck.

PS. When John_Galt raises from the blinds at PokerStars you can safely muck your AK:)

There's been quite a bit of discussion about KQo at 2+2. In Pokerroom's EV stats, KQo is slightly profitable in early position at the lower limits. This is an average that includes all players, so you can imagine it's higher for people who play better.

If folks what to play KQo from EP then by all means play it and I can't argue with the stats that show it is +EV but for myself I am folding in EP the vast majority of the time. Alot of this has to do with my playing 4 to 5 tables at all times thus not allowing the maximum attention to all players at all tables. I just thrashed a guy a few minutes ago with his KQo in EP with my AQ on the button. He managed to lose 4 Big Bets in the process which is 2 hours of work for most winning folks on the internet. I just prefer to play a very low variance game that works extremely well for me while multitabling. I perhaps am giving up a VERY VERY small +EV in a couple of situations but I am willing to accept that due to the style of my game on the internet.