Poker: Poker Strategy: Low-Limit Casino Poker: Introduction

Online Poker Strategy. Low-Limit Casino Poker: Introduction

Ever wondered what low-limit casino poker is like? Too intimidated to give it a try? Seen Rounders and now you're curious about how much more this game has to offer? Stick around. Here, we'll cover all of the facets of low-limit casino poker, including misconceptions, how to get started, how to get by, and strategy for your first few sessions.

Those of you who have sat at the tables before might still benefit from the strategy articles, which offer some unique insight on the idiosyncracies of the low-limit casino table.

This site has always been devoted to the play of small stakes home poker. But, there's another form of poker out there, one just as suitable for the small stakes gambler. Most casinos that spread the game of poker spread it at its lowest levels. And guess what? When you sit at the these tables, you're sitting with a lot of kitchen table home poker players.

Some people don't think it's as much fun. Some people think it costs too much money. Some people are intimidated by the idea of playing against casino pros. It's mostly due to these three misconceptions that many people never know the fun of low-limit casino poker.

Low-Limit Casino Poker Vs. Home Poker

If a casino spreads poker, it likely spreads Seven-Card Stud and it will definitely spread Texas Hold 'Em.

You can usually forget about anything else, so no stipulation games and certainly no wild card games. These games are the heart and soul of small stakes home poker, but at the casino level, they are not played. The thinking here is that stipulations take away from skill, and that along with wild cards, increase the element of chance. A player with no wild cards stands an unbalancedly low chance against a player with a number of wild cards. The greater the number of stipulations and wild cards, the more of a crapshoot the game becomes.

This doesn't mean that stipulation poker and wild card poker are not real poker. In fact, I argue that home poker (with its flexibility, accessibility, and affordability) is more widely played that casino poker. It's just that at the casino level, players are playing more 'seriously', a state of mind that calls for skill to be optimized over elements of chance. You can't beat chance in any game of cards, but you can minimize it. You can optimize that element of skill that takes a beating in a lot of 'lucky' home games.

As a personal example, one night, our table decided that in place of dealer's choice, we were only going to play straight five-card draw all night. For hours, we dealt nothing but straight draw. In its own way, it was a fantastic night of poker. No stips and no wild cards. It was a more serious game, but one with a great deal of thinking. It's in this vein that casino poker is designed and played.

Let's review some of the pros, cons, and concerns that home poker players have with casino poker so you can decide for yourself if you want to give it a chance.

It's not as fun

This depends more on the kind of person you are. The movie Rounders has changed the perceptions of a lot of home poker players. People who never once considered playing poker in a casino seemed turned around by this movie. Rounders showed a lot of people a face of this game they had never seen before. The exposure of the World Series of Poker is limited and to a lot of home poker players, televised poker is as exciting as televised bowling. It took a good movie like Rounders to show a lot more people a part of this game they had never seen before.

If Rounders didn't shake your impression that poker is a fun game to remain among friends, then that might suggest an interest in the game for different reasons than some. Like anything else, poker appeals to different people for different reasons. If you play primarily for fun, then you probably wouldn't enjoy casino poker as much, nor would you care for the larger potential losses. If you play primarily for the thrill of gambling and/or for monetary game, then casino poker is something you would likely enjoy more than the smaller stakes home games. And, for people who play for the strategy, poker is a thinking man's (or woman's) game. In a case like this, casino poker is definitely as fun as home poker.

"Fun" is subjective, as are the reasons why different people play this game. You can safely take out the comraderie when you move to casino poker, so if that's what's fun for you, bear in mind you may not enjoy it. Personally, I find it fun to learn the mechanics of a game, apply strategic decision-making, and hopefully reap the benefits. For this, I find it fun to play casino poker.

It costs more money

This is one of the biggest reasons why home poker players are not interested in trying casino poker. It's a costly game. Nickle-ante and quarter-ante poker can be played for endless hours. If you have a bad night, it might cost you $50 in 6 hours. Casino poker however is played with bigger stakes, but overcoming potentially big losses is not as difficult as you think.

To take Texas Hold 'Em as an example, the cheapest game you can play is typically 3-6. The game consists of four betting rounds in total. For the first two betting rounds, one can only bet and raise $3. For the second two betting rounds, one can only bet and raise $6. But, the interesting thing is that instead of antes, the game is started with blind bets, which are made before cards are even dealt. No more than two players at the table have to be make blind bets, depending on the structure. Assuming a table of ten players, that means you play for free eight hands out of ten. If you want to play the hand that's been dealt to you, it will of course cost you money. But, if you're dealt trash from the outset, you'll fold it for free eight times out of ten.

It's for this reason that advice for first-time casino poker players is to play one's tightest game. By doing so, it will actually take quite a bit of time for you to go through your bankroll. Players at the 3-6 table typically only buy in for $100, and for the tightest among them, it can last the whole night...and this is only assuming you have such a bad night that you lose it all. If you buy in for $100 and play a tight game, you'll likely leave with some of that money if not more than you came with. By playing tight and passively, you won't experience big shifts, but that means hours of cardplay without losing your shirt. You won't win a lot of money until you start to play more aggressively, but that'll come with time.

In other words, the only people who lose more money in casino poker than they would in home poker are those players who either play too loosely or too aggressively for their skill level. Sit there like a rock (tight and passive) until you pick up the game, and it shouldn't cost you much.

Everybody at the table is a regular stiff

I would call this the other big reason why home poker players never end up trying casino poker. What you see in any poker room is an intimidating collection of regulars; players who have logged more hours in the casino cardroom than you have at the kitchen table. It's scary to think about sitting down with these "pros". After all, they'll size you up as soon as you sit down. And then, if you mess up on a betting round, you'll disrupt the flow and make them all angry.

These are also misconceptions. Sure, a lot of the players at the table are regulars. And sure, the collection of them is intimidating. But, the first point to bear in mind is that they're not going to size you up until they see you play. Furthermore, if they are weak players, you should be less concerned with what they think. And if they're better players, they'll have you measured as a tight player before long. What that will mean to them is that you're not about to give up a lot of money. In other words, you're far worse prey than a loose player who is either passive or aggressive.

Players who are rocks do not give up a lot of their money. As mentioned earlier, your gains will not be large, but neither will your losses. The better players recognize that. They may attempt to bluff you out of more pots if they see you as a weak target, but you'll likely only find yourself in pots with solid hands. Even when this is recognized, the bluff attempts are less frequent.

And as far as the really good players go, they're probably not playing at the 3-6 tables. Remember that this is the cheapest poker game in the casino. Really good players who want to take money from weaker players are a few levels up, but they're not at the 3-6. They know they won't make enough money.

As a final point, sitting down at the poker table and trying to get comfortable around more experienced players takes time. But, if you play Blackjack or any other table game, you've gone through this process already. Once upon a time, you had to leave the slot machines and sit down at the green felt with regulars just as intimidating. You'll get over it.

In Conclusion

I once said that poker was a game only to be played among friends. While I still believe that dealer's choice home poker is the most widely played poker in the world, there is a variation of the game that transcends the home-based social activity. The level of chance is reduced, and skill becomes the name of the game. Casino poker is the chess of poker. For all, it's not necessarily a better game, but it is a tougher game. It calls on a stronger mental capacity to do well in the long run. If the sound of that appeals to you, you'll enjoy casino poker.

The stakes in casino poker are higher than anything you've likely played in your home game. For that reason, the stakes of even the cheapest table can seem intimidating. When somebody plans to sit down at the low-limit table for the first time, that person should plan to play a tight game. Observant players at the table will recognize how tight you are, and will therefore not give you much of their money. However, low-limit tables will have enough not-so-observant players who will stay in the pot when you clearly have them beat. If you play smartly as well as tightly, the result will likely be a small shift from what you started with (preferably upward). What's key is that if you follow these guidelines, the level of stakes will not be an issue, and you don't stand to lose as much as you think.

Even with determination to finally sit down at the table, the toughest part will still be to overcome the intimidation of sitting among regulars. This is all for naught. Bad players aren't going to bother sizing you up, good players will recognize there's not as much to reap from your tight game, and great players aren't likely sitting there at all. Aside from the risk of being bullied because of how tight you play, you have nothing to fear from the low-limit poker players, even the regulars.

All of that said, hopefully you have less reason to be worrying about your introduction into low-limit casino poker. For some, it's the natural graduation from home poker. For others, it's a different game altogether, good or bad. It's a lot of fun, it's no more expensive than playing any other table game, and before long, you'll be as comfortable as any regular. Play smart and play tight. What you'll find is a great casino game where you can spend many hours playing at a time. From there, it becomes a passion to improve your game and become a winning poker player.

More information on Poker Strategy:

Poker Probabilities
Pre-flop strategy
Post-flop strategy
Successful poker betting
The important art of bluffing
Chip and card handling
7 Card Stud