This section will give you the basic strategy for longhand limit hold'em
(eight or more players). This section is intended for the beginner,
so he or she can win at the lower limits ($2-$4 or lower).
Preflop Starting Hands
This is where most beginners make mistakes. They simply play too many hands. What beginners fail to recognize is that longhand limit hold'em is a game of patience. As sad as it sounds, you literally can just wait to be dealt the quality hands, and just win with those.
So what are the good hands? David Sklansky, a poker expert, groups hands into eight categories. I'm going to simplify his method a little bit for you. The main difference between my ratings and his ratings is that I don't give preference to suited cards. The only reason I do this is that beginners tend to play suited cards too much. Being suited is nice, but it's just a bonus, it doesn't change the actual value of the cards that much.
Category I
AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK
These are the best hands, bar none. You should raise or reraise with them preflop. If you hold AA, you especially want to jam as much money into the pot as possible.
Category I hands should almost always be played. The only exception is if you hold AK or JJ and you are positive that someone has AA or KK by the way they are raising (in other words, the person is a very tight player, but is acting like a maniac preflop). These hands generally should be raised from any position and you want to get a lot of money in preflop. However, for AK you need to hit an Ace or a King. So don't get in a raising war with one person because that person probably has a pocket pair already.
Category II
TT, 99, AQ, KQ
These are good hands, but they aren't amazing. You generally need help from the board. Almost always in low-limit, you will need to hit a set with TT or 99 to win.
Category II hands should generally be played. These hands work better with fewer players in the pot, so you should raise to knock people out. But don't jam the pot (reraise), because these hands have little value before you see the board. Do not call 3 bets cold with these hands (if someone reraises you, call, but don't call if someone else raises, then gets reraised). The reason you shouldn't call 3 bets cold is that you don't have an advantage going into the flop. The one thing to remember in Limit Hold'em is you want to have an advantage going into the flop. Go ahead and call one raise in late position, unless the raiser is in early position and is a very good player (he probably has you beat with a category I hand).
Category III
88, AJ, AT, KJ, QJ, JT, QT
These are good hands. However, be careful playing AJ, AT, KJ as these hands are vulnerable to losing to a higher kicker (i.e. if an Ace is on the board, but someone else has AK, you would lose because he has a higher kicker).
You should play these hands more often when they are suited and when you are in late position. When they are suited, they have a higher chance of winning, especially in a multi-way pot. When you are in late position, you will have a better idea where you stand among other players. If there has been heavy action before you, you should consider folding because someone might have a hand that dominates yours. However, if everyone has folded to you or there is just a limper or two, a raise is probably in order.
Category IV
Ax suited (x means any small card)
K7+ suited
Pocket Pairs 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
Suited Connectors T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, T8s, 97s, 86s
Category IV hands are very different. You want a large, multi-way pot, because these hands miss the flop often. However, sometimes these hands are amazing (if you hit a straight, flush, or trips). Therefore, you want to be paid of big when you actually hit something with these hands, which is why you want a lot of people in the pot.
7s6s
Your Hand Ac8h5d
Board
You call a bet on flop, [[cards 9s]] comes on turn, and then you jam
the pot. With these hands, you want to commit as few chips as possible
preflop, while hoping that many people go into the flop. If you are
the dealer, and one guy is in with a raise, fold. However, if you
are the big blind, and 5 people have called a raise, go ahead and
call and see the flop.
Flop Play
Once you hit the flop, you will be in one of four situations:
1. You are winning but have a beatable hand. For example, you have top pair plus top kicker or an overpair.
QdQc
Your Hand JsTs5d
Board
You want to jam the pot and knock people out. Thus, you want someone
to bet to you and then to raise if you are in early position. If you
are in late position and no one has bet, you must bet to knock people
out.
2. You have a boss hand. You have three-of-a-kind or maybe even a full house on the flop. There is no reason to knock people out, because you will probably win (unless you have trips and there's a flush draw out there; then you need to make them pay). In these situations, it's generally best to wait until the turn to jam the pot, but jam the pot on the flop if a scary draw is out there.
3. You have the second-best hand. If you follow my preflop strategy, this is unlikely, but it could happen.
AcQd
Your Hand KhQc4s
Board
In this case, treat the hand as a drawing hand or simply fold, unless
you really believe that you may have the best hand at the moment (this
is unlikely in a larger, multi-way pot because someone is bound to
have a King).
4. You have a drawing hand.
AsTs
Your Hand Ks8s2d
Board
For these hands, you must use outs and pot odds. There is a detailed
explanation of this in the shorthand article under 'Flop Tips.'
5. You have nothing.
6h6d
Your Hand AcKd7s
Board
You clearly are beat, just fold at the first bet.
Number of Players in the Pot
One thing to always keep in mind are the number of players in the
pot. This affects the types of hands you should play, and the likelihood
that you hold the best hand. For example, if you have AK, and AQQ
is on the board, you should be more careful with it if you are up
against 6 players than if only one or two are in the pot. If there
are many players, and there is a lot of action (raising), then you
are probably beat. However, if you are only up against one or two
opponents, you still probably have the best hand.
