Holdem poker can be played as a limit game or as a NL game. There is a huge difference between the two games. In a NL game a player can wager whatever amount of chips they have in front of them. In a limit game the maximum bet is set at the limit for the game. An example would be a 20/40 limit game that indicates the maximum wager after the deal is capped at $40. Raises could increase the total wagered, but the maximum single bet is $40.
In a NL game the wager could be any amount the player chooses to wager. This means that it is easier to protect your hand with a sizable bet. In a limit game the chasers can stick around hoping the river card comes in. This basic difference in the games makes a limit game harder to play good starting hands as you cannot make it very expensive to call. The limit bet will not protect a pair of aces. The one tactic that works in a limit game is check and raise as this play worries the player you are raising.
Another tactic that also causes pause is when a player with a good hand sandbags the hand and then jumps into the game by raising, after a card is dealt the flop. The card may not have helped at all, but the play is one that catches the other players off guard. You may have trips from the start and you were just setting the trap for the other players. Maybe one of them will have two pair and feel the need to reraise or just call.
In NL games it is much easier to bluff if the player has the guts to bet a bad hand twice or three times. Bluffing is an art and the player that can do it has an advantage in the game. However a bluff is hard to pull off in a limit game as the wagers are not big enough to make another player fold. Good p;ayers will mix in bluffing with solid card play and if they are caught bluffing they may have set up other players into calling if they think a bluff is being pulled off again.
NL is far different to play and takes courage to play as the wagers can become substantial very quickly in a full game. A player would be wise to play conservative at first and watch the play of the other players. Some will be very conservative and some will draw to a suited five seven. This information can be of use later in a hand if the player knows the tendencies of the other players.
