Limit Hold'em HUDs Revealed

With the dawn of No Limit Texas Hold’em’s Golden Age came the near extinction of the game’s Limit variant. The current state of poker is such that No Limit games outnumber Limit games by about 4:1. For example, in this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP), there are a total of 25 No Limit Hold’em events and only five Limit Hold’em events. PokerStars’ 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) featured 19 No Limit tournaments and just two Limit affairs.

Despite all of that, however, Limit Hold’em games still exist. You can see that although they have a lesser presence, they’re still featured in the most prestigious poker series in the world. Beyond that, Limit still has its share of grinders, just like every other game. And what do many grinders utilize? That’s right, poker software!

Holdem Manager and PokerTracker aren’t just for the glory seekers of No Limit Hold’em. To the contrary, a Heads-Up Display (HUD) is just as vital to Limit players as it is to their No Limit counterparts. For more details on how Limit Hold’em players use their HUDs and how they might differ from a No Limit HUD, we tracked down CardRunners instructor Tony “Tpiranha” Pirone and asked him a few questions.

PSW: Tell us a little bit about the stakes you play. How are the Limit Hold'em games these days? Are there any weak spots or is it all regulars?

Tony: My primary game is $30-$60, but I play between $15-$30 and $100-$200 depending on what games are going. The Limit Hold’em games are very competitive these days, at least on PokerStars. They are a far cry from the PartyPoker days where you could find games with three or four bad players. These days, it’s a very good game if there are two soft spots.

What’s interesting about Limit is that the games rarely go at $50-$100 or higher unless a poor player sits in. Generally, what happens is that a good player will be sitting alone at a table for long time, eventually a poor player sits, the table instantly fills, and then breaks once the poor player leaves.

PSW: What HUD stats are most helpful to you in Limit Hold'em?

Tony: The most useful stat I use is Raise First In (RFI) broken down by position. This allows me to assign my opponents a specific range from the beginning of the hand, which is invaluable. Other stats I use are VPIP, WTSD, Fold BB to Steal, Fold SB to Steal, Turn check/raise %, and turn c-bet %.

All of these stats have value, some apparent and some not so apparent. For example, one of the most difficult decisions you have in Limit Hold’em is whether to continuation bet turn with a medium strength hand in position. You obviously don’t want to get check-raised because it puts you in an ugly spot, but at the same time, you want to protect/get value out of your hand.  So, looking at an opponent’s turn c/r% can often be the overriding factor that determines the decision.

PSW: If you use an HUD for No Limit games, how is that it any different? Do you depend more heavily on the HUD for Limit or can you still get actual reads on players?

Tony: I don’t play a whole lot of No Limit cash games, but there are different stats that I look at. Some things that are very important in No Limit are how often your opponent is 3betting, how often they are calling/folding to 3bets, and also folding to 4bets. The latter stats are virtually useless in Limit because opponents are never folding to 3bets and 4bets.

I’m not sure whether I depend more heavily on stats for Limit or No Limit, primarily because I don’t play a ton of No Limit. It’s an interesting question. Statistics are just information and the more information you have, the more informed of a decision you can make. The more informed of a decision you can make, the higher your expected value. This all assumes you interpret the statistic correctly; statistics can be deceiving, particularly when dealing with small sample sizes.

Read our follow-up interview with CardRunners instructor Brian "Ballzdeepx" Aleksa.