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Tough Decisions
One strange thing about limit poker players—beginners and great ones, too—is that they don’t mind letting you know when they have a tough decision.
However, the same is not true of no-limit players. In limit games, there’s a common trait among players who have been bet into and are now faced with a dilemma. They may grumble, discuss the hand aloud, or even sigh and say something like, “Oh, golly, I wish you wouldn’t have bet. Now what should I do?” Very often, they’ll rock back in their chairs and contemplate.
There’s one truth you should always keep in mind when you play poker. Although players are invariably actors on occasions, they seldom waste a lot of your time and theirs in a limit game if there’s no real decision involved. Don’t expect a player to use thirty seconds to consider a call, then raise. That sort of maneuver is unwelcome in limit games and few players risk their popularity by using it. (Novices sometimes do it, not realizing it’s rude.)
The reason players don’t spend a lot of time acting like they’re unsure and then raising in limit poker is quite simple. The amount of money at stake relative to the size of the pot is seldom overwhelming. In a no-limit game, there may be a total of $500 already bet and a player now wagers another $500. Here the opponent starts to ponder. There’s a good chance that he’s putting on an act and will end up raising.
If he decides to add $5,000 to the pot, the original bettor might also decide to take a long time before making his decision. That’s the way of no-limit poker; hesitation is reasonable.
But, let’s say you’re playing $20 straight limit (where every bet must be exactly $20). There’s $100 in the pot already and now someone bets $20. In response, a player grumbles, leans back and starts to wonder. This is a sign of a genuine dilemma. He’s probably considering whether or not to call; raising is not among his options. Remember, the pace in a limit game is much faster than the pace in a no-limit game. Also, decisions in limit games are usually proportionally less important. Keeping those two things in mind, it’s easy to see why long hesitation in a limit game usually means a genuine tough decision.
