Your Postion

Since position is fixed throughout a hand (unlike Stud), you have to give it strong consideration in your decision whether to call the first bet or not. You can't consistently take marginal hands in bad positions. Many players try not to play too many hands in early position. In fact, many play Limit with a "sure/big card theory", particularly in early positions where the exposure to a raise is great.

Acting later in a hand is a big advantage. This allows you see the flop with weaker hands when you're in late position. If you're last to act, you've had the advantage of knowing how many opponents are still in the pot and seeing how each of them acted on the current round of betting. That's a big edge, because some starting hands play better against a large number of opponents, while others play better against a smaller field.

In the late position, you'll also know which of your adversaries are representing strength by betting or raising. The later you act, the more information is at your disposal.

The Game

How loose the game is, is also a factor in what hands you play in early position. For example, if in most raised pots a couple of players are calling the raise cold, you're going to get more play on your hands and you can come in with slightly weaker hands, as compared to a game where a raise tends to drastically narrow down the field.

The Cards

Recognizing which of the two-card hands to play (and when to play them)...and learning how to evaluate the various situations that can arise are the two most important technical requirements for a Limit player. There are a couple of fancy things you can do, but solid play and solid hands get the money in the long run.

"There are over a thousand possible two-card hands in Hold'em. However, there are only 169 different two-card starting combinations.

That number, of course, assumes that a hand like K Q is the equivalent of KQ. If three diamonds were to appear on the flop, the K Q would be significantly more valuable than KQ. But the future can neither be predicted nor controlled, and these two hands have identical value before the flop.

Each one of these 169 unique starting combination fits into one of only 5 categories:

• Pairs
• Connection Cards
• Gapped Cards
• Suited Connectors
• Suited Gapped Cards

If you are not dealt a pair, your cards will be either suited (of the same suit) or unsuited (of more than one suit). They also can be connected (consecutive) or gapped (unconsecutive).

Examples of connectors are K-Q, 8-7, 4-3. Unconnected cards might be one-, two-, three-gapped, or more, and would include hands like K-J (one gap, with Q missing), 9-6 (two gap, missing 7-8), or 9-3 (five gap, missing 4-5-6-7-8).

Small Gaps Make More Straights

Generally, the smaller the gap, the easier it is to make a straight. Suppose that you hold 10-6. Your only straight possibility is 9-8-7. But if you hold 10-9, you can make a straight with K-Q-J, Q-J-8, J-8-7, and 8-7-6.

Every rule has exceptions. A hand like A-K can make only one straight. It needs to marry a Q-J-10. An A-2 is in the same boat and needs to cozy up to a 5-4-3. Although connected, each of these holdings can make only one straight because they reside at the end of the spectrum.

Other exceptions include a K-Q, which can make a straight only two ways, by connecting with A-J-10, or J-10-9; and 3-2 is in a similar fix. The only other limited connectors are - yes, you guessed it - Q-J and 4-3.

These two holdings can each make three straights. The Q-J needs A-K-10, K-10-9, or 10-9-8. It can't make that fourth straight because there is no room above an ace.

The 4-3 is similarly constrained because there is no room below the ace. But any other connectors can make straights four ways, and that's a big advantage over one-, two-, or three-gapped cards.

Unless you are fortunate to wrap four cards around one of your four-gappers, there's no way these cards can make a straight. But don't worry about that. If you take our advice, you will seldom, if ever, play hands that are four-gapped or worse unless they are suited-and then only under very favorable circumstances.

Gapped Cards

Gapped cards, in general, are not as valuable as connectors because of their difficulty in completing straights. But if you were to make a flush there's no need to be concerned about the gap. After all, a flush made with A6 is just as good as an AK flush. But A-K is more valuable for other reasons. Suppose that flush never comes. You can make a straight with A-K; you can't with A-6 (unless four cards come on the board to help your straight).

--Reprinted by permission from "Poker for Dummies", by Richard D. Harroch and Lou Krieger. IDG Books Worldwide, ©2000.