Fixed Limit

Limits define the betting structures used in poker. The types of limit you play determine how and how much you're allowed to bet and raise at the table. And the difference between the various limits is huge.
In online poker you can always see from the name of a given table what limit is played at that table.

Fixed Limit or "FL" – and often a bit confusingly referred to as just "Limit" – is quite different from the two other popular types of limit, No Limit and Pot Limit. The difference is, that in Fixed Limit players are only allowed to bet and raise with a fixed amount each betting round. No more and no less.

In Fixed Limit poker the size of bets and raises are predetermined by the size of the blinds. And furthermore in Fixed Limit there's a maximum number of bets, raises and reraises allowed per round of betting. This means that after a bet, a raise and to further reraises in a round of betting, players can only call.
Some poker rooms do allow more bets and raises if only two players are left in the pot on the river.

On a Fixed Limit table – unlike Pot Limit and No Limit – the numbers indicated in the name of the table doesn't specify the size of the blinds. Instead they define the size of bets and raises allowed during a hand.

The size of the blinds on a Fixed Limit table is found by looking at the smaller of the two numbers. This number is the size of the big blind, and the small blind is always half the big blind. On a Fixed Limit table named "FL Texas Hold'em $1/$2" the big blind is $1 and the small blind is $0.50.

During the first two rounds of betting on a table like that, the players can bet and raise only in increments of $1, and in the last two rounds of betting, the bets and raises are restricted to $2 at a time. The numbers in the name of the table is for this reason also referred to as "small bet" and "big bet".

Along with the rule of no more than four bets, raises and reraises these restrictions make Fixed Limit poker a lot cheaper to play than the other two popular limits – No Limit and Pot Limit – because there's a definitive maximum to how much it'll cost to play a hand through.
On a table like the above mentioned a player can at most be required to call bets and raises in each of the first two rounds of $4 (a bet, a raise and two reraises of $1 each). Each of the last two rounds, where the maximum bet and raise is $2, will never set a player back more than $8 each, and in total that sums up to $24 being the most it'll cost a player to play a hand to the end.

One game of poker differs, and that's Seven Card Stud. In Seven Card Stud there's five rounds of betting, at here the small bet is used in the first two rounds, and the big bet is used in the remaining three rounds.

Because of the restrictions to the betting, Fixed Limit poker is by far the cheapest and least risky type of limit, since you always know up front how much you're potentially in for.
You should be aware though, that in Fixed Limit poker checks on flop, turn and river are not that frequent, so playing a hand at a Fixed Limit table you'll most likely have to pay to call bets in each and every betting round.

The difference between Fixed Limit and the other limits is so fundamental, that in reality Fixed Limit poker is an entirely different game of poker. Strong starting hands for instance – like AA and KK – are not nearly as strong in Fixed Limit as they are in other limits, since you are much more likely to be called down with the obvious risk of being outdrawn. In Fixed Limit you can't chase people away or make them pay big by betting large.

Beginners should find Fixed Limit a good place to start their cash game life. It's fairly cheap and will provide a valuable lesson on how different hands play in different situations.


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