I live in a state with a $300 betting cap. As a result I play in a somewhat unique game that is a hybrid between no limit and limit holdem.

The game is $5-10-20 with a maximum of $300 allowed for each bet (not per street, per bet). There is one bet and 3 raises allowed on each betting street. The big blind/straddle counts as a bet preflop, so there are 3 raises allowed before it is capped. Sometimes this game has a $40-100 straddle, and sometimes short handed it changes to a $10-25 or $25-50 game.

I would like to find or solve GTO solutions for this game. What tool(s) should I look at to solve this game? I have piosolver which I believe I can use to help solve for this game partially. I've been told I can put absolute chip amounts in (as opposed to a % of the pot) in piosolver, but I'm not sure if it can handle the bet and 3 raises per street limit... Also it is only useful for postflop, correct? I would like some ideas for solving preflop as well. Or has this been done and I can see solutions for this game or a similar game somewhere? Or maybe I should look at limit solutions and compare them to make some assumptions?

What tools should I use to solve for these rules? Or if that is too difficult to do, where can I find limit solutions?

I feel being able to look at some GTO solutions would be quite valuable.

Thanks.

Given that you're playing 10/20, why not pay someone to figure this out for you? Also, given that you're playing these stakes, why not move to a better state? You're clearly either spending a lot of money on poker or winning a lot, so why not go somewhere where you're not stuck with this garbage issue? What's more GTO....playing in a state with a structure that's going to favor the random or playing in a state that's going to favor the skill?

I have contacted 3 poker coaches/training sites about this. I have had some helpful responses, but I have not found someone willing to take it on to figure this out. I believe they want to coach within the broader skill set that most of their customers will use. The return on investment for solving the unique game is not as worth it.

As to your other questions: I like living where I live for non-poker reasons, I travel and play poker in other states, and I believe that the opportunity in this game is higher EV than the games in other states that I play.

After contacting poker coaches and training sites, I figured that this type of niche solution might be more suited to forums where people might enjoy using available tools in new ways or finding creative solutions to a unique problem.

I thought it might be an interesting exercise to see how the different rules affect the GTO solutions. Thanks for the response.

Also with the betting cap I believe it plays like a big 5/5 game or a medium-big 5/10 game.

What a strange game structure.

Just for clarity, if someone bets $300, and you want to raise, the max raise size is $600, effectively a min-click? And then if someone makes it $600, the next raise would be capped at $900?

So if someone opens to $80, and you want to 3B, you're capped at $300. If they call, you're going to the flop unable to bet even half-pot? At that point, it's basically a limit game?

I have no idea what tools you might use to solve this. But it does seem to create some interesting strategy considerations for both pre and post-flop. Curious to hear what adjustments you've made to play well in that set up.

My first thought is that we'd want to tighten up on all our ranges for every position, mostly play raise-or-fold pre, and use larger raise sizes pre to narrow the field as much as possible. Post-flop, I'd think a mostly fit-or-fold strategy would reap the best results.

ETA - quickly skimming the two links below, the advice in each seems to contradict the other. The Rakeback article appears to espouse playing LAG pre and making loose calls post-flop in limit games, whereas the Pokerology article espoused TAG play pre, without much if any discussion of post-flop play. The BB defend against a SB steal chart in the Rakeback article seems insanely wide, but again, it's a pure limit game.

A quick search for "pre-flop open ranges for limit games" turned up this -

https://www.rakeback.com/poker-strat...e-differences/

And this:

https://www.pokerology.com/lessons/l...ldem-pre-flop/

Hey, I really appreciate the reply since this topic has not received much traction. Also answering your curiosity about it will probably help me evaluate and refine my thoughts around it.

I am familiar with the chart you posted although unsure if this is made based on GTO principles as I believe I saw it or an equivalent chart before solvers came around.

As far as how I have adjusted for this game. That's the thing. I have adjusted some but not as much as I should, and I believe that is how everyone else is also playing. I also am unsure if my adjustments are correct.

I defend very wide from the big blind. My first instinct is to downgrade all suited connectors and upgrade all pairs and high card hands. However there is less penalty in reverse implied odds when you have a suited hand that makes a losing flush. Since the bets are capped you will not stack off with it. In my mind I was increasing the value of suited aces, but in reality it seems the ability to dominate another flush is less important but the high card is more important.

One interesting factor is since the bets preflop are small relative to postflop and you cannot make big bets or bluffs postflop, just flatting AK seems good. You don't have the ability to semi-bluff with it and get called down too light when you miss. However making a disguised top pair top kicker or top two pair can get paid just as much as flush over flush or whatever else.

Not too sure how I should be adjusting. Although in terms of gameplay and what I have seen. I do see some interesting light 3 or 4 bets go in on turns when people are in leveling wars (and I have participated). This seems to be a function of the low potential for punishment for reopening action. I also have noticed the check raises for value with single pair hands or similar that you see in limit poker. Getting one extra bet is important in the right spot.

I would very much enjoy if you wanted to expand on these thoughts or contribute ideas where you think other adjustments should be made.

Cheers!

The first thing that occurred to me on reading the game description is that the bigger the pot gets, the more the game plays like a limit, rather than no-limit game. I think that helps when thinking about our actions on later streets in bigger pots (we bluff less / call wider), but also take that into consideration when structuring our pre-flop ranges.

Whatever those ranges look like, I'd think post-flop would favor playing fit-or-fold, with much less bluffing, because people will call wider. But maybe there are scenarios wherein the pre-flop action was tame and the pot is small, opening up the opportunity to make huge bluffs starting on the flop.

Like, maybe no one raised, or there was just a small raise pre, which we called from the BB (with our super-wide range), and the flop is something that really favors our range, maybe it's low-middling and disconnected, and we put in a huge check-raise if the PFR dares c-bet when the best he can rep is an over-pair.

That makes me think maybe there are two basic strats which would dictate our lines:

1. Raise huge pre with our best hands, and then stop betting entirely when we miss, or blast off when we smash it.

2. Limp/flat pre, and then blast off or bluff them out of their shoes on any board that hits our range whenever we're heads-up or in the blinds vs an LP raiser (squeeze the middle-position players who limp-flatted pre and checked to the PFR on the flop).

I would expect that you're playing a lot of hands multi-way. If so, there are tons of articles and videos online for how to play better multiway. Some of the advice:

- Play tighter when facing bets (kinda goes along with our main strat of playing fit-or-fold).
- Narrow your v-betting range (ditto).
- Use smaller c-bet sizes (ditto).
- As the PFR, play more passively / defensively when OOP, and don't go broke with big PP's on low-middling boards (strat 1).
- Use smaller bet sizes generally, but it's okay to be unbalanced and bet bigger with our stronger hands (strat 1).

- Be selective when choosing which hands to bluff, focusing on hands that have good draws but low or no showdown value, and/or with relevant blockers/un-blockers - we want to block our opponents' stronger hands and un-block the hands they'd likely fold. (seems to go with strat 2 - bluffing).

As for the best hands to play multi-way, it's hands that make the nuts easily and keep us on the right side of coolers - pocket pairs, AX suited, and good suited connectors. Stay away from unsuited/disconnected high-card hands. Low SC's are ok, so long as we don't go broke flush-over-flush.

All that said, if the betting cap makes it harder to cooler someone flush-over-flush, then I'd say the value of all SC's goes up, and maybe you're right that our high-card unsuited Broadway combos become a little more playable (if that's what you were saying).

If flatting AK makes sense, maybe KQ and QJs should be in our flatting range, but I'm not sure. I'd think any hand that has both showdown value and nut potential is worth raising pre.

Thinking about bluffing - multi-way theory says the PFR doesn't get to c-bet as much, because there's less fold equity. The PFR should have very few if any bluffs, and generally a stronger value range. All the PFR's middling value should mostly be checking or check-calling, and over-folding to aggression, especially when OOP.

So, if we're not the PFR, I'd think we should be looking to steal pots that favor our range as the pre-flop limper/caller.

When we're OOP, we can probably have a fairly robust donking range of middling value and high-equity draws, and a check-raising range of strong value and weaker draws with no showdown value.

When we're IP, we can probably start our bluffs right away when opponents check to us on favorable low-middling dynamic flops, rather than waiting to see if V checks to us again on the turn.

I don't know what to think about light 3B/4B's on the turn. I'd have to see some examples. I'd think I'd prefer to keep our basic strats pretty simple. Don't know how much check-raising I'd be doing with weak 1P hands, unless it was as the PFR and we're OOP on a board that really smashes our range, and we're x/r'ing over a weak stab from an opponent with a very capped range of weaker 1P hands and draws.