It's been awhile since I've been on 2+2, I used to be a member back in the day, didn't do much posting as I was here mainly to read up on strategy and this forum has always been a great resource for that. I did some looking around to see if there was already discussion on this but wasn't able to find anything.

If you haven't played in Colorado recently, you might not know about the $100 max bet law that was passed back in 2012. The law essentially makes it illegal for the casinos to accept a wager amount over $100 in any game. When it comes to slots and table games I have no issue with this. I don't play those games often and when I do I'm certainly not betting near that mark on any had. Where it does cause some problems is in poker, mainly "no-limit" but sometimes PLO as well.

Because there was no provision written to exude poker from this law, it means the maximum amount allowed on any street is $100. This turns 1/2 and 2/5 games into 1/2-100 & 2/5-100 spread limit. While it's less of an issue at the 1/2 level where the average buy-in is $200, it plays a huge impact in "bigger" games where the average buy-in is closer to the $500 mark.

I've found myself in many tricky situation on later streets when playing these types of limits that I believe significantly ate into my win rate back when I was playing in the state. The inability to jam really changes how you have to approach the game. You have to use a hybrid between no-limit strategy in the early streets and pot-limit in the later ones.

I'm really interested to hear what others think about this type of game as it's having a significant affect on whether I'll move back to Colorado to play.

What are your opinions on this format?

I believe the Arizona rooms have a similar restrictive law in place, but it might be $200 not $100. This type of game is known as spread-limit.

And in case you weren't aware, we do have a thread for Colorado poker room discussion if you wanted to talk to people who already play in these rooms: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...creek-1087644/

Minnesota is the same way. We have 2-100 games that run pretty regularly.

Play limit.

what an awful and broken rule lol. note to self, never go to colorado.

Yea I was aware of the Colorado thread, just wanted to hear opinions from people outside of the state who might have experience with playing spread limit full time vs no limit

It's supposed to exist to protect players and casinos, which sort of makes sense... but there should have been a provision for poker since it's a raked game that the house doesn't stand to lose anything on.

My local room used to spread 2-100 SL and 4-200 SL, and then moved to 1/2 NL and 2/5 NL. The most obvious change was that there were more NL games running than SL. The second most obvious change is that the people who played NL are way more vocal. Berating "bad" players became way more common. Game snobbiness went way up.

The strategic change from SL to NL actually barely mattered. And it's not surprising if you really think about it - most of your winnings comes from players that buy in for less than the maximun anyway. A large chunk of your money comes from people who pot commit themselves by coldcalling a preflop raise. The total money on the table simply isn't enough for the cap to matter - betting or raising $100 is functionally the same or close to betting or raising all in.

Arizona used to have $100 max bet also, but a few years ago it increased to $500.

Minnesota still $100 cap along with Colorado. Casinos keep the low cap to make sure the limit games stay prevalent. A limit game will produce between 1.5 and 2x the rake that of a no limit game. It's a smart move by the state/casino to keep the cap, although it's kind of scummy.

I've considered this before too, but sometimes you'll have a situation where the game get's relativity deep compared to the spread cap. You're losing a lot of pre-flop value by being forced into a situation where you'll see a flop with a $200 HU pot and each player still has a playable stack behind. Let's say you have AA against AK and the flop comes J 7 8

You're probably not gonna get any more action out of AK, but in a NL game you could have potentially got it in PF and won a much larger pot.

Now say in this same situation your opponent has AJ

You're going to get action, and neither player can make a pot sized bet.

So while I agree that the majority of earnings come against rec players buying in for $60-100 anyway... sometimes these big pots against regs playing a bit deeper can make a significant difference in win rate.

I think if you've found someplace where people will put in $200 preflop with AK, you should definitely move there instead of Colorado.

Florida had a $100 buy-in law for years even in the $2-5 and it made for adjustments to play.
in your posts you claim pre flop calls of $100 with AK and/or AJ suited

sounds like a juicy game and yes variance will be higher .
like playing limit you can't protect your hand, they MUST stand up.

As others have stated, the implied odds change due to the betting cap and your strategy needs to adjust with it. The cap (and high rake) also limits winrates compared to no limit with the same blinds.

There are people making good money playing poker in Colorado, but they are doing it in the limit games not in the spread limit.

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There's a 30-60 limit game at Blackhawk with a kill to 50-100, which I assume this picture represents.

What if you are really bad at limit and have been playing no limit for the last 13 years? How hard is it to adjust?

The first time I was up there a couple of years ago I sat down at a 2 5 game and lost 1k before I realized it was spread limit. I went down another 500 trying to adjust and then made it all back plus 1k in 6 hours. It was one heck of a swing. My win rate that summer was as good as playing no limit back here in Ok. but the sample size was smaller so...theres that.

that 30 60 game can be really fun too. And you will usually get a contact high if you sit next to the right person.....

I've railed the 30/60 at Ameristar. LHE is what I started on, so I could probably beat that game. If only I had the $20k BR required to sit it. 8/16 is about the highest I'd be able to play in limit.

They're similar in some aspects, but the strategy is much different. I'd say if you want to become a better LHE player you should study it with the approach of it being a brand new game. There are times when NLH experience can translate, but you have to learn limit tactics first-and-foremost.