suppose on the turn in LIMIT holdem you have a top pair and you know the opponent has a flush draw. You bet and it gives him 5 to 1 odds, and he's about 1 to 4 on making his flush so he should call. This means that his play is profitable in the long run, aka your going to lose money in the long run no matter what you do.

This is what i don't understand about limit holdem, no matter what you do in this situation your going to lose money. You have the better hand on the turn, yet no matter what, you're going to lose. This is why i don't understand why people play limit. There are so many situations like this where you've lost before the hand is even over.

Am i missing something or is that just how it is sometimes in Limit games?

You are going to lose money compared to if he incorrectly folded not in an absolute sense.

Well ya, this is assuming he understands basic pot odds and when i say "you will lose no matter what" i mean that statistically after X amount of hands you will be down money. Even if you happen to win in the scenario i gave.

I dont really understand your logic here. Just cause he has the correct pot odd to call doesnt mean you automaticly lose.

There are lots of situations that play themselves. Betting with top pair is correct and calling with a FD is also correct. Thats why its referred to as a mechanical game.

Well what i mean to say is that you cannot have him make a mistake here. No matter what you do, he is going to have the odds to call, which means you cannot offer him an opportunity to make an unprofitable play. Where as in No Limit, you can give him improper odds to call, and when he does call, you gain because he made a mistake.

So again, unless i am missing something here, this inability to have your opponent make mistakes is a total turnoff for me in Limit and is the reason i don't play it.

I made a stupid mistake in my OP because winning the pot 3 times and him winning it once is still obviously good for me, and him as well.

Pot is 4 you bet 1 he calls getting 5-1 with a 4-1 shot ignore river betting

4 times you win 5
1 time he wins 5

you win 3 per hand on average

or

he folds

you win 4 per hand on average

You have offered him the chance to fold.

I edited that last post i guess right after u quoted it, but ya, i acknowledge that winning 3 times and losing once is still good for me, and for him considering the amounts. I made a mistake not recognizing that in my OP.

But we are going to assume he understands pot odds so we can ignore the chance of him folding. This means again that we cannot have him make a mistake, whereas in No Limit we could. And in poker others' mistakes = money for us

No, no, no. TP is not going to lose money in the long run. You are confusing pot equity and pot odds. The money already in the pot is what makes the call by the FD sound. But he does not have the best pot equity, TP does. TP wants as much money to go in as possible because from that point on he is the fav - he will win more of the money that will be bet than he loses, while still keeping the same share of the existing pot.