For a beginner poker player, well-versed in the rules, but a novice at playing my games for real money, is it better to begin at a no limit or limit casino table?

My plan is to become quite educated at poker, focusing on the lower limit table, to enjoy and profit, playing with friends, and the occasional live trip to a casino. However, I have no intention to put in all the years of work required to make large profit or sit at higher limit tables in the future.

I would not recommend playing 2/6 Limit in a casino. Its a going to be nearly unbeatable with the rake. Plus if you ever travel away from your home casino you probably wont find a limit game, they are quite rare.


Rake at 1/2NL is also bad but at least you can adjust your strategy to play strong hands and win fewer, but larger pots. You cant do that in limit, you have to play a wide range and win a lot of pots and pay a lot of rake.


Limit Holdem is basically a dead game that only gets played as a part of a Mix (although a lot of Mixes ditch Holdem too) or a rare regular game at a casino.

Thank you for this helpful post.

Low stakes LHE is probably close to unbeatable but you're at the stakes where you're playing for fun. Which game do you find more interesting? Play that one, the whole point of the game is that it is entertainment, not a second job

It also depends on your bankroll and your willingness to take on risk. At a 1/2 NL table you potentially could be risking a couple hundred dollars on a single hand. Would losing that amount on a single hand be something you are comfortable with? If not you might be playing scared and it might be more enjoyable for you to play the limit game.

By contrast would you find the stakes at the limit game boring? Would you be making bad calls because “It’s only $2 (or 6)?” If that’s the case you probably won’t play well and will get bled dry $6 at a time. You probably would enjoy thw NL game more.

There’s no right answer for everyone. Consider which type of risk suits you better and choose your game accordingly.