While deception plays a very significant role in no-limit, primarily from having much more opportunity to play deceptively, it still plays a role in limit poker as well, although of a more subtle variety.
In most looser and therefore weaker games though, you don't have to be too concerned about deception really. Playing purely straightforwardly will get you the money in fact. However, by adding a little deception into the mix, you will be able to get extra bets here and there, which add up to a lot at the end of the month.
First of all, this can involve delaying your aggression to the more expensive streets of course. You want to be careful in making sure you have a strong hand to do this with though, as you really want to avoid opponents drawing out on you while you're waiting to pounce. Therefore, what you need to be concerned about is not only the degree of strength of your hand, but the potential for drawing hands on the board, as well as the amount of opponents you're against. The less the amount, the more you can delay, and vice versa.
As a general rule, it's better to call than to check on the flop, since you don't really want to give a free shot at the turn away. If you're going to check the turn, you want to be fairly sure someone will bet it.
This strategy is best used in instances where someone is betting in front of you on the flop, and the circumstances are good for just calling here and looking to raise later, whether it's the turn or the river. Acting on the turn is better if you're at all worried about being drawn on. In circumstances where there's several people to act after you and you've got a particularly strong hand, it may pay to wait until the river, if you feel you're more likely to get a cold call there.
You want to mix it up though and make sure that you're not check-raising later on and showing very strong hands too much. Weak opponents tend not to remember too much about your play, but being check raised tends to stand out more. I'm sure you've experienced this as well the times you've been sandbagged like this. You tend to make a note to yourself not to let this guy suck you into that again. This doesn't mean you won't do it, but make sure you're not overdoing it, especially if you start to get too much folding to it.
Another good deceptive tactic is betting or raising a good draw. This works particularly well at more passive tables, where they tend to check to the bettor or raiser on later streets. If you're in last position on the flop, this can often work to put more money in the pot when you hit your draw, and buy you a free card when you miss. This will also hide the draw more when you hit it, as you bet or raised on the last street and it's going to be hard for them to put you on the hand you had, if a straight or flush card comes up. As well, this will tend to help you in that you're just not betting with a made hand, and there's going to be times where you show down trash here, which will have your opponents guessing more when you bet out in the future.
Another example of how deception can be used is betting out or raising when a scare card comes. The table has to be fairly tight for this to work though. For example, you've raised pre-flop, an ace comes on the flop, and you play the hand strong in spite of you having nothing. Or an ace comes up later in the hand and you play faster. Or a straight or flush card hits and you do the same thing. You want to limit this to 1 or 2 opponents max though, and they have to be the type of players who are likely to lay down to the aggression.
Another form of aggression is either taking the initiative against a single opponent who is tight, or looking to take advantage of weakness. In both cases you're usually up against a single tight opponent, or two opponents if they're both very tight. It's best used against one unless you're pretty sure it will work against both. You're on the flop and you know your opponent will only hit something about 1/3 of the time. You're acting first and you're taking the initiative and betting your hand out. It doesn't really matter what you have but having at least one high card helps in case you get called. Since he probably hasn't hit even a pair, and probably will fold when he doesn't and you bet, you will get his money most of the time. Or, in the same situation, he checks to you, your bet will get it most of the time as well. Keep in mind we're talking tight players here, as this won't work against looser ones, as you're looking for a fold more often than not to make this work.
If you're in a strong game, you're also going to have to mix up your play more to keep your opponents off guard. Since you don't really want to deviate from your A game unless you have to, the best way to approach this is from a defensive perspective. Watch closely how your opponents are adjusting to you. If they're folding to your pre-flop raises too much, raise more. If they're still doing it, raise even more. If they fold too much to your hands generally, play more hands and run more bluffs against them. When they re-adjust to you, adjust again the other way. And so on. The trick here is to use their adjustments against them by first perceiving them then re-adjusting to get command of the situation. Once you've learned to do this effectively, you'll always be in a position to keep your opponents guessing.
We've now gone over several techniques to use deception to your advantage in limit games. Although there's not a whole lot of instances where this will come up at a loose weak game, the ones we want to focus on at $100/$200 or below, you still can earn some extra money by playing deceptively at the appropriate time, and keep your opponents off balance more at the same time.
In most looser and therefore weaker games though, you don't have to be too concerned about deception really. Playing purely straightforwardly will get you the money in fact. However, by adding a little deception into the mix, you will be able to get extra bets here and there, which add up to a lot at the end of the month.
First of all, this can involve delaying your aggression to the more expensive streets of course. You want to be careful in making sure you have a strong hand to do this with though, as you really want to avoid opponents drawing out on you while you're waiting to pounce. Therefore, what you need to be concerned about is not only the degree of strength of your hand, but the potential for drawing hands on the board, as well as the amount of opponents you're against. The less the amount, the more you can delay, and vice versa.
As a general rule, it's better to call than to check on the flop, since you don't really want to give a free shot at the turn away. If you're going to check the turn, you want to be fairly sure someone will bet it.
This strategy is best used in instances where someone is betting in front of you on the flop, and the circumstances are good for just calling here and looking to raise later, whether it's the turn or the river. Acting on the turn is better if you're at all worried about being drawn on. In circumstances where there's several people to act after you and you've got a particularly strong hand, it may pay to wait until the river, if you feel you're more likely to get a cold call there.
You want to mix it up though and make sure that you're not check-raising later on and showing very strong hands too much. Weak opponents tend not to remember too much about your play, but being check raised tends to stand out more. I'm sure you've experienced this as well the times you've been sandbagged like this. You tend to make a note to yourself not to let this guy suck you into that again. This doesn't mean you won't do it, but make sure you're not overdoing it, especially if you start to get too much folding to it.
Another good deceptive tactic is betting or raising a good draw. This works particularly well at more passive tables, where they tend to check to the bettor or raiser on later streets. If you're in last position on the flop, this can often work to put more money in the pot when you hit your draw, and buy you a free card when you miss. This will also hide the draw more when you hit it, as you bet or raised on the last street and it's going to be hard for them to put you on the hand you had, if a straight or flush card comes up. As well, this will tend to help you in that you're just not betting with a made hand, and there's going to be times where you show down trash here, which will have your opponents guessing more when you bet out in the future.
Another example of how deception can be used is betting out or raising when a scare card comes. The table has to be fairly tight for this to work though. For example, you've raised pre-flop, an ace comes on the flop, and you play the hand strong in spite of you having nothing. Or an ace comes up later in the hand and you play faster. Or a straight or flush card hits and you do the same thing. You want to limit this to 1 or 2 opponents max though, and they have to be the type of players who are likely to lay down to the aggression.
Another form of aggression is either taking the initiative against a single opponent who is tight, or looking to take advantage of weakness. In both cases you're usually up against a single tight opponent, or two opponents if they're both very tight. It's best used against one unless you're pretty sure it will work against both. You're on the flop and you know your opponent will only hit something about 1/3 of the time. You're acting first and you're taking the initiative and betting your hand out. It doesn't really matter what you have but having at least one high card helps in case you get called. Since he probably hasn't hit even a pair, and probably will fold when he doesn't and you bet, you will get his money most of the time. Or, in the same situation, he checks to you, your bet will get it most of the time as well. Keep in mind we're talking tight players here, as this won't work against looser ones, as you're looking for a fold more often than not to make this work.
If you're in a strong game, you're also going to have to mix up your play more to keep your opponents off guard. Since you don't really want to deviate from your A game unless you have to, the best way to approach this is from a defensive perspective. Watch closely how your opponents are adjusting to you. If they're folding to your pre-flop raises too much, raise more. If they're still doing it, raise even more. If they fold too much to your hands generally, play more hands and run more bluffs against them. When they re-adjust to you, adjust again the other way. And so on. The trick here is to use their adjustments against them by first perceiving them then re-adjusting to get command of the situation. Once you've learned to do this effectively, you'll always be in a position to keep your opponents guessing.
We've now gone over several techniques to use deception to your advantage in limit games. Although there's not a whole lot of instances where this will come up at a loose weak game, the ones we want to focus on at $100/$200 or below, you still can earn some extra money by playing deceptively at the appropriate time, and keep your opponents off balance more at the same time.
