Adventures in Pot Limit

I have been playing PL Hold'em cash games recently - doing very well at them I might add. I am in no way an expert at pot-limit Hold'em, and I make many small mistakes along the way. I've never read a book specific to the game, nor have I seen many articles related to it.

However, I am learning a lot as I play. PL seems to give me better control over the size of the pot on a given hand. For example, if I end up out of position with QQ in a heads-up pot, I can check call and (presumably) save some money to a single overcard on the board. This is great for me, as in No-Limit games I have lost a lot of money due to stubbornness on hands.

I've noticed that my play at these tables tends to resemble the style that I play in NL Hold'em real-life cash games. I see a lot more flops waiting to get paid off for others' large mistakes. I let go of big pre-flop hands to silly little small bets when there's virtually no way for me to pull the pot. I raise less from the blinds and from late position when there's no chance of me chasing limpers out anyway. The following hand illustrates the powerful disguise that these situations when I actually hit my hand. All credit to my opponent, as they appeared to lose the minimum with this hand.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12083621865: Table Galva (6 max, deep) - $0.02/$0.05 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 15:24:14 ET - 2009/05/07
Seat 1: Steve345 ($5.53)
Seat 2: WiseRabbit ($10)
Seat 3: ricoquad ($5.16)
Seat 4: weguewegue ($9.80)
Seat 5: CgCook38 ($17.89)
Seat 6: bentlyb ($8.98)
CgCook38 posts the small blind of $0.02
bentlyb posts the big blind of $0.05
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [As Kd]
Steve345 folds
WiseRabbit folds
ricoquad has 15 seconds left to act
ricoquad calls $0.05
weguewegue calls $0.05
CgCook38 calls $0.03
bentlyb checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh 6h Qs]
CgCook38 checks
bentlyb checks
ricoquad bets $0.05
weguewegue folds
CgCook38 calls $0.05
bentlyb calls $0.05
*** TURN *** [Jh 6h Qs] [Tc]
CgCook38 checks
bentlyb bets $0.35
ricoquad calls $0.35
CgCook38 raises to $1.75
bentlyb calls $1.40
ricoquad folds
*** RIVER *** [Jh 6h Qs Tc] [4s]
CgCook38 bets $4.20
bentlyb calls $4.20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CgCook38 shows [As Kd] a straight, Ace high
bentlyb shows [9c Kh] a straight, King high
CgCook38 wins the pot ($11.76) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12.60 | Rake $0.84
Board: [Jh 6h Qs Tc 4s]
Seat 1: Steve345 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: WiseRabbit didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: ricoquad folded on the Turn
Seat 4: weguewegue (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: CgCook38 (small blind) showed [As Kd] and won ($11.76) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 6: bentlyb (big blind) showed [9c Kh] and lost with a straight, King high