[aliensyndm]

Not really alot more to add to this thread. Most of the points have been covered. I think it's good to be a decent player in as many forms of poker as you can. Being good at one doesn't necessarily mean you are good at another. There are different skills needed for each. Limit hold 'em and No Limit hold 'em aren't different in as much as what cards you are dealt, rounds of betting etc but the betting itself completely changes the entire game into one of totally different skills.

You then get other poker variants like 5 card stud, 7 card stud. Now all of a sudden memory becomes very important. A good stud player will know every single card that has been folded, not an easy thing to do. Of course memory of pot odds, how other players play etc still comes into all forms of poker really but in games like hold 'em you aren't having to memorise big groups of cards the way a good stud poker player will. A simple example of the importance of this might be if your hand was something like (K) K Q 7 2
Cards in brackets are face down. And your opponent was showing (?) A 8 6 4
If you knew for a fact the other three aces had been folded you'd know your hand was a winner. However if you hadn't been paying attention you wouldn't be quite so sure.


You then get games like 5 card draw where no cards are shown face up at all and you have to work out what your opponent has from how many cards he exchanged, his betting and from any other tells you can gather. No face up cards are shown hence you have no idea what he could have.
A good example of a simple tell would be if your opponent draws three cards, most likely drawing to a pair. Upon looking at his three new cards he checks very quickly. This is almost certain that he didn't improve his hand. If he did improve his hand he'd have to pause for just even half a second to consider what to do, ie either check or bet. The very quick check suggest no improvement was made as no thought is needed. You can safely bet 2 pair upwards into this person now.

At end of day No limit hold 'em is the most widely played poker game on the planet by a mile and that's the one you really wanna be learning first and foremost I would suggest. It can be an unforgiving game though so make sure when you are learning you are playing at levels low enough that you feel comfortable with and aren't scared to go all-in or call an all-in. Tournaments can be quite a good way to start as if you do go all in worst that is happening is that you lose your entry fee. Of course tournament strategy is slightly different to cash games but being good at both is certainly helpful !