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Advanced No-Limit Hold 'em
According to famous poker player and author Doyle Brunson,
No-Limit Hold'em is the Cadillac of all poker games. The skill involved with
No-Limit games is tremendous, even seasoned professionals admit that they still
have a lot to learn at No-Limit Hold'em. However, don't let this scare you.
No-Limit Hold'em is, in my opinion, the most fun of all poker games. It
can also be profitable, sometimes even for beginners.
After playing No-Limit extensively on the net, I've noticed
that the keys to winning No-Limit are one's knowledge of the game and his
ability to adapt to his opponents' knowledge. You must know what your skills are
at No-Limit and what stages of the game you have mastered. Once you realize how you
are good at No-Limit, you must then apply this to how badly others at your table
play No-Limit.
For the sake of simplicity, I am going to divide the skills
of No-Limit into several stages. After mastering each of these stages, one can
expect his or her profit potential at No-Limit to increase.
- Pot odds
You must understand what odds you are getting if you call a
bet with a draw. Since you can determine the size of the bet (it's not fixed),
you should know if you are getting or giving good odds to someone.
For example, calling an unraised pot with several players
in ahead of you preflop with 55 is
good odds. If you hit a set, you can expect to make a lot of money (people will
not expect it so they will call with top pair). However, let's say it's on the
turn and you have a flush draw. The pot is $10 and someone bets $20 all-in, you
are getting horrible odds. You have roughly a 1 in 5 shot of hitting, and you
would be betting $20 to win $50 (1-2.5 odds).
As basic as this may be, many No-Limit players have not
even mastered this stage! So if you are still insecure about pot odds, don't
worry. Many others are too and often they don't even realize it.
- Realizing the differences between Limit and
No-Limit
Check-raising for value is far less valuable in No-Limit
than Limit because you may be giving your opponent's a deadly free card. In
Limit poker, if you have the second best hand, you will lose a little bit. In
No-Limit, you could lose your entire stack.
- Aggression
Betting is far better than calling in No-Limit. When you
bet, you can win if you have the better hand or if your opponent folds. If you
call, you can only win if you have your opponent beaten. If you bet, you
determine the bet size. You determine the pot odds. If you call, you are
accepting someone else's odds.
If you bet, you force people to pay off when you have a
good hand. If you are a caller, you have to hope someone else will willingly pay
you off. The importance of aggression is why tight-passive players can win a lot
more at Limit than No-Limit.
- Quick Adjustment
Different types of games require different amounts of
aggression. Shorter games require one to be looser and more aggressive. However,
if your up against many loose opponents, you must tighten up and wait until you
have a strong hand. Generally, the opposite of what the game is does well. If
the game is very loose, tighten up. If the game is very tight, take advantage
and steal pots.
You also must adjust to your opponent's quality. If you are
up against weak players, simply giving them bad pot odds and taking money from
them bit by bit works well. If you are against better players, you must set some
traps.
- Reading skills
Getting an idea of your opponent's cards is very important.
This takes time and experience. However, a way to improve your reading skills is
what I call the 'three question technique.' Always ask yourself these three
questions when someone makes or calls a bet:
- What does he have?
- What does he think I have?
- What does he think I think he has?
6.
Psychology and Traps
Once you hold the whopper and your opponent also has a good
hand, what's the best way to double through him? Learning to get out of and set
traps is very difficult and only experience will help in this department.
Fundamentally, game psychology and traps are used to manipulate the three
questions mentioned earlier. For example, if you over bet the pot with a flush
draw and then check when you hold the flush, either your opponent will fall for
the trap, thinking you had top pair or will realize the trap and check-fold to
you on river. The slowplay was used to manipulate the variable: what does he
think I have? Generally, this sort of game psychology is to only be used on good
players (players that have mastered the first 4 steps). Against weaker players,
you should just build a good hand and extract money out of them bit by bit.
Weaker plays just play their hand; they don't think about what you have.
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