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No limit holdem poker is
growing faster than any other form of poker because of all the recent TV
coverage but there isn't that much information out there teaching people
how to play. There are plenty of books about how to play limit games,
and there are some books on no limit tournament play, but really not
much about regular no limit ring games.
Target Audience
This article is geared for new
to intermediate players. If you play higher then what was just listed
then most likely you'll already know everything below. This article is
not about tournament play all though some of the concepts apply to that
as well.
Who Are Your Opponents?
Who are your opponents is the
number one concept that should dictate your play. Unlike limit holdem
which is very mechanical, no limit holdem affords a good player many
more options. If you are playing well, you make your moves depending on
whom you are against.
How Much To Bet
If you already know how to play
limit holdem, one issue you'll be faced with when playing no limit is
the question of how much to bet. Let's say you are playing in a $100 no
limit buy-in game where the blinds are 1/2. It would be normal for
people to raise anywhere from $6-10 preflop. You'll see people raising
different amounts, sometimes much more then that or just doubling the
big blind, but by and large it is usually about 3 or 4 times the big
blind. So is that how much you should raise? Maybe, maybe not. How
much you should raise preflop depends on who you are playing with and
what you want to accomplish.
Your goal with the raise is to
cut down the competition and get one or two callers. A raise to $6 or $8
won't do. In this case you can raise much more then you normally would
for a few reasons: one, there are already a lot of people in and the
likelihood of getting called by a couple of them is high; two, there is
already a lot of money in the pot; three, you want to get out of a bunch
of the hands since your hand doesn't play well against a lot of people.
A raise here for $12 or even
$15 would be fine. Another scenario might be if you have a really bad
player at the table who doesn't seem to ever fold preflop if he has
already called the big blind. If you find a person like that, then by
all means raise as much as you can without making him fold. It's very
common to find players like this and when you do, make sure you get as
much of their money as you can before someone else does. This is where
paying attention comes in handy.
Post flop play again depends on
two things, what you want to accomplish and who your opponents
are. Let's say that you have flopped a set of 7s and you are fairly
sure that the person you are against has a big hand since he raised
preflop.
This is a prime money making
opportunity. Your goal here is not to shut him out on the flop. You
want to do whatever you can to make him put all his money in the middle.
This might be calling the flop and then check raising the turn card.
Or you may want to bet some into him and pretend like you have a
marginal hand, then call his raise and check raise the turn, etc.
See it all depends on what you
think the best way to get all his money might be. Another extreme is
when you don't want anyone to call. Let's say for example you have T9
and the flop is T98. You really don't want anyone to call here so you
better come out swinging. What you are trying to do is make it
unprofitable for someone to call with a draw. Lastly, let's say you
flop top pair with a decent hand. Betting the size of the pot is fine
here. |
