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No-Limit Texas Hold 'em Strategy No-limit hold ‘em has exploded in popularity online recently, thanks largely to exposure from the WPT and WSOP TV shows, and the fact that it can be played for fairly small stakes online. It is fairly exciting and fun to play, and quite profitable because the better player has a bigger edge over his opponent at no-limit than at limit. So where does the expert get his edge? Read on…
Recommended Reading
The one must read book here is Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker by Stewart Reuben and Bob Ciaffone. This is mostly a theoretical rather than mechanical book, in that it does not tell you how to play A-K, but tells you what you should be thinking about when you are playing. For those who learn better when they are told exactly how to play certain hands, pick up a copy of Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold ‘em by T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy, or Super/System by Doyle Brunson. Both of these books are considerably less useful, however, than Reuben/Ciaffone is.
Picking a Site
The recent internet poker boom has given several sites heavy no-limit traffic. The best ones to play at are:
Party Poker / Empire Poker – Have you noticed that these guys are popping up all over among the best sites to play at for particular games? There is a good reason: Party has gotten the biggest rush of players who are intrigued by the no-limit games they see on TV. Luckily, a lot of them are used to three-player WPT action where the hands are much worse than those played in a ten-handed game, so the no-limit games remain very good here. One drawback is that the maximum buy-in is 50 big blinds, as opposed to the 100 on most sites. However, this helps idiots rationalize calling you all-in pre-flop when you have A-A or K-K, so it is not all bad.
UltimateBet – This site offers .01/.02 no-limit games, which play very loosely but are a cheap way to experiment with players who are at least playing somewhat rationally. They also offer many tables full of .10/.25, .25/.50 and higher no-limit games, and the players there, though not as bad as Party, are not too bright. A good player should make a steady earn here. One annoying feature is that since the addition of the “bet pot” button, many players are just clicking this button rather than choosing a different amount to bet, especially at the .01/.02 and .10/.25 limits. Thus, you should play tighter with drawing hands on UB since the bets will often be too big to call on just a flush draw.
Poker Stars – This traditionally difficult site has now been greeted by a rush of poor players, owing to the hype surrounding Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP victory. The NL games here seem to be getting better of late.
Getting Started
If you’re not already familiar with basic limit hold ‘em concepts, go read Limit Hold ‘em Strategy.
What changes should you make from your limit strategy? This relates to your number one priority in no-limit hold ‘em: doubling up by winning an all-in confrontation against one opponent. The best way to do this is to stick to hands that you will feel comfortable moving all-in with if you hit your hand. The power of a concealed set in no-limit makes all pairs playable in no-limit in the hopes of hitting a set on the flop, unless there has been a big pre-flop raise. There exists a no-limit theory that with good position, any pair is an automatic call if the raise is less than five percent of your stack, and an automatic fold if it is ten or more percent. (“the rule of five and ten”) If your opponent’s stack is smaller than yours, it may be better to look at the raise as a percentage of his stack. If you have hit a set, which you will do about 12 percent of the time, do your best to get the hand all-in as long as a good amount of money is in the pot. If not, bet or raise strong amounts with the eventual goal of getting an opponent all-in. (Unless of course the board is dangerous, showing three cards to a straight or flush. Now if you move in, you will probably not get any action unless you are beaten.) What you are hoping for is that top pair or an overpair will call your all-in and you can double up.
Notice that in the above example, you are hoping to catch the opponent with top pair. Say the flop is K-8-2, you have 8-8 and your opponent holds A-K or K-Q. Most likely he will call your all-in, unless you are making an absolutely huge bet compared to the size of the pot. (Even then a bad player with a hand as weak as K-T might call an all-in.) Since you can easily get caught in these kinds of situations when holding two big cards, virtually all unpaired hands are worth less at no-limit than at limit. A-K is still generally a good hand, but A-Q and K-Q should only be played in unraised pots, and hands like A-J offsuit, K-J offsuit, and worse should generally be folded even without a raise. Getting trapped with a lower kicker on your pair (or against two pair or a set) is bad at limit, but rarely costs you a lot of chips. At no-limit, this type of mistake can easily cost you your whole stack, so it is best avoided early on. As a general rule, if someone has made a bet or raise greater than the size of the pot, you would do well to fold top pair unless it includes another draw such as an open ended straight or flush draw.
One more comment on big slick: A-K plays quite poorly in a pot where a big pre-flop raise has been made (unless the raise was from you). If I’m sitting in a .10/.25 no-limit game and someone has opened the pot for $5 in front of me, I have absolutely no qualms about mucking A-K. If someone raises it to $5 behind me, this is even worse, as the raiser now has position on me. My A-K is as good as gone. The raiser will often have me buried with A-A or K-K, and I’m an underdog even if he has a smaller pair. If I do flop an ace or king, I’m not going to get action from pocket jacks, and the $5 raise will likely drive out other players who might have paid off my top pair in an unraised pot. If you want to gamble, go ahead and call here, but don’t be surprised when you go broke on the hand. If you want to maximize your winnings, get out of Dodge when you see a big pre-flop raise, unless you have a big pocket pair. By big I essentially mean Q-Q or bigger, and even queens are sometimes a dog against a solid player who makes this kind of raise.
The one unpaired hand that is generally worth more in no-limit is A-x suited, especially where x is a big card. Your primary goal is to hit the nut flush and get a lower flush all-in. Also, you can hit an excellent “combination flop” such as J-4-2 with two clubs to your A-J of clubs, and be able to go all in with a good made hand and a great draw. I would muck A-x suited in a raised pot unless the x was a jack or bigger (and possibly even muck A-K suited to a big raise), but in an unraised pot with many opponents, the hand is worth playing.
Since you want to get all-in when you are a big favorite, your goal when holding A-A or K-K is to see if you can get another player to go all-in against you before the flop. You are always a huge favorite in this situation (unless your adversary holds the other two aces, or aces or kings against your kings), so it is a desirable place to be. Against expert players, it is often best to trap with these hands, but you are not playing against experts at small-stakes no-limit hold ‘em online. Your typical opponent online is an idiot who thinks that it is fun to take a risk and bet all his chips. When you start playing, if you simply push in all your chips whenever you have A-A or K-K pre-flop, you will not be that far off from correct strategy. However, note that the typical player is much more likely to call an all-in if he has already raised the pot himself or called a raise. Thus, in early position, it may be correct to simply call with these hands in the hope someone raises behind you so that you can re-raise them all-in.
Incidentally, it is for this reason that you always want to have as many chips in front of you as you can when playing no-limit (but don’t play with the “rent money”). Since you will double your stack much more often than you will go broke (if you are playing well), you want to maximize your potential earnings by buying in for the maximum at your table. When you are first starting out, you may not be playing all that well, so a smaller buy-in may be prudent.
Doyle Brunson has commented that he either wins a small pot or loses a big one when he holds A-A. You can often get yourself into a tough situation post-flop with aces, where an opponent has made a large bet and you do not know whether it is on a hand like top pair or a big hand that has you beaten. To avoid this sort of dilemma, which often represents a big factor in your end-of-session results, do your best to get all-in pre-flop.
If you take nothing else from this strategy page, remember that your goal in no-limit is ALWAYS to aim to double your stack by winning an all-in pot. So you should choose a strategy that gives you a good chance to do so, while avoiding being on the losing end of these confrontations. Try to play hands that will win big or go home, like pocket pairs, and avoid those that will win small or get you broke, such as K-Q.
Position and Bluffing
Position is fairly important at limit hold ‘em, mainly because your pre-flop interests are in finding out whether the pot will be raised, and how many people will see the flop. At no-limit, not only are these considerations more important, but position is also much more important on all betting rounds, because you will often not know whether to bet or check-raise with a good hand in early position, and you cannot get a free card against an aggressive player when you act before him. Position is much more important in a tighter and tougher no-limit game like you will find for high-stakes, but it is still vital here. As a general rule, you should not call a raise in the blinds (or complete the small blind) unless you would play the same hand in late position without having any money invested in the pot yet.
Another important concept, if there is a pre-flop raise, is your position relative to the raiser. You would prefer to be to the raiser’s direct right, since he will often automatically bet the pot, and if you flop a big made hand this allows you to trap everyone in the middle. Also, if you have a drawing hand in this situation, you would prefer to see how everyone else reacts to the raiser’s bet before committing any chips to the pot.
As for bluffing, it is a vital skill at this game as you move up in stakes. You should reserve your bluffs for times when the pot has been raised pre-flop, creating a pot with few players in it, and the texture of the board allows you to represent a good hand. (If you were the pre-flop raiser, you should bet most of the time, since you will steal the pot without a fight so often.) However, many of the players at stakes like .10/.25 believe that they “need to be shown a hand”, so reserve your bluffs for situations where the opponents are showing extreme weakness and are not likely to hold a drawing hand that they will call a bet with. Also, try to reserve your bluffs for times where you cannot win a showdown. In other words, be more likely to bluff with queen-high than with a pocket pair of fives, if everyone has checked.
“Implied Odds”
In limit hold ‘em, it is very important to consider the pot odds when calling with a hand such as a flush draw. However, you can usually call with a flush draw getting only 3.5 to 1 odds (even though your odds of making the draw are worse than 4 to 1), because you expect to win additional bets when you hit. In no-limit, the additional bets you win often are so big that it is worth calling a pot-size bet (2 to 1 odds) on a flush draw if you suspect that your opponent will call you even if you hit. Good players will usually put you on a flush draw and not call if you make it, but bad players need to be shown a hand. Thus, be much more inclined to call a bet getting poor odds if the bettor is a bad player that likes to call you down even when you represent having him clearly beaten.
Don’t go overboard here (it is still insane to call a decent-size bet on a gut-shot or an open-ended straight draw when the board is two-suited), but remember that you can often get better odds than it appears in these games, via future bets.
Free or Cheap Cards
Many players believe they have to slowplay everything in no-limit, thanks to poker’s image in the media, largely crafted by the final poker scene in Rounders. Without going into great detail about free cards here (read the Theory of Poker for excellent insights), it is very important that you do not give them in situations where your hand can be overtaken by a free card. Even if you have a huge hand like the nut straight, the free card you give could allow an opponent to make a flush and beat you. Even if your opponent does not have the flush, you are likely to get much less action from hands that do not beat you when the board is showing three to a suit, and you cannot play your hand with confidence. A big raise will drive you out.
How Much to Bet?
In no-limit, you can bet any amount up to your total stack at any time. What is the “correct” amount to bet? In any given situation, the actual correct amount depends on your opponent’s hand. In no-limit, more than any other game, reading your opponent’s hand is of paramount importance. The main question to ask is “how many outs does my opponent probably have?” If you suspect your opponent is nearly drawing dead (perhaps he holds Q-Q and you A-K on a K-9-4 flop), your bet does not need to be so big, because the chances of an outdraw are small and you want to win additional bets with your hand. However, if he is on a flush draw, you will need to bet a significant amount in order to prevent him from making a correct call based on “implied odds”. (Even if you are a good player, it is impossible to play with 100% accuracy if a flush card hits.)
My advice is that you should usually vary your bet size between half the pot and the full pot. There is one big exception, however. If an opponent is showing strength and you hold either a superb made hand like a set, straight or flush, or a super drawing hand like a straight-flush draw or top pair and a non-nut flush draw, go ahead and move all-in here. With a set, you just want to get all of an opponent’s money when he is holding a hand like two pair or top pair, good kicker. The key to moving all-in with a drawing hand is that many of your outs (the flush cards) are not to the nuts. You do not know whether your opponent is betting a made hand or a higher flush draw, but you do know that you either have the best made hand or a lot of outs, though you do not know which outs are good. The solution is to move in on the flop, when you still have two cards that can make your draw. An added bonus is that if your opponent holds a hand like middle pair or top pair, bad kicker, he will often throw his hand away when you make a move like this, giving you the pot without a fight. Also, this keeps your opponents from being able to “put you on” a great made hand whenever you make an all-in bet.
There are other times when you will want to vary your bet sizes, both to vary your game and to mislead your opponents as to the quality of your hand, but generally speaking, when you are facing a bad player that will call big bets with poor drawing hands, make him pay by making big bets, close to the size of the pot. If he makes a big bet of his own when a scare card hits, give him credit for the hand and fold. Against good players, you have to work harder, but you should be avoiding the good players when you are starting out.
How Many Enemy?
Play in a multi-way pot is much different from a heads-up or shorthanded pot. In a two- or three-handed pot, a bluff is much more likely to succeed, and the other players in the pot will likely be pushing weaker holdings, knowing there are fewer enemies to hold a big hand against them. However, if there are five or more players in the pot and someone has made a bet, it is much more likely that they are holding something big. In addition, you should rarely attempt to pick up the pot with a bet when this many opponents are involved. Someone has something he thinks he can call a bet with. Virtually all of Bob Ciaffone’s writings contain excellent examples of how to factor the number of opponents into your decisions at the table.
Sitting Down for the First Time
I recommend spending some time at the smallest limit offered by your poker server. UltimateBet has some .01/.02 no-limit tables, which are not exactly realistic in terms of looseness, but they will give you some idea as to how to play your hands in this setting. On UB or Party, use the buddy list features to write down the names of some of the bad players, and watch their play, noticing the poor hands they will keep calling with. This is about what you can expect from most of the poor-playing individuals who just can’t fold a hand that might have become a winner.
No-limit is an excellent game for posting hand histories on the 2+2 forums and asking for advice on your play. The posters on the pot-limit and no-limit forum are very knowledgeable and will show you how to improve your play to maximize profit or minimize losses on a given hand. This kind of advice can be invaluable when you are playing for bigger stakes aiming to win “the big money”.
Who am I Playing With?
Knowing how your opponents play is more important in no-limit than any other game. You must know which players are likely to have solid values when they get involved, which will call big bets with gut-shot straight draws, and which will pay off bets when they are clearly beaten. It is important that you never try to bluff players who will call you down with any sort of hand, and always make bigger bets against an opponent with looser calling requirements. Playing this way allows you to maximize your wins against these bad players, and get out of the way against the better players who are more likely to be holding a strong hand, and may be able to outplay you. Use the buddy list (on UB or Party) and player notes features to remember the tendencies of regular players. If you ask another player how you should have played a hand, his first question will usually be “who were you facing?” and with good reason.
Stay Focused
In no-limit, a bad call pre-flop may lead to many bad plays on the flop and beyond, so do not play this game if you have a tendency to get bored easily. Playing a hand out of boredom can cost you more here than in any other game, so just don’t do it. Keeping yourself amused may amount to playing two or three tables at once, or talking to some friends who are watching you at the table. If you do this, make sure you are still paying attention to how the others at the table are playing, as knowing your opponent is more important at no-limit than any other game. Listen to music if it helps. Do not amuse yourself with plays that you know you should not be making. People who think this way go broke quickly.
Playing Shorthanded
Shorthanded no-limit hold ‘em is a very difficult game that I recommend you stay the hell away from unless you are an experienced player. It involves a lot of bullying, even more than in limit hold ‘em, and requires you to be excellent at reading cards. At any rate, you must play extremely aggressively and be willing to gamble with bad hands, two things that someone who is a beginner or playing on a short bankroll should not be doing. If you play too tightly or passively, the blinds and the pots that get stolen right from under you will eat you alive. Don’t play this game unless you already have some good experience playing shorthanded poker and no-limit hold ‘em. Even then, it is a very high-variance game.
No-limit Tournaments No-limit hold ‘em is the most popular game for online
tournaments. In a no-limit tournament, your primary goal is to use your
stack to intimidate opponents out of pots, so you can win them
uncontested. If you are called, there is always a reasonable chance that
you will be outdrawn. Late in tournaments, I have a ferocious image in
no-limit, because I am not afraid to push my stack in at any time to force
an opponent to fold. No-limit tournaments are all about semi-bluffing,
and as any good player knows, calling is not an effective defense against
the semi-bluff. Thus, especially in a no-limit tournament, you want to be
the bettor, not the caller. For more on tournament play, check out
Poker Tournament
Basics.
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