Texas Hold'em No Limit strategies..

[Syringer]

So I've recently been playing the game regularly on pokerroom.com, and being at $7200 after starting with $1000 I thought I was a big shot. But I was playing it with a bunch of friends last night (two of which were really good)..and was cleaned out of my $10

Anyone have strategries to share? I'm strongly determined to get my money back.

 

[KingNothing]

My general strategy is to control the betting. If you call, you're betting on someone else's terms. If I check, it's usually because I think someone else will raise, at which point I'll reraise.

 

[911paramedic]

Unless you are playing for real money all strategy goes out the window.

 

[KingNothing]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Unless you are playing for real money all strategy goes out the window.

Very true. I blew through $3000 at pokerroom today because I was bored, basically. Last night I doubled my money ($15->$30, but still) playing Hold 'Em and some other games.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Unless you are playing for real money all strategy goes out the window.

Correct, for play money all you're doing is cutting for high card. You can't bluff, you can't trap, you can't do much of anything except wait for the river and see who wins.

In a real game, the strategy is to play the person, not the cards. There's an old adage that's very very true and it works for all poker, not just Hold'em. "If you can't spot the sucker in the first 10 minutes at the table, YOU are the sucker". You need to know the odds of card combos, but your stategy ALWAYS has to account for your opponents tendencies. You need to play differently against agressive players than you do against tight players.

 

[new2AMD]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Unless you are playing for real money all strategy goes out the window.

Correct, for play money all you're doing is cutting for high card. You can't bluff, you can't trap, you can't do much of anything except wait for the river and see who wins.

In a real game, the strategy is to play the person, not the cards. There's an old adage that's very very true and it works for all poker, not just Hold'em. "If you can't spot the sucker in the first 10 minutes at the table, YOU are the sucker". You need to know the odds of card combos, but your stategy ALWAYS has to account for your opponents tendencies. You need to play differently against agressive players than you do against tight players.

very hard to play the players when its an online game.

I just finished a 9 player $10 buy in tourny while reading this thread. Came in second.

 

[Ameesh]

discussing strategy with play money is moot. i suggest reading lee jone's book on low limit holdem

 

[dquan97]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Unless you are playing for real money all strategy goes out the window.

Correct, for play money all you're doing is cutting for high card. You can't bluff, you can't trap, you can't do much of anything except wait for the river and see who wins.

In a real game, the strategy is to play the person, not the cards. There's an old adage that's very very true and it works for all poker, not just Hold'em. "If you can't spot the sucker in the first 10 minutes at the table, YOU are the sucker". You need to know the odds of card combos, but your stategy ALWAYS has to account for your opponents tendencies. You need to play differently against agressive players than you do against tight players.

hehehe...good quote

 

[Gaard]

Originally posted by: dquan97

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Unless you are playing for real money all strategy goes out the window.

Correct, for play money all you're doing is cutting for high card. You can't bluff, you can't trap, you can't do much of anything except wait for the river and see who wins.

In a real game, the strategy is to play the person, not the cards. There's an old adage that's very very true and it works for all poker, not just Hold'em. "If you can't spot the sucker in the first 10 minutes at the table, YOU are the sucker". You need to know the odds of card combos, but your stategy ALWAYS has to account for your opponents tendencies. You need to play differently against agressive players than you do against tight players.

hehehe...good quote

Yes, it is. Isn't it from Rounders?

 

[new2AMD]

Its an old poker saying. They prolly said it in rounders.

 

[PoPPeR]

rounders might as well be the definitive dictionary on poker heh. The only quotes about cards people know are from Rounders.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: new2AMD

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Unless you are playing for real money all strategy goes out the window.

Correct, for play money all you're doing is cutting for high card. You can't bluff, you can't trap, you can't do much of anything except wait for the river and see who wins.

In a real game, the strategy is to play the person, not the cards. There's an old adage that's very very true and it works for all poker, not just Hold'em. "If you can't spot the sucker in the first 10 minutes at the table, YOU are the sucker". You need to know the odds of card combos, but your stategy ALWAYS has to account for your opponents tendencies. You need to play differently against agressive players than you do against tight players.

very hard to play the players when its an online game.

I just finished a 9 player $10 buy in tourny while reading this thread. Came in second.

All the more reason NOT to play poker online. But that isn't 100% true though. Online it's much harder to play the person as you can't see anything physical, but you can always pick up tips from the play. Some people will pay to see almost every flop, some will fold weak hands even when it costs little to see the flop. Some bluff often, some rarely and some never. Some bet agressively with little and little when holding the nuts. Others will only bet big on a near sure thing. If you think you can't play the players online, YOU are the sucker. The clues are there, you just need to learn where to look for them.

 

[yoda291]

before you try and play anyone down, know the structure of the game. Be able to get an idea of the odds. Know where you stand in any given hand before making your choices betting or else you might as well play blind. For instance, if you're looking at the rainbow after fifth street and representing a straight, don't bother to calculate flushes/straight flushes into your odds as there will not be a flush...thereby making your straight stronger. If you're looking at a split rainbow, however, your straight looks very strong and all you need to calculate are other straights because no boats are in the water. This is a simple example, but I can't remember how many times I've heard, "I coulda sworn someone drew a flush/boat/etc" when it'd be impossible to create such a hand with the community cards in play.

 

[Dudd]

First thing, 10 bucks is not enough money to play with NL. One bad hand and poof, you are done for the night. So, don't take anything from your session with two of your friends, it could be nothing more than a string of bad luck. If you do this week after week and still continue to lose, then that becomes a pattern.

Now, I'm not very good and fairly new at this game myself, but a couple of things I've picked up. First, everyone who says know the player and not the cards is dead right. There are a lot of guys I play with who are very loose, betting big at nothing. So, I simply wait until I have something decent, then try and pick em apart. Usually they will play with me, and 9 times out of 10, they'll be sitting on cards that they have no business sitting on.

Second, I never try and chase cards, and try to get anyone who is chasing out quickly. If I have, say, pocket Qs or higher, I'll toss in 5 bucks or so pre-flop. That usually will take care of most guys holding crappy hands, 6-7, J-10, etc, who need a lot of help from the river to complete a flush or a straight. Also, it gets your loose players into the pot bigger, which makes it harder for them to simply walk when, in all likelihood, the flop gives them nothing. On the flip side, if I have, say, pocket cards suited, and get a card or two on the flop towards my flush, I am never staying in if anyone raises any decent amount of money. I've been burned too many times chasing dreams of a flush, only to have nothing come up, and then I've got nothing. It helped me every once in a while, but on the whole, I usually lost while chasing.

Also, this doesn't apply to online, but know how to goad your opponents. Way too many times I've talked guys into calling me when they had every intention of folding. This only works against very bad/insecure players, but if you've got a couple, work them. It helps with these guys if you've successfully pulled off a bluff once or twice during the game, and then let the table know about it. That always puts a little bit of a doubt in their mind, and while in all likelihood, I've got two pair or three of a kind, they don't want to give up their cash only to have me announce to the table that I'm bluffing. So my rule, bluff early, trap late.

Now, most of this probably applies to average/bad poker players, since this is who I play against, so keep that in mind. But, over the last two weeks, it's been good enough to net me close to 200 bucks profit, which I'd guess is close to 70% of the money that was in play those two weeks. Not a bad run.

 

[Gaard]

Originally posted by: yoda291
before you try and play anyone down, know the structure of the game. Be able to get an idea of the odds. Know where you stand in any given hand before making your choices betting or else you might as well play blind. For instance, if you're looking at the rainbow after fifth street and representing a straight, don't bother to calculate flushes/straight flushes into your odds as there will not be a flush...thereby making your straight stronger. If you're looking at a split rainbow, however, your straight looks very strong and all you need to calculate are other straights because no boats are in the water. This is a simple example, but I can't remember how many times I've heard, "I coulda sworn someone drew a flush/boat/etc" when it'd be impossible to create such a hand with the community cards in play.

It's amazing how sometimes the definition of one word is needed to understand a whole paragraph.

What the hell is a rainbow?

 

[bradolson]

Originally posted by: Gaard

It's amazing how sometimes the definition of one word is needed to understand a whole paragraph.

What the hell is a rainbow?

A rainbow is when the cards each have different suits.

Brad