Poker News

John Vorhaus

In just the last year, no-limit Texas hold’em has emerged with a vengeance, establishing itself as the game of choice for a whole eager horde of new poker players. From home games to cardrooms and casinos and all across the internet, people who have never played poker before are losing their poker cherry, so to speak, to the Cadillac ofpoker. Television is to blame, of course. Newbies by the swarms are watching nolimit Texas hold’em on the World Poker Tour and other TV broadcasts and they’re saying, “;Boy, howdy, that’s the game for me!” Conventional wisdom says they should be getting torn up in these games. After all, new players are prone to mistakes, and no poker variation punishes mistakes faster or more catastrophically than no-limit, where your entire stack can disappear in the time it takes to say, “;Oops, bad call.” But conventional wisdom is wrong in this case because all these no-limit rookies are being joined in the game by other no-limit rookies, and when most or all players are equally skilled and (in)experienced, the result is a level playing field. And a very playable game.

If you’ve been dipping your toe in this exciting new no-limit pool, or are thinking about doing so, here are a few fast-and-dirty strategy grabs to keep in mind. They won’t turn you into a worldbeater overnight, but they’ll help you keep your head in the midst of revolution.

1. KNOW THE RIDE YOU’RE ON. There’s no doubt that no-limit hold’em is an adrenalating roller coaster. If you’re not accustomed to it, the raw emotion of the game will affect you more powerfully than any limit poker game. Make sure to base your decisions on tactical considerations and not as a gut response to fear or greed. 2. PAUSE TO CONSIDER. When your whole stack is at stake, it’s crucial that you take your time and consider your moves. There will be times when you feel like you have to bet your whole stack fast in order to make your bet or your raise seem convincing. Forget about that sort of playacting. Make sure that you’re not imperiling your stack in a situation where the only hand that can call you can beat you. Stop to think — then stop to think some more.

3. PLAY TIGHT. In limit hold’em you can take a flier on all sorts of wacky hands because the cost of being wrong is not so high. Limp for a single bet in late position with J-T suited? Why the heck not? In no-limit, though, those cheap flops will cost you plenty. Suppose you flop top pair with that J-T suited, and find yourself facing a big bet or a raise. Are you up against a better kicker? When it may cost you your whole stack to find out, it’s best just not to get involved in the first place. No-limit hold’em places an absolute premium on premium hands.

4. BE PREPARED TO GIVE UP WITHOUT A FIGHT. In this brave new world of low buy-in no-limit hold’em, people are much more likely to be betting with the best of it than to be making bigstack bluffs. Err on the side of caution and treat all foes as straightforward until proven tricky. There’s nothing worse than calling a big bet with an inferior hand just because you’ve convinced yourself that the other guy’s bluffing. It’s much better to surrender a small pot than to be wrong about a big one.

5. ADOPT ORPHAN POTS. Success in no-limit comes from capturing big stacks, sure, but it also comes from grabbing (more than) your share of uncontested pots. Be aware of situations where the pot will go to the first person who bets - and then be that person. Yes, this often requires you to bet with nothing, but don’t be afraid. If you can’t play fearlessly, you can’t possibly play no-limit hold’em effectively.

We’ll have more strategy grabs next time, but between now and then I would ask you to think about yourself and your no-limit hold’em game. Do you play no-limit? Do you want to? Or has the possibility not yet crossed your mind? Let it cross your mind. Start building some skills in this area. Go to any decent online poker site and get involved in some play-money games. You don’t have to put any money on the line while you’re learning the rhythms and realities of no-limit. They’re rhythms and realities worth learning, though, because the no-limit revolution is here, and it would be a shame if you didn’t get your share of all that new money.

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