Strategy
Brazil girls, Brazil men and everyone from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janerio seem to be looking to play online poker. But this game no limit holdem seems to be mistifying to most players. We tell players to start small but not to small maybe .25-.50 should be the smallest that you play unless you are just getting familiar with the game.
Due to the popularity of no limit holdem on television players who want to not only expand their abilty to play they want to punish their opponents. Classic poker books are not where you are going to learn this game. Online you must read and study from players that are playing and giving instruction. These players play multi games and many play up too twenty games at once. They can not only learn from each decision they learn at a higher pace then players that have played fifteen years in less then two years. The quickly build a basic strategy which works in order for them to make money.
6-max no limit hold’em is exciting for the gamblers and the regular professional players alike. Due to the high varience in the game. But yes the basic strategy still holds true for most of the game. You will have to tweak this strategy to for you to gain most advantage.
Hold’em poker is a position game. The player who is in late position has many more options then the player in early position. When the opponent checks in early position you have the choice of betting or checking. But the opponent has made the decision first if he has not bet he is probably weak. So a bet with a marginal hand may pick up the pot. If he has a hand and bets you may wish to fold with the same marginal hand. You are most often in control of the hand. When he bets you can raise him if you have a big hand and gain double bets. He can only gain a single bet. But one of the most important parts is taking free cards that is the foundation of the game. He may react by checking and you have nothing you could take a free card or a cheap card.
When playing a hand you play it like the masters of a Brazil soccer team. You imagine that your are Rinaldo looking at how the opponent plays. Where his hand range is strong and where his hand range is weak. Let is check how range works. Go to Full Tilt and sign into a free game. I will also give you another site called poker stove get both up on your screen.
Once you have this screen up you can now see the combination of hands and can easily calculate the players range. If you know the opponent plays pairs down to 22 or any ace you can think about that as his range if the flop misses these hands you may be able to bet and he might fold or if an ace on the flop hits you can check the hand as this probably hit his hand. You see how you have to calculate the range of hands. Poker stove allows you to figure this out and calculate the equities. It is an important program for you you have.
We shall consider limits. NL holdem can be broken down to 3 limits:
Small Stakes: $.50-1 blinds
Mid-stakes : $3-6 to 1-2
High Stakes $5-10 or higher.
Hold’em Strategy
We wish to play the game tight and agressive. Simple you say but this is not as simple as it looks. Many players just like you play wrong. The object of the tight strategy is to get the opponent to react to you. When he calls or raises you back it will mean something and it will be you to figure out the range of his hand. Many times you can slowly eliminate the combination of holdings down to the exact hand according to poker stove.
The strategy seems to work from the lowest of limits to some of the highest nl games online.
You should generally play you hand straight forward. If the opponent does not hit the flop he will fold hopefully to your continuation bet. When you are in position with a big hand you will build a big pot ensuring you profit. Small pots out of position and big pots in position. When you have a marginal hand on the turn you will slow down. So your aggression will be used before the flop and on the flop. As the hand continues you will make the bets smaller unless you have one of the bigger hands. So you save when you do not have much but maximize when you have a big hand. Positition is everything to a very good player. You want to be playing most hands on the button or just before the button. This is where most of your profit will be made. Marginal hands can become playable in this postition. Resist the temptation to play bad hands out of position.
STARTING HANDS
EARLY
Any pair 22-AA, AK-AT, KQs,QJs.
Middle
Any pair 22-AA, AK-A7S,AK-A9,KQ-KT,KTs-T9s,QJ
Late
Any pair 22-AA,AKs-A2s,KQs-K6s,QJs-Q8s,JTs-J8s,T9s-T8s,98s-97s,87s-86s,76s,65s,AKo-A5o, KQo-K9oQJo-Q9o,JTo-J8o,T9o-T80,98o-97o,87,76.
Care must be taken when playing when more people enter the pot you hand values must go up and you cannot continuation bet on the flop as much. You just will be called down. You still can continuation bet on the flop if it is checked to you and something like K83 flops. But when more players enter the pot and a flop like Js9s3 flop you must be careful because as more players enter the pot the ranges become larger and larger we call this type of pot a protected range pot. You cannot steal this pot in fact you may just trap yourself.
What wins and how the hands play out.
Hands that are premium.
AA-QQ win verses a smaller pair or a draw. These are the opportunities that you should be looking for with this type of hand.
High Card Big Kicker Hands.
These hands make top pair with a better kicker verses a smaller pair or a weaker kicker. Kickers are so important in NL Holdem.
Medium Pairs
JJ-77 You win these hands when you flop a big set. You bet these hands agressivily when you do not hit a set on the flop and just try to get to the river cheap when you do not have a big hand.
Small Pairs
These are normally big earners.
When you flop a set verses and opponent. You usually win a larger pot especially when he has a big pair or and ace hits the board and he holds one.
Suited connectors.
Win when you flop two pair, set, flush or they also can be used when you flop a pair and flush or straight draw to push bigger hands out of the pot. When you do this and sometimes fail this adds to your image.
Unsuited Speculative Hands if you can get in cheap play them when you make two pair set or straight they become dangerous as they are very hard to read when an opponent has a big hand.
Remember small pair hands must be played against an opponent with a large stack. Many an proffesional player says the opponent must have 20 times the bet to make it profitable. This may be slightly wrong but it is a good guideline to start the game with.
I hope this helps you play NL. Remember to play the flop aggressive in order to figure out what opponent hands you can always slow down on the turn. But sometimes you will just have to fire the second and third barrel if the opponents seem to be adjusting to your play. Get the programs I say and you will be on your way. One addition feature I want to tell you about poker stove is the you can easily calculate you equity in any hand. Poker stove does all this calculation and is a must for playing any hold’em game.
