Poker Strategy: No Limit Hold’em
What are the two most powerful words in poker? I’m all-in.
You can win or lose entire stacks in a single hand of No Limit Hold’em, and this excitement accounts for much of the popularity of the game. It’s not just a contest of having the best hand when all the chips go in the middle though. Well before that point, you should have created a plan for every street of the hand and formulated – in advance – your responses to every action your opponent takes. This isn’t magic but rather a science, and we’ll show you how to do it right. The articles below cover starting hand selection, the advantages of being aggressive, the stack-to-pot ratio, preflop three-betting, and the other concepts that you must master before you can truly become a proficient practitioner of NLHE. Once you achieve a certain level of skill, you’ll find yourself with numerous opportunities to practice it because No Limit Texas Hold’em is currently the most commonly spread form of poker in the world.
Featured No Limit Hold’em Articles
Continuation Betting in NL Hold’em
An easily digestible explanation of continuation betting in No Limit Texam Hold’em. This article demonstrates which hands are ideal for c-bets, which aren’t and how, when and against whom a c-bet should be used to maximize winnings. It also explains how much you should bet in certain situations.
Nine Noobie Myths About Microstakes NLHE
I feel like tons of the noobies in the BC have serious misconceptions about microstakes poker. Here are a few I've seen lately. 1. The micros are just too fishy to be beat for any decent win rate. 2. The micros are too hard to be beat since UIGEA. 3. The FTR regs at...
ISF – Forming Ranges
Something I like to do, and what I always advocate people who seek poker help from me, is to break down the elements of poker so we can understand concepts behind them and further apply them. I feel like most of the problems with people stuck at low and midstakes is...
Blind Stealing 101
A few people have been posting stats threads lately and I've seen a trend that really needs to be addressed. Most of the people I've seen stats on are not stealing blinds nearly enough, and aren't defending their blinds nearly enough. I've decided to type up something...
ISF Theorem
Amazingly, when I was high yesterday from some horrible weed, I came to a breakthrough thought in my poker game. I called sauce up and explained to him what I just realized and he had no idea why it was so amazing. It took me awhile, but then I realized that the...
Most Recent No Limit Hold’em Articles
Adjusting to PokerStars Buy-in Levels
Recently the world's largest poker site, PokerStars, announced the way they were handling the minimum/maximum buy-in amounts at their cash game tables. This mainly affects NL/PL Hold'em as well as Pot-Limit Omaha games as shallow/deep stacks in limit games means next...
Beating Small-Stakes Cash Games
A few years ago I wrote an article for a poker magazine called “coming in under the radar”. In that article I mentioned playing lower stakes games than you normally would and taking advantage of weaker players. In essence, online poker has grown up an awful lot since...
Continuation Betting in NL Hold’em
An easily digestible explanation of continuation betting in No Limit Texam Hold’em. This article demonstrates which hands are ideal for c-bets, which aren’t and how, when and against whom a c-bet should be used to maximize winnings. It also explains how much you should bet in certain situations.
ISF – Strategic Bet Sizing
A lot of people don’t think about their bet sizing much. They have a “standard” bet size they use in nearly all situations, in hopes of not giving away further information as well as not wanting to make a mistake by betting too much or too little. However, some go a...
Developing a Feel for Equities in No-Limit Hold’em Part 4: The Basics of the Turn
This is the fourth part in a series dealing with the key ideas that can be used to accelerate the process of gaining a feel for equities in different spots. In this week's edition, we're going to discuss some major cases for when the turn comes and how you can use...
The Anatomy of an Adjustment
Low stakes play is all about making adjustments that exploit your opponents. Unfortunately, most players at micro stakes and many at small stakes, even winning players, don't really understand what it means to exploit someone. While it's easy to say that exploitation...
Modern Blind Stealing for No-Limit Hold’em in 2015
Online no-limit hold’em is known for focusing around a handful of plays, and stealing the blinds is one of those.
Thoughts on Balance by Meeloche and Noble
Balance by Meeloche Simple Definition as it applies to poker: Taking the same line as a bluff as you would for value, example a cbet on an AK9 board with 78o. The point is not to bluff 50% of the time and value bet 50% of the time on the example board, but to credibly...
ISF – Making Your Opponent Uncomfortable
Often in HU matches, I’ll come across a player who doesn’t seem to have many leaks. He’ll raise a solid range from the BU, not play too loose OOP, and have a good mix of cbets and two barrels, as well as balanced ranges in other areas. Many when playing, whether it’s...
Back to Basics (Part 5): Poker Reads Made Simple
Avoid distractions and get better at making solid, fundamental reads with the fifth installment in the Back to Basics series.
Please Stop Paying Off Loose/Passives at the Poker Tables
Having the faith to lay down hands when facing aggression from loose/passive players requires a strong understanding of why you can fold.
No Limit Betting
Beginners generally have trouble knowing how much to bet when they hit a hand. For the most part they know to "take away the other guy's pot odds," but there's more to betting than that. Because... tell me if this happens to you... You have AK in early position. You...
Implied vs. Reverse Implied Odds
This seemingly simple topic might be one of the most misunderstood by beginners in poker. Learning about reverse implied odds was quite eye-opening for me and led to a large improvement in my ability. Most players, even those new to the game, understand what is meant...
Player Types
Poker should not be thought of as a game that starts when the cards are dealt and ends with the showdown. At its core, poker is a game of competing strategies. This is why when we classify players, we classify them by their strategy and skill level. Here, we will...
Value Betting Dilemma
First, two hands.... $5/$10 No Limit Holdem 6 players Stacks: UTG fakker11 ($1594.00) UTG+1 GIVEmeSOME99 ($815.00) CO traheho ($1062.00) BTN Bttech86 ($1000.00) SB Hero ($1095.00) BB zero2lose ($2772.75) Pre-flop: ($15, 6 players) Hero is SB 4 folds, Hero...
