Busted out a 150-hand session this morning. Yesterday I only won 1.10, essentially two big bets lol. But I was just scoping out the tables, and I knew today would be different. I scooped 7.90, or 16 big bets in a session just short of an hour and a half. That win-rate equals something around 10 big bets an hour. That is about the standard for a good session, but I would like it to be closer to the 15-20 range. I'll work on it.Some things I've noticed about LHE, including weaknesses in my own game:-The games are just as soft as I expected. My table last night was very loose-aggressive, but this morning they were passive and tight. I can easily adapt my game to beat both ends of this spectrum.-Many players continuation bet with ATC (any two cards) on the flop, whether they connected or not.
A few months back Schneids, who is one of the best limit hold’em players in the world, posted something on 2+2 about Barry Greenstein’s book which basically suggested playing with short stacks even in limit games where the players were close in skill level. Now, I always thought short stacking in limit games was for morons and fish, but Barry Greenstein beats the toughest game in the world, so I suppose there is something to this idea.
One common argument that I want to dispel right away is that “not starting with the maximum number of chips means you can’t win the maximum with a big hand, hence you should always have the maximum to bet.” First of all, this is a theoretical article talking about players of equal skill. This means that you lose as many pots for the maximum as you win. So there is no edge gained or lost here. But even in real games, hands where more than 4bb is bet by one player are very rare anyway, especially in today’s games. And ev
Recently there have been a great deal of posts on the twoplustwo forums about short stack play. There seem to be two schools of thought:
OMFG I hate short stackers no skill donkeys lol turning cash games into donkaments why don’t you go buy-in full at a lower game fish die in a fire ratholer scum HYACHACHACHACHA.
I love short stackers they’re huge fish and make the games good, 20bb all-in with any ace and any pair, can’t get enough of them in my games.
Looking at both sides, you can easily see why short stack play is so profitable. Part 1 is usually made up of the good, solid winning deep stack no limit hold’em players, who rely on a somewhat loose-aggressive strategy made up of raising with too many hands for too much money compared to the amount in the pot preflop. They might be tough on the later streets when the bets get big, but these players are the best to have in your game when short stacking, because they put in way too much money preflop, and then go
In part 1 of this series we covered the some of the simplest poker strategy of all, playing no limit hold’em with only ten times the big blind before the flop. This is highly profitable, but unfortunately many online poker sites do not allow such a small buyin. At most sites you must buy in for a minimum of twenty times the big blind. The change in strategy as a result of this concept is enormous. Instead of simply pushing all in or folding, because 20bb is too many chips to risk 1.5bb in most situations, a different strategy must be used. And after the flop there are usually enough chips left for flop and occasionally turn betting.
Still, there is a big edge to be had buying in for 20 big blinds when your opponents are playing with full stacks, and most of this edge comes preflop. Especially in aggressive games, many players are opening for a raise with hands that would not be correct to play if they knew someone with a short stack could come in behind them. The classic example
In part 1 of this series we covered the some of the simplest poker strategy of all, playing no limit hold’em with only ten times the big blind before the flop. This is highly profitable, but unfortunately many online poker sites do not allow such a small buyin. At most sites you must buy in for a minimum of twenty times the big blind. The change in strategy as a result of this concept is enormous. Instead of simply pushing all in or folding, because 20bb is too many chips to risk 1.5bb in most situations, a different strategy must be used. And after the flop there are usually enough chips left for flop and occasionally turn betting.
Still, there is a big edge to be had buying in for 20 big blinds when your opponents are playing with full stacks, and most of this edge comes preflop. Especially in aggressive games, many players are opening for a raise with hands that would not be correct to play if they knew someone with a short stack could come in behind them. The classic example
In part 1 of this series we covered the some of the simplest poker strategy of all, playing no limit hold’em with only ten times the big blind before the flop. This is highly profitable, but unfortunately many online poker sites do not allow such a small buyin. At most sites you must buy in for a minimum of twenty times the big blind. The change in strategy as a result of this concept is enormous. Instead of simply pushing all in or folding, because 20bb is too many chips to risk 1.5bb in most situations, a different strategy must be used. And after the flop there are usually enough chips left for flop and occasionally turn betting.
Still, there is a big edge to be had buying in for 20 big blinds when your opponents are playing with full stacks, and most of this edge comes preflop. Especially in aggressive games, many players are opening for a raise with hands that would not be correct to play if they knew someone with a short stack could come in behind them. The classic example
No limit hold’em has become the true game of choice over the past couple of years thanks to the television coverage and the proliferation of online capped buyin games. But getting started in the game can be tough due to its complexity, as skilled players have a big advantage over even the well-read beginner. Experience and discipline are key to winning at no limit hold’em, and these only come in time.
Fortunately the new player, or even the experienced player looking for an easy edge can turn the tables on the opposition by making one simple adjustment - buying in for less than the maximum amount of chips allowed. There are many advantages to this as will be discussed later in this series, but for now we will start with the simplest strategy of all, playing with stacks of only ten times the big blind.
Only a few sites allow the 10% or 10bb buyin, with the most prominent being probably the Prima Poker network. Many live games allow 10bb buyins as well, especially at the smal
No limit hold’em has become the true game of choice over the past couple of years thanks to the television coverage and the proliferation of online capped buyin games. But getting started in the game can be tough due to its complexity, as skilled players have a big advantage over even the well-read beginner. Experience and discipline are key to winning at no limit hold’em, and these only come in time.
Fortunately the new player, or even the experienced player looking for an easy edge can turn the tables on the opposition by making one simple adjustment - buying in for less than the maximum amount of chips allowed. There are many advantages to this as will be discussed later in this series, but for now we will start with the simplest strategy of all, playing with stacks of only ten times the big blind.
Only a few sites allow the 10% or 10bb buyin, with the most prominent being probably the Prima Poker network. Many live games allow 10bb buyins as well, especially at the smal
No limit hold’em has become the true game of choice over the past couple of years thanks to the television coverage and the proliferation of online capped buyin games. But getting started in the game can be tough due to its complexity, as skilled players have a big advantage over even the well-read beginner. Experience and discipline are key to winning at no limit hold’em, and these only come in time.
Fortunately the new player, or even the experienced player looking for an easy edge can turn the tables on the opposition by making one simple adjustment - buying in for less than the maximum amount of chips allowed. There are many advantages to this as will be discussed later in this series, but for now we will start with the simplest strategy of all, playing with stacks of only ten times the big blind.
Only a few sites allow the 10% or 10bb buyin, with the most prominent being probably the Prima Poker network. Many live games allow 10bb buyins as well, especially at the smal
Twoplustwo publishing is well known for putting out some of the best works in gambling and Ed Miller and David Sklansky have another winner here in their book No Limit Hold’em:Theory and Practice. No limit hold’em books have been notoriously poor throughout the years, with some of this probably due to the complexity of the game not lending itself to a book providing a simple formula for how to beat games, and some due to top no limit players being somewhat unwilling to part with the secrets that have led to their profits. Sklansky and Miller have taken a new approach here, as this book is slightly different from some of the other books from this company in that there are relatively few hand examples; instead they choose to talk about specific theoretical concepts in No Limit Hold’em and describe the type of situations in which the theory applies. Overall the approach works very well.
Bluffing is an integral part of no-limit hold’em and this book provides some ex
Twoplustwo publishing is well known for putting out some of the best works in gambling and Ed Miller and David Sklansky have another winner here in their book No Limit Hold’em:Theory and Practice. No limit hold’em books have been notoriously poor throughout the years, with some of this probably due to the complexity of the game not lending itself to a book providing a simple formula for how to beat games, and some due to top no limit players being somewhat unwilling to part with the secrets that have led to their profits. Sklansky and Miller have taken a new approach here, as this book is slightly different from some of the other books from this company in that there are relatively few hand examples; instead they choose to talk about specific theoretical concepts in No Limit Hold’em and describe the type of situations in which the theory applies. Overall the approach works very well.
Bluffing is an integral part of no-limit hold’em and this book provides some ex
Twoplustwo publishing is well known for putting out some of the best works in gambling and Ed Miller and David Sklansky have another winner here in their book No Limit Hold’em:Theory and Practice. No limit hold’em books have been notoriously poor throughout the years, with some of this probably due to the complexity of the game not lending itself to a book providing a simple formula for how to beat games, and some due to top no limit players being somewhat unwilling to part with the secrets that have led to their profits. Sklansky and Miller have taken a new approach here, as this book is slightly different from some of the other books from this company in that there are relatively few hand examples; instead they choose to talk about specific theoretical concepts in No Limit Hold’em and describe the type of situations in which the theory applies. Overall the approach works very well.
Bluffing is an integral part of no-limit hold’em and this book provides some ex
