Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts on this topic, Snowbank. +++
I am looking forward to your 'poker strategy' post. I play online now & then and seem to do surprisingly well in home games (against people who play quite a bit - which tends to drive them nuts) but I have never really had a 'strategy'. Have a trip to Vegas coming up in a few weeks.... would love to have a real plan!
The 1-2 NL tables in Vegas are legal mints. Play a tight solid game and you will walk away with a nice profit most of the time. The softest tables I played were at the hotel that FTP puts people up for the WSOP. I can't remember for the life of me the name of the hotel but maybe Snowbank can help. Craziest poker thing I was ever involved in happened there, a real drunk guy cut his arm open without knowing it and bled all over the table. We had to switch tables and the drunk got hostile when they told him he couldn't play anymore. Took 4 security to detain him while they tried not to get blood on themselves. It was disgusting. I will ask my wife tomorrow what the name of the hotel was.
I will post an email I sent to my poker students back when I was still coaching. It is not a great "how-to" for low-limit poker but it gives you some things to think about. I keep meaning to go back and fix the horrible writing but you will just have to ignore it for now:
Basic Poker Concepts by PokerRich
NLHE is an ever changing game and every table you sit at is going to be different. I have been very hesitant to put anything in writing because I want to stress that your style has to be fluid. If you are looking at a hand chart or thinking about what the book says to do in a particular situation you are limiting your game. A book will never tell you to reraise an UTG limper and a MP caller with 79s but sometimes that is the right play. Sometimes folding AQo in that exact situation is the right play.
Even though NLHE requires a fluid style, there are some general concepts to follow.
1) Position. Every professional NL player stresses position and I think it is critical to being successful. Look at your PT position stats if you don’t believe me. There are two major position points to consider.
- Position against opponents. If there is a tricky LAG on your left, leave the table. You are playing at a disadvantage and there is a better table available.
- Position in the hand. Being last to act in a hand is a huge advantage. You can watch all the action develop in front of you and can control it. You can make big pots or keep them small. 78s is easy to play from the button, not so easy out of the SB.
How do you relate this to actual play? Tighten up your raising from UTG and UTG+1. Don’t call out of the blinds with marginal hands. A10o is a good example for both situations. Do you want action in either spot? What types of hands are you going to be up against? A10o is garbage unless you are in position and controlling the action.
2) Avoid marginal situations. Thinking about A10o leads right into avoiding marginal situations. If you are being put to the test frequently in low-limit NL cash games you are doing something wrong. Either you are practicing bad table selection or more likely, you have some leaks in your game. Your opponent should be the one who feels pressured. There are several causes for marginal situations. Bad position, marginal cards, and/ or passive play all lead to marginal situations.
For example:
Non-marginal situation: You are on the button with A10o. You have been running the table. It’s folded to you and you raise pot. Only the SB calls. SB is a solid but imaginative player. Flop is A72 rainbow. SB checks and you bet 75% of pot and he calls. What could he have? You don’t run well against his range. Turn is a 3 and SB checks. This couldn’t have helped his hand but you think your bet will only be called if you are behind so you check. The river pairs the 2 and your opponent makes a 50% pot bet. You quickly call as you are getting good odds and he tables A9s - you scoop the pot.
By controlling the pot in position you were able to avoid a marginal situation.
Marginal situation: same hands and same type of opponent except now you are in the SB and opponent is on the button. Button raises and you call with your marginal hand out of position. Flop is A72, you check and button pots it. You call thinking your hand is good and trying to trap. Turn 3, you check and your opponent bets ¾ of the pot. Now you are in a big pot and if you call you could face another big bet on the river. This is a solid and unimaginative player, he has to have AK or AQ. You fold.
There is an excellent article on pocketfives.com by Green Plastic called “What is your edge?†If you haven’t read it, you should as it goes more in depth on this point. Basically Taylor says you need to have an advantage to play a hand. It can either be positional, better cards or being a better player, but you have to have at least one advantage.
A couple of concepts to help avoid marginal situations.
- Don’t play weak Aces and weak broadway hands. You know where you are with 44 but you won’t know where you are at with K10o. This changes if you are on the button or cutoff with no action in front of you but play slowly after the flop and don’t call a reraise with these types of hands.
- Be the aggressor, especially in position. If there is a weak-tight limper UTG and you have J9s that you are going to play, raise it. You give yourself the chance to win the pot right there or to win it with a continuation bet on the flop if called. If you just limp in you will have no idea where you are at.
- Don’t zealously defend your blinds. This is not a MTT where blind defense is important. Don’t call with any 2 because you have odds. If you have a hand that can flop a monster and you are getting priced in, then play it, otherwise just fold.
3) Be the intimidating, tricky player at the table. Be the one opponents fear and hate.
There are three main levels of players. The first level is the low limit player who plays their own cards. “I have top pair and that’s a big hand.â€
The second level of player is the one who is playing their own cards but playing them in relationship to their opponent’s hand. “I will call with second pair because I think my opponent just has AK.â€
The third level is the player who is just playing their opponent. “That’s a scared feeler bet, I am going to blast him off the hand.†They do not need good cards to win a hand. They frustrate their opponent and when they finally play a big pot to showdown they have the nuts. This is the intimidating tricky player you want to be.
How do you get there? Concentrate on your game and don’t be mechanical. How often do you sit down at a table and just play level one and two? When you do your game is not improving. By playing on level three and thinking through every hand your game will improve exponentially. Are you going to make mistakes? YES. That is OK. That is how you get better. Early on in your level 3 play, move down a limit or two so the money doesn’t matter if you stack off trying to bluff a calling station. Learn your lesson and don’t do it again.
Every time you are to act, think things through on level 3. If you flopped a set, how are you going to get your opponents stack? Maybe a small bet will induce a big bet out of him if he’s aggressive. Maybe an overbet will induce a calling station to call with top any piece of the flop. If you missed your hand, how can you get your opponent to lay down his hand? Think every action through and remember you always have two or three options every time you have cards in front of you.
Critique your game after every session, both the good and the bad. Replay the hands you got stacked on. Did you get all your money in with top set v. a flush draw? Well played then. Did you overplay top pair, top kicker against a nit’s set? Where should you have gotten away from it? Use PT for this type of analysis.
As I mentioned at the beginning, you have to have a fluid style to adapt to different playing conditions. Generally at the lower limits, you have more calling stations. This means being a real LAG is not always optimal. TAG play is closer to optimal. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of opportunities to be tricky. However, you need to be more selective on where you run plays. If you are focusing on level 3 play, you will find these opportunities.
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