poker school
lesson 13: no limit hold'em
Welcome to your next lesson. The last lesson discussed how to figure out pot odds and whether or not your hand is a suitable one to bet. Understanding pot odds and hand odds are essential when playing Hold'em. Those lessons will help you become a better player and you can take that knowledge with you when you play No Limit. This next lesson is going to discuss No Limit. It is quite a different game from Limit as you will soon find out. Enjoy the lesson.
First off, No Limit is the most widely publicized form of poker in the world today. The largest tournaments in the world are always played with the no limit betting structure. It makes for excitement at the poker tables and on your television sets in the comfort of your living room.
A successful No Limit player requires extreme precision, exceptional strategies and an extraordinary player understanding of psychology. No Limit provides the skilled player with more tools at their disposal to use against a less talented player. No Limit provides the players with the ability to bet any amount at any point in the game to either discourage your opponents drawing hand or completely seize your opponents' chips or just to bluff them off their hand. The main problem that arises in No Limit is if you make a big mistake your stack will disappear and you'll go from the penthouse to the outhouse in no time. On the other hand you will gain extreme satisfaction when you play a hand a certain way so that you cause your opponent to misread it and proceed to pass all of the chips to your stack.
You play a certain way all day in an effort to set the stage for the way you are going to play later. You are really looking for that one opportunity to arise where you change things up in an effort to throw your opponents off guard and send them home. It also helps to vary your play as playing in a predictable fashion will make you easier to read and you won't get any action when you do hit good hands. This will also show you how tough your opponents are.
You will put yourself in a more favorable position if you take the role of the aggressor as opposed to a player who is a "calling station". Reason being is that because you have the ability at any time to make a large bet or raise, your actions has a greater magnitude. Remember that in No Limit most hands are usually won and lost before the River card. Again this demonstrates that taking the initiative in the early stages has much more power.
If at any point during the game you perceive weakness in your opponent you can confront that person with a significant bet and put that player all in. Again, this shows you are not afraid and it will keep your opponents on edge.
Another essential skill in No Limit is to avoid traps (trapping is the process of getting an opponent to overvalue his hand, and bet it as such, and undervalue your hand). Always remember that anything can win after the flop so there is no need to chase your high pair to the river. You will notice through competitions that better players are very unlikely to give lots of action after the flop with only one pair.
Well that concludes this lesson ladies and gentlemen. It is our hope that this information will assist you in becoming a better poker player at the No Limit tables. Maybe one day we'll see you sitting at the final table in the main event at the World Series of Poker. We'll see you at the next lesson and we will continue discussing some strategies in No Limit.
good luck and enjoy your experiences at the poker tables
