 No
Limit Holdem is a very easy game to learn,
but difficult to master. Here is the actual
quote, made famous and credited to Mike
Sexton.
"No Limit Texas Holdem takes a minute
to learn, and a lifetime to master."
This quote is true, but with a few no
limit holdem tips to use on your game,
you can improve your chances of winning
significantly.
This article takes a look at a handful of
poker tips you can apply to your No Limit
Holdem poker game. These tips are designed
to be used by new and entry level poker
players looking to make quick improvements
in their game, and to get a basic understanding
of some of the principles and strategies
you should be thinking about at the poker
table.
Tips for Playing Your Starting Poker Hands:
There are a lot of starting hand guides available,
this isn't one of them. These tips are quick
helpers to get the foundation of a solid poker
game underneath you. These are the concepts
behind starting hands and ideas you should
be thinking about while playing no limit holdem.
1. Small Pocket Pairs.
Play small pocket pairs against many opponents
and try and see the flop as cheaply as possible.
You typically want to play small pocket pairs
against many other opponents. Especially in
a cash game or in the early stages of a tournament.
Criteria for playing small pocket pairs is
that you can get in cheaply, simply by calling
the blinds (limping) and hoping to see a flop.
With small pockets you're looking to hit a
3rd of your kind on the flop. This is called
"flopping a set." If you flop your
set you are almost certain to have the best
hand right then, unless it is just a really
unlucky flop for you. If you flop a set, bet
or raise and work to get as many chips in
the pot as you can.
Small pockets pairs are hands like pocket
two's up through pocket 8's or 9's. The
reason you want to play this hand against
many opponents is because when you hit your
hand, you hope that someone else has hit
a hand as well and will pay you off. The
more opponents still active in the hand,
the more likely that one of them has hit
a hand and will pay off some of your bets.
So, if you are dealt a small pocket pair
it is usually a good idea to simply limp
in and hope to hit your 3 of a kind on the
flop. If you miss, which you will most of
the time, then it is fine to check and fold
to any bet. It is almost always a bad idea
to call any substantial bet on the flop
hoping to hit your set on the turn, just
fold and save your money.
Small Pocket Pair Quick Tip:
You will flop a set roughly once out of every
7.5 times you get a pocket pair. click here
for a poker
odds chart.
2. Suited Connectors
Suited connectors are hands that play well
against many opponents, but poorly against
1 or 2 others. Suited connectors are a bit
more difficult to play than small pocket pairs...
with small pockets you know pretty much exactly
where you stand after the flop. You either
hit your set or you didn't. Suited connectors
typically do not make a monster hand on the
flop, but they will often flop monster draws
(draws means that you need 1 more card to
complete your hand, typically with a straight
or flush).
Suited connectors are hands that are of the
same suit, and next to one another, such as
7c 8c, 10d, 9d, or my favorite, Js Ts.
These hands play well in multi-way confrontations,
against many opponents. When these hands hit,
you typically have a very strong hand, strong
enough to beat most everyone else. With suited
connectors you are hoping to flop a strong
draw, such as an open-ended straight flush
draw, a flush draw or a straight draw.
Pre-flop, these hands are weak hands, and
even if you hit the top pair these are still
a fairly weak and vunerable hand. Suited connectors
have a lot of potential to turn into very
strong hands. See flops cheaply and late in
position with these cards, especially if there
are already a lot of players calling the blind
to see the flop. Look to flop strong draws
or two pair to continue against any heavy
action before you.
Look to flop straights, flushes and draws
to both. Do not overvalue flopping top pair
with small or medium sized suited connectors.
Two pair is normally good, but that means
that someone else very well may have a straight
draw while you have two pair with suited connectors.
Suited Connector Quick Tip:
One of the best hands to hold against pocket
aces is suited connector, such as 7h8h.
3. Two Big Face Cards
Do not slow play your big face cards. If you
are going to play these cards, you need to
come in for a raise pre-flop. Big face cards
start out very strong, pre-flop, and that
means that normally you should make the others
pay to stick around for the flop.
Pre-flop these hands are probably some of
the strongest at the table, out ranking most
of the other hands out there. For this reason,
these hands you want to play against as FEW
players as possible. To make sure you are
playing against few players, you should RAISE
pre-flop when it is your turn to act instead
of just calling the blind.
A hand like AQ is a strong hand, but it
doesn't play well against 3+ players on
average. Ideally you will be playing this
hand against 1 other opponent, and you ban
bet the flop virtually regardless of what
comes down.
Avoid calling raises with hands like KJ,
QJ, AT, even AJ and KQo. You are often times
dominated by everyones 'favorite' hand,
big slick (AK). There is no shame in folding
KJ pre-flop.
Big Face Card Quick Tip:
Raise pre-flop to limit the field to just
one other player whenever possible.
 For
more poker tips, be sure and check out our
listing of poker
strategy articles and the absolute best
way to improve your play is by finding an
online poker room that has SERIOUS 'play money'
poker (if you don't want to deposit)..
The best way to practice these no limit holdem
tips is to download free online poker software.
I recommend PokerStars
or Bodog
Poker for new players. You can play with
free chips and practice these strategies.
I do recommend that you also play for extremely
small stakes to get a real feel for poker.
Free money poker is played differently as
poker is for anything of value, even if the
value is very small.
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