Monday, October 27, 2008

NL holdem strategy

I play to see the flop as cheaply as possible. Depending on my position I will call/raise with even horrible cards only to check/fold straight away on the flop. If everyone checks don't be afraid to show 4h + 6d which was nowhere even near winning the hand. This will cause players at the table to not be afraid to call you the next time around you raise. What you want is people not to be afraid of you.
If you are gonna use the above method, don't bluff, because if it works, you will be called.
Now whenever I have a decent hand I still stick to seeing the flop cheaply. You don't wanna give away that you have a decent hand by raising preflop and having everyone fold. This can be risky as people can hit something on the flop, but hey, you can't cover all the angles in poker.
Once the flop is dealt and you feel you have something, this is where you have to make it pay .. 5xBlind minimum, 10xBlind and possible 20XBlind if the hand is quiet decent. If you are gonna win the pot it must be big, if there are limpers who are gonna try to catch something on the turn or river, you have to make it tough for them, make it worth your while ... bad beats will happen but the rest of the time you will be collecting. You really need to be aggressive here, and always remember that anyone can just go all-in, be prepared for this.
Don't play too much out of your depth, whe playing on a No-Limit table you have to be able to handle a loss of the entire pot in a few hands. Don't sit down with 10% or higher of your bankroll this will cause you to be too cautious and will make you an easy pushover.

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