No Limit Texas Holdem

Playing Fast in No Limit Holdem

This week I want to touch on a mistake that many novice players and even many intermediate make in poker. Most players who read books and play some poker know how to play big hands. Most players also know how to set traps with the nuts. One concept I don't see very often when playing NL cash games is fast-playing.

I hear complaints all the time from friends or from email about how they are getting beat everytime they get aces or kings or when they hit a set. The truth is, many times these players are trying to be too tricky. When I play NL cash games, I rarely slowplay a big hand. The conditions have to be nearly perfect for me to do so. Most players who don't utilize fast-playing are not necessarily bad players; they're simply inexperienced. They don't know when they should be fastplaying in contrast to when they should be slowplaying because they do not have enough experience in reading the board.

To make things clear, when I refer to fast-playing, I'm referring only to situations where you have flopped a big hand. AK on a K high flop is not considered a big hand. Not to say it might develop into a big hand, but mainly, I want to focus on flopped sets and flushes. These hands are where I've seen players throw value down the drain by not extracting what they could have.

In order to illustrate my point more clearly, I'll give an example of a hand my friend sent me, his thinking throughout the hand, and how I think he botched it by not fast-playing. He was playing $400 NL 6-max on Party and raised to $12 (3x BB) in CO with 96h. We will ignore whether or not he should have playing this hand to begin with because that is another question altogether. Personally, I do not have a problem with playing this hand as long as it comes with a raise, but I know some players may disagree. Furthermore, we will assume that all players at the table have $400 because I do not remember the effective stack sizes.

SB and BB end up calling and take a flop of Q T 3, all hearts. My friend has flopped a flush, which happens 1% of the time. SB and BB check and my friend fires a $22 bet. My friend wants to try and extract value out of his hand so he underbets the pot ($36) to try and get a call somewhere. SB folds and BB comes along. The turn is a 6s. BB checks, my friend bets $30 into the $80 pot and BB check-raises to $60. My friend decides to just call the $30 raise to see if a safe card comes on the river. He does not want a four flush to appear and lose. The river comes another blank. BB bets $100 into the $200 pot and my friend pushes all-in and gets called. BB shows 87h for a slightly lower flush and my friend drags an $812 pot.

What do you guys think of this hand so far' Some of you might read it and think it's not a big deal, if both my friend and BB flop a flush, the money is going in anyway. It doesn't really matter how my friend plays it, right' Wrong. I'll give my insight on this hand and why I think he messed up on every street besides preflop by not fast-playing his flush.

On the flop, my friend fires a $22 bet into a $36 pot. This is a great example of throwing value down the drain. Without knowing what the BB has, my friend could have bet $30-$36 into the pot on the flop and gotten a call. Odds are he has the best hand, but at the same time his hand is very vulnerable. If SB or BB has AQ with Ah, two pair, a set, or a lower flush, my friend has missed value by betting so small when he could have bet much stronger and still be called. If SB or BB hold nothing, they will fold for a $22 bet on the flop anyway so he might as well bet stronger to try and get more money.

The turn is where my friend really tried to committ suicide with his hand. Given BB's call on the flop, my friend should have bet way more than $30. If BB is on an ace high or king high four card flush draw, my friend has to make them pay. A $30 bet into an $80 pot is pricing almost any draw to come along. But this is not the biggest mistake my friend made. When BB check-raised to $60, my friend should not have just called to see if the river was a safe card. Why'

My friend has flopped a nine high flush draw with no redraw. He's either way ahead or way behind on the turn. However, there is also a possibility he may be outdrawn on the river by a four card flush. By just calling, he is sacrificing ALL value on his hand. Let's go into two possible scenarios. First, assuming my friend is ahead and BB has no hearts higher than nine in his hand, my friend cannot lose this hand. If a fourth heart were to come on the river, my friend will lose all action from BB, who will fold his top pair, two pair, set, or lower flush because he is easily beat by any high heart. Now, let's consider a second scenario where my friend is ahead with a flush right now, but BB holds a high heart in his hand. If my friend just calls the turn raise and the river comes a fourth heart, my friend loses the hand. BB will either lead with a bet on the river or it will go check-check. Either way, the pot goes to BB. Now if the river does not come a heart, BB missed his flush draw and will check-fold to any bet and my friend will win a much smaller pot than he could have. All in all, if a fourth heart were to come on the river, my friend would only recieve action from a hand that beats him whereas on the turn, my friend will recieve action from a bigger range of hands, a lot of which he has beat.

I think the single biggest mistake my friend made on this hand was just calling the turn raise. This is the perfect time to fast-play your hand when you get played back at. To make things a little more clear, here's how I would have played the hand beginning from the flop. When checked to, I fire $30-$36, BB calls. A blank falls on the turn, BB checks, I bet $80-$100, BB check-raises to $160-$200. Now, rather than calling, I push. BB will call my push here most of the time because it's only another $160-$200 more into a $400+ pot. If BB has a higher heart and he's on the draw, I make him pay the most I can and I win more if he misses. If BB has a lower flush, two pair, or a set, I get my money in with the best hand and hope for the board not to pair on the river.

The importance behind fast-playing is to get action when you can and when you are likely ahead. Naturally, this concept does not only apply to flopped flushes; it applies to sets as well two pairs. There are countless times where I've seen players lose on the river because they got too tricky, too greedy, or too timid with their seemingly invincible hand. There are times where you simply must be aggressive, protect your hand, and make your opponents pay. When a board is draw heavy, the best way to play a big hand is to fast-play it.

Brett Chen

note by gank: Brett Chen is a very talented no limit holdem player, he dominates online sit and gos and is a consistent winner in no limit holdem cash games.

You already know, if you are fairly good at poker, when to call with a draw. And you have a good idea of what hands to re-raise with pre-flop. And no doubt you have executed, or at least witnessed someone trap/limp under the gun with pocket aces. I have a few twists on these scenarios to share.

If you have a draw, and the bettor makes a large bet, the size of the pot or more, then most of the time the price is too high to call that bet to try and hit a flush draw. You want to see the turn and river cards as cheaply as possible to see if you hit your draw. Most people check that flush draw and hope the bettor makes a small bet, such that the price is right to draw to that flush.

What I do, sometimes anyway, is lead out with a small bet, like 50 into a pot of 250. Sometimes they will fold, of course. Fine. Sometimes, they aren't sure what I have and they call. I get my cheap turn card. Often times they feel they have the best hand and they raise. I am not sure why, but often they will raise the minimum, say from my bet of 50 to 100 total. Perhaps that's just because they're not sure how much to raise or because they are not sure their hand is best, or maybe its just laziness because the minimum raise is what is up on the screen unless they increase it. Either way, I have accomplished my goal of seeing more cards cheaply to see if I hit my draw.

The next tip is about re-raising pre-flop. Many people have tried a late position steal over a bunch of limpers. This is a different wrinkle on that. If you are a fairly decent player, you have an idea of which hands you play preflop and how you play them when there is a raise in front of you. Most people, most of the time, I assume, will fold to a raise with AJ, but might call with TT or JJ or 99. With AA or KK, you'd likely re-raise. AJ might open the betting if first into the pot, or even A10 or KT suited. So let us suppose someone opens a pot and two people call behind him. You have that AJ I mentioned on the button or the small blind. I occasionally re-raise big with that AJ. Why' You are up against an opening hand, which might be very strong, but is often AT or worse or KT suited or some middle pair. The callers behind him likely are not super strong, or else they would have reraised him. This play shouldn't be done too often, and will work best when you have not been playing too many hands so they think you are in fact strong, and also when you're in the blinds, because there aren't people behind you yet to act who might have a monster.

This last tip is a way to play pocket aces to maximize your profit from them. They do not come to you very often in any one tournament, so it is important to make something when you do get them. Sometimes, the most unexpected play is the one you can profit from the most. If you find you are on one of those tables where someone on the button or in the blinds tends to steal-raise when there are a few limpers, you can try the pocket aces limp under the gun. Your hope is that back side raiser will stab at a steal again and you can re-raise him. That is an easy one, many of us have tried or at least seen. Now let us suppose you have those pocket aces and someone has limped in front of you. Try limping right in behind them if there is a raise-happy guy in late position. No one will expect you to limp in behind someone with aces and they will not believe you are that strong when you re-raise them back. It is a risk that no one will raise and you'll be in a pot with four other limpers, just like the under the gun aces limp, but it can work quite well when there is a lot of late position raising over limpers. This play kills when there is that late raise because they don't believe you are strong. If no one raises, you are vulnerable, and you must be very careful with dangerous looking flops, but sometimes this can be a big hand for you post flop also. Many weak players can't let go of top pair. Suppose the flop is T73, and they have AT. They assume someone with an over-pair certainly would have raised preflop, so they are quite sure their tens with an ace kicker is good, and they assume you have KT, QT, or JT. Your deceptive play leads them to pay you off in the end.

Jeff Henry

note by gank: Jeff Henry is an extremely talented online poker pro.

Position

Hey everyone. These last two weeks have been extremely busy! I've had to take care of a few personal matters as well as move out from my apartment into a newer one. Due to these time constraints, I was unable to complete many SNGs; I only got through maybe 40 of them. Therefore, there's really no point in writing an update on my SNG challenge. Instead, this week I will focus on a very important NL cash game strategy: the importance of position.

Many of you who have played enough limit hold 'em know the importance of position. It allows you to act last, gives you opportunities to buy cards on more expensive streets, as well as evaluate how strong your opponent's holdings are. In NL, these factors are even more important because you have the ability to use your entire stack in your favor. Here's an example of a hand out of position. Let's say you have AJo or pocket eights pre-flop in early position and limp (or raise if you're more aggressive). Suppose two opponents call behind you, the button and BB. Now the flop comes Q 7 5 rainbow and BB leads into you. How do you act' With either hand, unless you have a specific read on BB, I'd opt to fold. On this kind of board, usually BB will be leading with at least a pair of queens here. Of course, it's possible that he has a straight draw with 86, but certainly, you don't know for sure where you're at and what BB is holding. Also, at the same time it's hard to raise in this spot because you still have button to act behind you. If he has AQ, he may choose to cold call your raise, putting you in an even tougher spot on the turn.

Now switch all the positions so you have two opponents, except this time you're on the button. One opponent limps from early position (EP) and one limps from middle position (MP). Now, pre-flop, you already have two options with AJo or 88. You can limp or throw in a decent sized raise. I would favor the latter because of two things. First, neither of your opponents have shown strength pre-flop and a 5x BB raise could very well buy the pot pre-flop. Second, in the case that you get called by EP or MP, you have position on them pre-flop. Now lets say one opponent called and the flop comes Q 7 5 rainbow. Usually on these kinds of flops, your opponent either hit or missed. Now your opponent checks, you fire out a 2/3 continuation bet and win the pot. In the event that he calls, you can almost certainly put him on a queen or a set (as it is unlikely your opponent will call a 5x BB pre-flop raise with 86s). The importance of position is it allows you to act based on your opponents.

I have won many pots post-flop with a simple continuation bet because I raised in position pre-flop. As a matter of fact, sometimes it does not even matter what two cards you hold, as long as you can make a decent read on your opponent and his tendencies. Notice during this post, most of what I write depends on whether you have a read on your opponent or not. Of course, if your opponent is a crazy horse, you can put in the possibility of him leading with a larger range of hands as well as call you pre-flop with a larger range of hands. At the same time, if your opponent is very tight, I would almost always fire a continuation bet on the flop. This is because most tight opponents will auto-fold when they miss. If they call or raise you, you can simply check-fold the rest of the way. With the luxury of position, you may act accordingly with your reads.

Position is not only important with testing the waters on the flop, but also playing your draws. Let's say two opponents limped to you and you throw in a 3x raise with ATs. BB calls as does both limpers. Assume all three opponents have the same stack as you: 80x BB. The flop comes 9s 7s 4d. This isn't a superb flop, but it's not bad either as you have two over-cards with the nut flush draw. If everyone checks to you, you can check in position and take a free card. But to make things interesting, let's just say BB checks, your first opponent bets about half the pot, your second opponent folds and it's up to you. You can either raise or call here as folding certainly is the wrong play with implied odds. Now BB calls and the turn is gin as it comes 3s, giving you the pure nuts. This is a great card as your opponents will only be frightened if they put you on a flush draw. Otherwise, it is unlikely that it would've helped your hand. To your surprise, BB comes out betting 2/3 the pot! What the heck' Now there's three possibilities. BB could have a lower flush, 65 for the nut straight, or on a bluff trying to represent a strong hand. The opponent between you surprisingly calls and now it's up to you. Wow, this is a dream come true. With BB showing so much strength and your opponent calling in the middle, I believe the only correct play here would be the push. You have 70x BB's in the pot already and it's time to drop the hammer. Simple enough, right'

Not quite. Let's switch the positions up and put you in BB this time with ATs. The same two opponents limp, and button raises it 3x BB. You call as do both your opponents. The pot is now 12x BB. The same flop comes and you check. Your first opponent bets half the pot, second opponent folds, and button calls as do you. Now the pot has 30x BB. The turn is exactly the same, giving you the pure nuts. Now the question is, how do you play your hand' Out of position, how do you know where your opponents are at' Maybe your first opponent was betting with a hand like A9 and button was calling with over-cards. The point is, you have no idea where you're at! You don't know if your opponents will slow down now that the flush has come. If you check, planning to check-raise, there's no guarantee your opponents will bet. If you bet out, both your opponents could fold, seeing that you called with a flush draw. There is no "dead money" in the pot on the turn, like in the earlier example when you had position and BB led for 2/3 the pot.

When it comes down to it, it's tough to proceed with the nuts AND maximize value. Sure, you could bet and take it down, thinking oh well, at least I won something. But with position, you can maximize the value of your hand because you have more information on your opponent's holdings. If your opponents show strength, you can drop the hammer on them and throw in a nice raise. If your opponents show weakness, you can check in position and hope to get one of them to bite on the river.

The beauty of position is that it not only allows you to take down small pots with continuation bets, but it helps you maximize value when you have strong holdings. It gives you access to information that your opponents don't have because they have to act before you. The more information you get, the easier it is to maximize value on your hand as well as keep yourself from making costly mistakes. I hope this article was helpful and I hope that you will incorporate it into your NL game to make you a stronger player.

Brett Chen

note by gank: Brett Chen is a sit and go monster online. He has been dominating sit and gos and done well in multi table tournaments for years.

Sit and Go Challenge

Hi guys! This week I'm going to be doing a follow-up article on my SNG challenge. In my previous article, I shared my statistics as well as some general strategy on how to approach SNGs. As many of you know, I am willing to take some risks early on in SNGs to accumulate chips so I can be in a good spot to take control in late game. Before I post my updated statistics, I want to go over some late game strategy that has enabled me to be successful in these SNGs.

I notice a lot of players who play SNGs tend to play the same way throughout the entire thing. What I mean by this is that they tend to play tight and aggressive from beginning to end. Even as players are getting eliminated, they do not open up their range of hands; always waiting for that premium hand to play with. This is a major leak. These are the types of players I love to take advantage of mid-game and late-game by stealing their blinds. As players get knocked out, it is very important to open up your range of hands. To many of you, this may sound very old, but believe me, it is a very tricky thing to try and master.

Many people say, "Opening up your range of hands is simple! I know that I'm supposed to start playing more hands. Duh!" I know a lot of players who automatically push with Ax or Kx when it is folded to them in mid-game. Their logic is simple: I am most likely ahead right now and I want to steal the blinds for another round. There are a few things wrong with this. First of all, if you get called, you will be either dominated or at a coin flip. Let's say you push with A6 or K7. What's going to call you' Certainly not A5 or K6. Anything that calls you will have you murdered as a 70-30 underdog. That is why it is important to account for position when pushing with these types of hands. Usually, I will not push with Ax or Kx unless I'm on Button or SB and it's folded around to me. They are simply troublesome hands.

Opening up your range of hands allows you to pick up much needed blinds to set yourself up for a first place finish later on. Something I like to do in mid-game and late-game is push with hands like 87 or JT. The reason why I like to do this is because 1) I might not get called and I will win some blinds, which is perfectly fine since these hands are not even close to strong or 2) I will get called by Ax or Kx or a mid-pocket pair. There have been many times where I've pushed with medium cards and got called by AK or AQ. At this point, I am a 60-40 underdog, which isn't nearly as bad as 70-30. Of course, there is the possibility that someone with wake up with aces or kings. But there is also the possibility that my apartment will burn down or my car will get a flat tire tomorrow.

Don't play scared. That is what I always tell myself when it gets to late game. Many times, I am unafraid to push with any two cards, confident that my weak opposition will fold and give me the blinds. Anyone who plays scared will find it difficult to win higher buy-in SNGs. This is because even if you crack top three, your chip stack will most likely not be in a good spot to give yourself a chance to win first.

I think that after reading this column and applying it, you should see your SNG results improve by a lot. You will begin to see yourself with more chips than your opponents, thus giving you a slight edge. There are some other things to discuss about SNG strategy, but I will save those for my later SNG challenge updates. Here are my SNG stats so far in my challenge:

Total Winnings: $4,050
Winnings/SNG: $10.13
Hourly Wage: $67.87
ROI: 18.41%
ITM: 37.00%

Total Invested: $22,000
Total Returned: $26,050

Time Invested: 59.67

Total: 400
1st 59
2nd 48
3rd 41
4th 46
5th 42
6th 44
7th 38
8th 30
9th 38
10th 14

Yes, I have not gotten many SNGs done because I have been busy and playing a lot of cash games on the side. On top of all this, I have other challenges that I'm working on. My goal from the beginning of this SNG was to win $10k overall, or $1k per 100 SNGs. So far, I am right on track. During my last SNG post and my current post, I ran into a cold stretch for while where my ROI fell as low as 12%. However, I was able to modify my game a bit and ended up on a tear on the last 40 SNGs. Right now, my ROI has risen to almost 18.5%, which is a big improvement from 12%. My hourly wage is a bit complicated, because I've recently doubled my number of tables from 4 to 8. Obviously, I am satisfied with my hourly wage. I hope to be able to maintain this pace throughout the challenge and maybe win more than $10k. I plan to try and crank out 200 SNGs this week, so hopefully I'll be able to have another update at 600 SNGs soon! Thanks for reading

Brett Chen

note by gank: Sit and Gos are one of the most profitable forms of online poker, and consistent winning is easily attainable. Look at my product Sit and Go Domination to see how you can make a lot of money playing sit and go poker.