Advice

[Lunchbox1]

I need some specific tips on how to play no limit cash better. I seem to do ok at the beginning, but i have alot of trouble getting people off hands, especially when i have the better, but they have a chance to win.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Charliebad]

A rabbit punch sometimes works, if not, a switchblade, magnum or even grenade will usually get em to back off, perhaps even for the whole game, not just a hand? Hope that helps.

[bluffmanxx]

what are you playing...i assume NL, but at what level???

sometimes it seems impossible to get people to to lay down a draw, sometimes a min raise and they all give it up.

just vary your play and make note of who the chasers are and you should be ok.

[Lunchbox1]

1-2 no limit

[Nynus]

Sounds like you might be having a problem with figuring out a betting structure that will accomplish your goals.

i.e. you nail top pair with top kicker with AdQd and the flop comes QhJh2s. You need to push the flush and straight draws out of their, but you want someone with KQ, or QT to stick around and pay you off.

If you just push all in on the flop, that would probably do the job, but thats a bit of overkill, plus you still run the risk of getting sucked out on.

The key is to make an opponent make a bad call while risking as little as possible yourself.

In the example above, if you're up against someone with a flush draw they are around a 5 to 1 dog to catch on the turn. (9 hearts left out of 47 unknown cards) If you bet $60 into a $240 pot then you're rewarding and paying your opponent to stay in and draw out. ($60 + $240 = $300 pot size) That means that your opponent is getting the right odds to stick around and draw. It costs him $60 to take a chance at winning a $300 pot, or he's getting paid off at 5 to 1 to take the chance. The one time in five he hits that draw, pays off for the 4 times he misses.

So, the correct move is to bet more.

If you bet $240 into a $240 pot, then your opponent is making a mistake by calling, regardless of if he catches his flush. He's investing $240 for a chance to win $480, or he's getting paid off at 2 to 1 for a 5 to 1 shot. To look at it another way, the 1 time out of five that he makes that call and wins, doesn't win him enough money to cover the four times he makes that call and misses.


In no limit, I use a simple a rule of thumb. Preflop, I'm raising 3x to 5x the BB. After the flop I'm either betting anywhere from 1/2 pot to the full pot.

Anytime I see a minimum bet, or a minimum raise, I'm either very cautious or disdainful. But they don't scare me off.

The other thing to do, is to read, practice, read some more, and practice a lot more. The more you know, the better armed you are at the poker table.


Good luck Janus.

[vbnautilus]

Janus, the more specific you can be with your question the more we can help. How about posting a hand history or two of situations you had difficulty with?

[Lunchbox1]

i will next time i play cash.

[Dreemer43081]

I have a problem playing small pocket pair.. I dont know if its smart to raise pre-flop or just fold em, most of the time, I just fold em. How do you better players deal with pockets?

[bluffmanxx]

they can be tricky sometimes chan...but like most everything in poker...the answer is....it depends!!!

position, how the table is playing, how many in the pot, stage of the tourney....all factor in to what you can do with a small pocket pair.

i'm sure paul will elaborate, but the goal is to get in cheap and possibly take a huge pot if you flop a set so don't just throw them out unless there is too much action in front of you.

btw, i know we have a few players who will frequently raise with small pockets and that can be a good strategy too but you will get re-raised from time to time or face a situation where there are big cards on the flop and you need to be concerned about over pairs.

[vbnautilus]

Like bluffman said, it depends on the situation...

But the number to keep in mind with the small pairs is that you are about 7.5 to 1 against hitting the set on the flop.

So if there are a lot of callers before you and you can see a cheap flop its a good idea. You usually don't need to have the full 7 callers for your pot odds preflop since you have large implied odds for these -- i.e. if you do hit the set, you will be able to extract quite a bit out of it in most cases.