What is ABC Poker?

[Nuanes]

I keep seeing this term being used. Can someone please give me a short overview of what ABC is?

Thanks

[fimbulwinter]

All applies to NL only:



a:
Play strong hands preflop. this means AK/AQs/PP from up front and strong implied odds hands (89s, JTs) added to that in the back. this will make you very tight, which is fine.

b:
Bet almost entirely for value. dont bet if you dont have a hand. call with your draws if you're getting the pot/implied odds to do so, otherwise fold them. no fancy plays like semibluff raises or pushing with overs and a NFD.

c:
be predictable. bet the pot, raise with monsters and nothing else. dont make any mistakes but dont make any great moves either. show down winners. fold for 200 hands in a row if your starting standards warrant it. don't change your activites due to the table texture. dont steal.

at small stakes, just doing everything textbook will book you a nice winrate. many of us, myself included (especially included) get too cute with our plays. 90% of the time ABC poker is best, but against other players who know what the normal or "right" move is, you can see how such a strategy could be easily broken. thankfully most players dont know/dont want to play ABC, so its still a good, winning strategy, especially when you first sit down and dont know what your enemies' fatal flaws are.

fim

[LokiV]

It is boring and a smart player will never give you action until the one time he cracks you.

But it is way way above being a fish. Consider it the mid level if poker skill were three or four easy to define levels.

[Nuanes]

fimbulwinter,

So ABC applies to NL only? Is there a version for Limit?
Thanks for the info. Are there books that talk about ABC Poker?

Thanks,

[fimbulwinter]

yeah, there is certainly ABC for limit as well, in fact most good limit players play much closer to ABC than most good NL players, because the implied odds just arent there to deviate from optimal strategy much. reading any limit book will get you ABC ready, but (just read my "im a limit turd sandwich" post) i really couldn't outline a limit ABC strategy for ya except to say that small PP's arent as playable without a lot of people in the pot and flush/straight hands are more valuable as you'll often have better odds for their draws. i guess the above works for limit too except for maybe being a tad looser up front and a good amount tighter in the back...

fim

Edit: oh yeah, all books about a specific poker game teach you ABC style. this is obviously more true about limit as it is a much more mathematical, rather than tactile, game. check kleptic.com or flopturnriver.com for ABC NL advice, check out any twoplustwo book for ABC limit poker advice.

[soah]

They say that poker is about playing people rather than playing cards.

ABC poker is playing cards rather than playing people. You will not beat very good players that are playing you rather than playing their cards, but you will beat many poor players who attempt to do one or the other but fail miserably.

Does that make more sense?

[kongo_totte]

I play NL $50 at Party, and I play mostly ABC, since it's generally most profitable, but get deceptive when needed. I wonder though, at what stakes would ABC be considered non-profitable. With Non-profitable I in this case mean both when you will star losing playing ABC and at what stake the winrate playing ABC would be so low that it won't be worth while. Is there any concrete answer to this question?

[phisfliuch]

[ QUOTE ]
Are there books that talk about ABC Poker?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that it's relevant, but Ciaffone mentions ABCs in "Improve your poker". He lists the three most common mistakes, labels them as A, B, and C, then refers to them as ABC. But he also uses the term in the usual sense of meaning fundamental.