Skeeter281
03-22-2004, 03:31 PM
Hello folks,
I know Sklansky advises "No limit is not for beginners" but a game with the guys from work is too juicy to turn down. I'm relatively new to poker though I've read everything from Theory to Supersystem (Hold'em for Advanced Players is by far the best book IMHO). Anyways, all this reading and very limited playing experience other than free online (which is very close to useless), though I have ordered Turbo Texas Holdem, to get practice against better competition. Here's the situation, there's a game with some guys from work, who all have way too much money to waste. The strucure is NL holdem with a $20 buy in, $1/$2 blinds, game goes for a half hour, then everyone cashes out and rebuys for the next half hour session. I know its generally inadvisable for a person with very little experience to play NL, however, the players are very bad and it can be a very profitable situation. In ten hours, I average $43/hr (very short term, I know). These are the type of players that will hold on to Ax until the river in most cases, and few to none have ever read a book/studied anyting about holdem. They are mostly loose-passive with an occasional loose-aggressive player. Most hands have to be shown down to be won, even for an all-in bet. My question is, although I've been doing okay, I'm looking to get better and would like to know what the best strategy would be in this type of structure against this type of players. My current strategy (when I'm playing the way I intend to) is be very selective if an aggressive player has yet to enter the pot, and slightly less selective if only passive players remain. I'm aggressive in the pots that I do enter unless I have a hand I want multiway action with. Also, with such a small buyin, you have to be careful that you don't call too many bets or you won't be able to get any value when you have a very strong hand (little money left). Also, I think Sklansky's book is the most thorough and I've learned the most from it, but its mostly about limit and I wanted to know if there are any concepts I should be aware that are much different in NL. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to listen to a rookie, I appreciate all responses.
I know Sklansky advises "No limit is not for beginners" but a game with the guys from work is too juicy to turn down. I'm relatively new to poker though I've read everything from Theory to Supersystem (Hold'em for Advanced Players is by far the best book IMHO). Anyways, all this reading and very limited playing experience other than free online (which is very close to useless), though I have ordered Turbo Texas Holdem, to get practice against better competition. Here's the situation, there's a game with some guys from work, who all have way too much money to waste. The strucure is NL holdem with a $20 buy in, $1/$2 blinds, game goes for a half hour, then everyone cashes out and rebuys for the next half hour session. I know its generally inadvisable for a person with very little experience to play NL, however, the players are very bad and it can be a very profitable situation. In ten hours, I average $43/hr (very short term, I know). These are the type of players that will hold on to Ax until the river in most cases, and few to none have ever read a book/studied anyting about holdem. They are mostly loose-passive with an occasional loose-aggressive player. Most hands have to be shown down to be won, even for an all-in bet. My question is, although I've been doing okay, I'm looking to get better and would like to know what the best strategy would be in this type of structure against this type of players. My current strategy (when I'm playing the way I intend to) is be very selective if an aggressive player has yet to enter the pot, and slightly less selective if only passive players remain. I'm aggressive in the pots that I do enter unless I have a hand I want multiway action with. Also, with such a small buyin, you have to be careful that you don't call too many bets or you won't be able to get any value when you have a very strong hand (little money left). Also, I think Sklansky's book is the most thorough and I've learned the most from it, but its mostly about limit and I wanted to know if there are any concepts I should be aware that are much different in NL. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to listen to a rookie, I appreciate all responses.