starting hands in NL holdem

[acehigh1984]

Hi, I have started to play NL holdem pretty regularly. I was wondering if anybody could advise me on what types of starting hands to play (probably Sklansky's structure rules dont apply much to NL). There are different types of games around here, some with little preflop raising (in which i call with all sorts of hands for cheap) and some that are ultra aggressive with heavy preflop raising. I have trouble playing in those games because I am not sure what sorts of hands to see the flop with if the game is very very aggressive and so tighten up too much and dont play my best.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

[deacsoft]

Wow. These questions are the most difficult to answer. There are so many factors in determining which to play. I'll give a shot though. There are four main things to consider and I'll try to touch on each one a little. I'll refer to Sklansky's hand grouping since you seem to be fimiliar with them.

First of all is the strength of your hole cards. These should pretty much speak for themselves. I would almost go with Sklansky on the general hand groupings. This is harder than I thought so I'll just move on.

Next would be your position. In no limit you can play just about any hand from the button and cross hands off of the "playable list" the closer you get to the blinds and left of the button. You want to be careful with your raises from early position which is why you want to limit those hands to group 1 and some group 2 hands. In middle position you can play group 1-4 and even some group 5 hands. Pay close attention to the players in front of you. You don't want to play some of those weaker hands against a good size raise. In late position you can play groups 1-8 and then some. You don't want to get too crazy with the weaker hands and any hand you don't think you can raise you should still think about folding unless you are confident you can take the pot down. Use the as a general guideline from any position. If you wouldn't raise you should consider folding. Also from late position you can consider the blind steal and taking down the pot right there. I love to make a good size bet from late position with even marginal hands to pick up the pot. When players try to limp in my eyes get big. I answer their show of weakness with a good size late position raise. There is no limping when I'm in late position. These small pots help out in the long run. Again, don't get crazy. Don't try this with just any hand. Do it with one you would raise with anyway from late position. Stealing the blinds and making that move is very dependent on the third and next topic.

The third thing to consider when selecting your starting hands is the types of player already in the pot or yet to act. The tighter the player the more respect you should give. That means the more hands you should fold to that player's raises. I've layed down group 1 and other big starting hands because a very tight player came in for a raise. Also take in to consideration that other player's position. Play premium hands against tight players and early position raisers. The earlier the raise comes in the more respect it should be given. You will also have players that like to call, raise a lot, and see a lot of flops. You can play more hands against these players. It would also be good to come over the top of them a lot with hands you were going to raise with. Odds are good you can take down the pot right there or get it heads up with the loose player. In no limit heads up or simply winning pots without a showdown is where you want to be. Of course there is an exception to that as well.

The last thing I'll cover is the number of opponents in the pot. The more opponents there are in a pot the more often you should lay down a hand like K-J from late position. However, with many opponents a hand like J-T and other suited connector cards become that much more playable. You want the odds for your drawing hands so the more opponents the better. Many opponents also can make it okay to play some of the small pocket pairs and try to hit your trips on the flop. Just don't fall in love with these hands if you don't get the flop you're looking for.

I know this is very general, but this is a hard question to answer without writing another poker book. After a while it will become automatic, but I would suggest not making any moves with questional hands before putting any opponent or potential opponent in to a category of play style. The play at your table will greatly affect the starting hands you can play. Sit tight and kind of let the hands play themselves at first. Lastly there are plenty of good books out there that can help you learn a lot more about this topic. www.overstock.com (http://www.overstock.com) is a great place to get them. If you have any more specific questions just reply to this post and I'll do my best to answer them in a timely fashion. Hope this helps, and good luck at the tables.

[James Boston]

I'm going over-simplify this too much, but here goes. The Sklansky hand groupings are based on several criteria. One of the factors is the chances a hand has of improving to the best hand. You don't want to look at this too much in NL. Draws will cost you too much money. At the same time, hands that can quickly become second best in limit are worth more, and you can protect them with big raises. For instance, medium pocket pairs need to improve in limit since overcards are likely to see the flop. In NL a big raise with the same hand can knock out hands like KJ, QJ, A10, etc... I would also suggest you study "The Gap Theory" in Tournament Poker for Advanced Players.