Small Stakes Hold 'em book

[bweiser8311962]

What a great read.

That said, after making it through to the quiz section, I've decided I am not sure how valuable this book is in NO LIMIT games.

Much of the book is talking about 1 bet, 2 bets, capping bets. And it seems like it would be great for that.

A) How can I take what I've learned in this book and apply it to no limit?

B) Should I scrap no limit and play more limit?

C) Can anyone recommend a book better versed in no limit?

[M50Paul]

I cant answer your question but had to comment on the Book. I just read it my self and agree it was excellent. I think I understood the concepts fairly well. I went to Foxwoods yesterday and played on the $2-4 tables and got my money to cover the cost of the book. Much of his advice was exactly right on. I would also be interested in its application to No Limit.

[jdl22]

I think the preflop section is very applicable, but that's about it. The reason for that is that Ed discusses playing a lot of hands preflop due to the implied odds that come with having a lot of people see the flop that will call too much later. While the reasons are obviously different this idea extends to NL since the most important factor preflop is implied odds.

For example, small pocket pairs are great to play up front. If it's raised a smallish raise (normally < 20% of stacks in play) you can still call and it's a hand where you are basically drawing on the flop only - if you miss your set you are out but if you hit you should drag a nice pot. I can't remember how it is suggested to play suited connectors preflop but normally you can't play those up front unless the game is passive both preflop and on later streets. The idea there is that you need to see later streets because you normally flop a draw and people can wreck your odds with these hands. If the game is passive with little raising preflop and people tend to bet small later then it would probably be fine to play these.

The best book for NL is Reuben and Ciaffone "Pot limit and No Limit Poker." Hopefully Mason will thrill us in this thread like he did when people asked what the best book was for small stakes games several months ago. A lot of us are hoping for him to surprise us by saying that the best NL book is "Big Bet Poker for Advanced Players" by Ray Zee, Greg Raymer, and David Sklansky.

[joeg]

Applying the strategys in this book to no-limit poker could be very dangerous, the main reason for this is that in low-limit holdem against loose players the pot is often big in relation to the bet size so you do not have to win very often to justify staying in the pot, in no-limit where people can but any amount they like the pot is rarely big in relation to the size and much more consideration needs to action to come behind you as you may be forced to fold. SSH specialises in loose limit games and the advice is great for those games, but applying these strategys outside of loose limit games could be expensive.

[shadow29]

I vote on not applying the concepts too liberally. Some of the theoretical explanations are good if you don't quite understand pot odds or implied odds, but really this is a LIMIT book. I play predominantly NL, but I am starting to move into limit. Applying these concepts would be very dangerous.

[Ed Miller]

I play predominantly NL, but I am starting to move into limit. Applying these concepts would be very dangerous.

Yes. Specifically, SSH advises you to make a lot of bets and raises with drawing and otherwise marginal hands either to build a pot or to encourage some (but not necessarily all) of your opponents to fold.

In no limit, you must be a LOT more cautious with your bets and raises with drawing and marginal hands, because you can "bet yourself out of the pot." That is, you can bet and be raised enough that you are forced to fold. In limit, the price for getting reraised when you get "out of line" is usually only a fraction of a bet.

[kslghost]

Yay, a definitive answer from a reliable source [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I've never read a limit book and applied it to NL other than the "play tight and aggressive" idea. It's very difficult, as others have said, to quantify a call in NL. In NL, its more about playing your opponent than ever. If you watch television, you can get a lot of free lessons because you will notice that guys very often say, "<namehere> is now considering how to maximize the money that he can get out of <othernamehere>". In a limit game, you rarely consider this, other than when you have flopped such a high level hand. This is because you may be giving the other odds to call by "maximizing."

NL is extremely tricky, and I've discovered from my friend that it's far beyond what I thought it was. I don't know if you'll find a limit book that will apply thoroughly enough to a NL style.