Zen and the Art of small stakes NL Cash Games by tek

[tek]

You are exactly right. In your two examples, I would be up against many possible hands. If you reraise to define your hand (top pair mediocre kicker) and get reraised or even called, then you have blown some chips on a marginal hand. The A9 is a hand I would fold right away in your two examples.

"When you say "hit" do you mean trips, 2 pair, monster draw (nut flush and open ended nut straight)?"

Yes again.

The thing about NL cash games is it gives you the best of everything.

Very cheap blinds that do not increase and no timed rounds as a tournament would have. You can bet when you have the best of it and make ~$ compared to limited betting in limit games. And just like limit games, you have a finite buy-in.

Therefore, I don't believe it is logical to gamble on marginal and risky hands as you may have to do in limit games or when short-stacked in a tourny.

I could have a tee-shirt with my NL game plan on it and still get action with the best hand. Dan Harrington could sit at small to mid stakes NL and get action!

The reason is the same as why we rubberneck at car accidents. We can't help it. And the fish can't help giving action even when they know they are beat.

I lose count each night how many times guys say "Well, sir I know I'm beat but I have to call ya". Have to??

Last night I hadn't played one hand for maybe 35 minutes. I also hadn't said squat at the table (like Phil Ivey). So, I call a bet and the beter says "Oh Oh, the quietist guy at the table is calling. That scares the shjt out of me". And he was serious. It may have scared others too, but not enough to preclude 6 out of 9 players to see the flop.

"I'm just trying to get a better feel for when you really start to bet hard."

As soon as I have the best hand based on my pocket cards and the board.

[petertje1007]

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Limp to the flop. Group 1 hands might be worth $6-10 preflop. Everything else, call the BB. At the NL tables I’m at (and this should apply to yours too), after the first couple of orbits things will settle down preflop. As soon as a couple players start calling the BB and fold to a PFR, the raisers will learn that they will have to be content with picking up a few yellows OR they can call the BB like the rest of you and see the flop.


[/ QUOTE ]

Hey nice post, question:
What do you mean by "Everything else", I know it depends (as always) but with 5 limpers you drop A9o, but what hands do you consider limping preflop withn multibale limpers (I think low pairs, but also trouble hands like JTs)

I think the $100 (1/2) NL games at party are much more different from the $50 NL, more limping preflop and of course less douchebags, I feel that monsters pay out less than in $50 NL or is this just my bad table selection.

Sorry for my crappy English [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[sourbeaver]

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It is my belief that slow-playing is not a good idea


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If you refer to the Fundamental Theorem of Poker, slow-playing would be described as trying to induce an error from your opponent (a bluff, a call, a bet, a raise) when they are so overwhelmingly dominated that the disadvantage of giving them a free card is very much compensated by the added benefit you might get from him making a sub-optimal play (that is, making a move he would absolutely not make had he known your cards). It is a part of poker's arsenal as much as the bluff.

[NiceCatch]

Not exactly the "Inner Shania" article (a true classic... search for it), but not bad for content. I would emphasize that this strategy works at SMALL STAKES FULL-TABLE NL. It's pretty much called playing solid poker. At a shorter table, like 3-6 handed, against good (i.e. tricky) players, this strategy will get you absolutely reamed. The one addition I would add is the idea of ambushing people that get too commited to their big pairs. This is a great strategy long-handed, in late position. The variety of hands you can play is pretty much straight out of Super/System; use the 5-10% rule preflop to decide whether to call raises...

-NC