No Limit: Do the strong hands win the biggest pots?

It’s easy to assume that the best hands must win most money but this is not the case in No Limit poker. Indeed ‘strong’ hands can lead us into a lot of trouble. Note that in a Limit game with a holding of AK we would almost always be willing to go the distance after flopping top pair on a board such as K83, the point being that we’re never going to lose an enormous pot.

With the same hand and flop in a NL game, however, considerable aggression from the opposition should set alarm bells ringing because the potential downside is limited only by stack sizes – we could lose whatever we have on the table in one hand.

Let’s have a look at a selection of holdings and what kind of hands/pots they tend to win.

Starting with the dream holdings like aces and kings, we are far more likely to win a pot when we have an overpair than when we get lucky on the flop. This is because with AA on a flop of A93, for instance, we are rarely going to be up against someone with the remaining ace and, consequently, will either be way too strong to tempt in lesser hands or perhaps find ourselves in a critical race against a draw.

Small pocket pairs, on the other hand, are a different animal and much easier to play. With a holding of 44 the flop will typically either see us catch a well disguised monster that could net us a big reward (for example on a flop of A94) or leave us with our modest duo with a flop featuring overcards (and a prudent fold round the corner).

Unpaired but strong holdings such as AK are awkward. If we hit top pair it can be difficult to judge to what extent we should commit, while even missing is by no means clear-cut as Big Slick, for example, would like to see the turn and river. Obviously other factors come into play such as how many people see the flop, stack sizes and so on, but this kind of holding looks good but can be problematic.

 
Meanwhile, suited connectors (and even the likes of 86s), are similar to small pairs in that it is usually pretty clear once the flop has arrived to see how best to continue the hand – we’ll either get a juicy flop that gives us a ready-made hand or a draw or we’ll miss completely.

Generally, it’s well worth keeping in mind – especially for those players switching from Limit to No Limit – that top pairs and overpairs are limited in terms of what they will win while effectively ‘limitless’ when it comes to losing. We won’t be able to bring along with us too many lesser hands but always run the risk of paying off stronger hands that we often see only once the damage has been done – hence the ability to fold in the face of big bets being an imperative part of a strong player’s armoury. Experienced players are well aware that pairs win small pots and lose big ones.

Good luck at the tables!

Angus Dunnington (AngusD at the 32Red tables)
32Red Poker Ambassador

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Heads Up Sit & Go Strategy

While Sit & Go tournaments offer an exciting, one-table competitive experience that don’t take too much time (meaning we can play a number of them in one session), it’s possible to step up a gear or three for the even more thrilling ride of the heads up S&G.

These differ significantly from HU cash, remember, in that the blinds increase – and at quite a pace when we consider that hands just whiz by, and we’re involved in every single one of them. The trick, in an ideal world, is to bamboozle the opposition in every department. We need to be crafty, tricky, manipulative and pretty fearless (as opposed to reckless!).

With only the one opponent it follows that this format can be rather rewarding if we are fortunate enough to be up against opponents who don’t perform as well as we do and, with this in mind, the more we think about strategy and the more experience we rack up the more successful we’ll become. Variance can obviously be cruel in this particular game but that shouldn’t put anyone off making the effort if they feel more suited to this gladiatorial battle than its less cut-throat relations.

‘Mastering’ post-flop play is absolutely essential as we need to exploit players’ passivity and be prepared to bluff much more than is called for in other games. Indeed approaching a HU S&G with too conservative a strategy just won’t do. We will get our fingers burnt but, in the long-run, the key to being a winning player will be determined by our ability to play the critical hands well with a view to at least gaining a decisive lead.

Loose-aggressive is the way to go, in terms of both style and attitude, but we also need to be able to adapt quickly to what’s coming from the other side of the table while simultaneously trying deny the opposition useful reads on our own play.

Against tight players the way to gain the initiative is to raise pre-flop and post-flop (not being afraid to get busy out of position), double/triple-barrel and generally apply constant pressure – at least for as long as we can get away with it. It’s not unusual to get our own way and emerge with the much bigger stack, which in turn affords us the opportunity to widen our range and thus increase the likelihood of hitting a well disguised monster.

Conversely, against loose players it’s necessary to tighten up, letting go of unpromising hands and being aggressive with decent aces, pairs and suited connectors, mixing in opening aggression post-flop with check-raises.

Position is at least as important here as other formats as being in position affords us a continual advantage in 50% of all hands. Remember that continuation bets need succeed only a third of the time to break even. We should raise a lot pre-flop in position to deny the opposition value limps and build juicy pots that we are perfectly placed (in position!) to steal on the turn or river.

There is obviously a great deal more to heads up Sit & Go play but the points here form the foundations on which an effective strategy is based.

Good luck at the tables!

Angus Dunnington (AngusD at the 32Red tables)
32Red Poker Ambassador

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Making a stand against bluffers

We are all prone, unfortunately, to providing others with ways of taking our money. Obviously we should be working hard to constantly evaluate our play and determine to keep leaks and mistakes to a minimum.

But some players are rude enough to steal our money through bluffing us out of a pot. Is this not our fault because we are being prudent in folding, or another weakness in our play in that we don’t do enough to combat steals?

The good news is that we are able to trap these players, and another weapon in our armoury is putting up enough of a fight to prevent them from messing with our game so that they pick on someone else or even move on for pastures new. It’s a nice feeling to catch out a bluffer and some players actively seek them out but, in the main, they are a nuisance, and we can concentrate our efforts in exploiting other kinds of players so fighting our corner is a good strategy.

It’s not too difficult to identify bluffers, who probably prefer to call themselves ‘loose aggressive’ players. They are the ones who can’t resist peppering the pot with bets they hope are big enough to scare everyone off. This can work out well for us sometimes, but can be more than an inconvenience, for example when we have a marginal holding or when their throwing money around interferes with how we were planning to approach a hand.

The problem most players have when wondering how to address bluffers is that taking a stand requires a certain leap of faith. But the longer we dither and fail to act the longer our own strategies are disrupted – indeed if we can’t properly respond we’re better off leaving and finding a table where we can operate, but this, of course, isn’t the right attitude.

One advantage of having a table image tight enough to attract bluffers is that when we do elect to hit back at them they are more likely to believe us. At some point we should allow them to bluff and, preferably with a hand that has some kind of positive relation to the board (numerous outs, for example), raise big enough to turn the tables and force them out of the pot. Note that there’s no point doing this for the prize of a small pot.

Once might be enough, but generally a bluffer will soon get the message and, fingers duly burnt, leave us alone. The point of their game is to steal pots, and when we have established that we are not to be messed with they won’t take the risk any more. This also enables us to better read them when, after backing off, they do get involved.

The desired result is that by demonstrating the steel to fight our corner we get to play the type of game we want while disrupting someone else in the process. Getting our own way and frustrating others is a key part of the game.

Good luck at the tables!

Angus Dunnington (AngusD at the 32Red tables)
32Red Poker Ambassador

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Everyone’s a Bounty

Everyone’s a Bounty – €50 Added!

Don’t miss one of our player’s favourite poker tournaments – Everyone’s a Bounty – it runs every Friday at 9pm (UK time) and offers a €50 added prizepool!

Everyone plays with a bounty on their heads, hunting other bounties as the game progresses.  Win €5 with every player that you knockout but be careful not to get yourself knocked out, or you’ll be out of the game!

The more players you knockout, the bigger the rewards.  Check out the tournament details below…

Tournament Details

Date & Time	Fridays at 21:00 (UK time)
Buyin	€5 + €0.50, freezeout
Details	2000 chips, 10 minute blind levels
Game Type	No-limit Texas Hold’em
Prize pool	€50 Added
Bounty	Win €5 with every knockout!

 

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More on Multi-Tabling

We’ve featured multi-tabling before, and while it isn’t for everyone, we all nevertheless try this hectic looking approach at some time. Unfortunately, there’s more to it than most players believe. Indeed the understandable attraction of making more money is about as far as the vast majority get when deciding to drastically change their game. But of course it doesn’t necessarily follow that eight-tabling will result in earning eight times as much money as sitting at only one table (in fact it’s a difficult enough task succeeding in following the action at all on so many tables without actually managing a profit; remember that opening just one additional table is multi-tabling).

While a winning player should definitely try to progress by increasing the number of tables, initially the focus should not be on profit but rather how you feel in different situations. It pays to make notes detailing how this or that aspect of your play is affected by the almost constant requirement to make multiple decisions. For example, when a big hand appears do you feel distracted by your ‘duties’ on the other tables? Do you feel guilty keeping others waiting by timing out here and there in order to give critical situations maximum attention? And with this in mind, are there any players on this ‘critical’ table who are also there at the others to notice this tell? Is it possible – as is the case when playing just the one table – to use the timing of your actions to represent certain types of play? Do you have enough time when trying to follow the action to observe other players?

Money is money, but concentrating on these and other important parts of the game is the key to determining to what extent, if any, multi-tabling is worth the effort, as appreciating the cumulative implications of each individual situation is imperative in the quest to find the most optimal playing conditions.

Good luck at the tables!

AngusD

32Red’s Poker Quiz!

Congratulations to buick60 for winning our previous Poker Quiz (click here for details).

Welcome to 32Red’s regularly updated Poker Quiz section where we ask you all sorts of poker questions and all you have to do is answer them correctly to enter our draw for free cash prizes & tournament tickets!

32Red Poker Quiz!

 

What percentage of your rake does 32Red Poker return to you instantly, every time you play?

10% ?
20% ?
or 30% ?

Click here for a clue!

Post your answers below and if we pick your name out of the hat and you’ve posted the correct answer, you’ll receive a FREE tournament ticket worth €10 + €1 to play at 32Red Poker!

‘Be the Bounty’ Results, 12/12/10…

‘snakeeyes11′ & ‘ooblio’ have secured their iPads … will you be next?

32Red’s ever popular Be the Bounty tournament continues to draw in the crowds, with 103 players taking part in what appeared to have been a night of intense action at the poker tables.  Many congratulations to everyone who made it in the money and especially to those who managed to knockout some bounties (see results below) Read more

32Red adds more Anonymous Tables

A quick update on 32Red’s Anonymous Tables…

Following an in-depth review of our Cash Tables offering at 32Red Poker, we have increased the number of Anonymous Tables available at each stake range, from 8 tables to 24 tables.  You may also notice that the naming convention for these tables has changed – the old format included the min buy-in, and the new format details the max buy-in. The purpose for this of course being to encourage players to play at games that are suitable for their bankrolls.

While these tables continue to gain popularity, it may be of some benefit to some players to read up on some Anonymous Poker Strategy.

32Red aims for 3,000 facebook followers

32Red Poker have been active on facebook for over 3 years and during this time they have worked hard to keep their members and followers regularly updated with the latest poker news, promotions, tournaments and freerolls.  They recently celebrated their 2,000th facebook follower by hosting a €200 Freeroll that attracted over 1,000 players.

Their next target is 3,000 followers, with a €300 Freeroll on the books for when they hit this mark.  How quickly they reach their target will depend on how proactive and efficient each and every one of their followers will be at spreading the word and inviting their friends to join the 32Red facebook page.  One thing is certain – the more followers 32Red get on facebook, the deeper they will reach inside their pockets.

If you haven’t yet done so, click here to launch the 32Red Poker facebook page and let’s start inviting some friends to come and join us.

Win a FREE Tourney Ticket worth €60!

Registration is open, will YOU win the free €60 ticket?

Don’t miss Sunday’s Lottery Freeroll at 6pm (UK time), when we’ll be giving away a FREE tournament ticket worth €55 + €5 that you can use to enter 32Red’s €100,000 Guarantee.  You really have got nothing to lose!

Tournament Name: €55 + €5 FREE TOURNAMENT TICKET
Date & Time: Every Sunday at 6pm (UK time)
32Red Poker Lobby: Scheduled Tournaments > Freeroll
Buy-in: 100% FREE to enter!

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