Position - One thing you'll find in no limit holdem is that position is much more of a factor. Position in limit holdem is important but not even close to no limit. With that said, I'm not a slave to position. I'm just as likely to play a hand like 9Ts under-the-gun (first position/worst position) as I am on the dealer button (last position/best position). The reason is because I don't get trapped and call unless I want. If someone raises me preflop a large amount, I can very easily fold. If lots of other people are in, I can call. I think position in limit holdem and no limit are exactly reversed. In limit holdem position is very important preflop, but after the flop it is of less importance. In no limit holdem position is less important preflop and very important post flop. What's the worst thing that can happen if I limp in with 56s in early position in no limit? A person could raise, and then I just fold and lose my few bucks. A few bucks is nothing in no limit. In limit poker though, if I limp in with that hand in early position I am guaranteed to lose money in the long run. I can only win so much with the hand so I need to make sure there is enough money in preflop before I commit my bet (for limit holdem). In no limit you can win a huge pot with any hand so calling a few dollars and then folding if it gets too expensive isn't as much of a concern. Moderation is the key, don't take this too far. You will lose if you play any two cards in any position and call any bet.
Big Loss Or Small Win - There is a concept in no limit poker regarding hands that either will win a small pot or lose a big one. These cards are usually hands like AJ, KJ, KT, KQ, etc. Those are good hands in limit poker but in no limit if you flop something with those and get action, you will most likely lose a big pot or just win a little one after everyone folds. That doesn't mean that I won't play those hands, it just means you have to watch out because they are the cards that will get you in trouble. I treat hands like this with great care. I honestly would prefer a hand like 45s over AJ. The 45s won't get me into any binds while the AJ will do nothing but that.
Trash Hands - I love garbage hands, especially if I can sneak in from the small blind by just calling half a bet. What are some garbage hands? T2s, 95, T6, 23, A2, etc. I love to just limp in with them from the small or big blind and then try to sting someone after flopping a big hand. The ones that do particularly well are the T and J rag hands: J2, J3, J4, etc and T4, T5, T2. The reason these do well is because if there was no raise preflop then the opposition most likely has hands like QJ, KJ, JT, etc. When you flop two pair you can really make them pay. What you want to avoid though is catching one pair and thinking it is good. If you have a crappy hand like J4 and the flop is J92, I probably wouldn't even bet from early position. It's going to be a small pot anyway since no one raised preflop so if you check and give it away even if you had the best hand sobeit. Remember you are here to win some big pots, not a lot of little ones.
AA, KK And AK - These hands pretty much play themselves. You can have fun with them though. I'll mix up my play based on who I'm against (especially with Aces). When I get dealt Aces or Kings though, I'm always thinking in the back of my mind that I don't want to lose my whole stack with these. This is a huge weakness for new players. They get dealt AA or KK and then think they are guaranteed to win. That's not so. The best case scenario if you are dealt Aces is someone else has a hand they are raising with preflop. If that isn't the case I don't mess around with these hands. I'll play them straight forward and take my little pot. I'll raise preflop, then put a decent bet in on the flop and bigger on the turn. My goal if no one else has a big starting hand is just to win some, not a lot. Remember one pair isn't that great and if you get tons of action after the flop then you are in trouble. I don't make the majority of my money with big hands like this. Don't be discouraged if you finally get Aces and then win only a little with them. One tactic that sometimes will win a big pot is to feign weakness on the flop with your Aces. For example, if the flop comes back Jack high and you have Aces, waiting for a while and then only betting half the pot sometimes gets people to check raise or raise a large amount because they put you on AK. Then you just call and then put them all-in on the turn card.
Middle Pairs (QQ, JJ, TT) - I sometimes limp in with TT preflop but with Queens and Jacks you have to raise. I think out of all the hands in no limit, these are the toughest to play well. The best advice I can give is don't lose all your chips calling all-in with Queens or Jacks preflop. You'd be surprised how often you'll have AK, KK or AA against QQ or JJ. Being able to not lose a bunch in that situation is a sign you're doing something right. The tell tale sign of AA or KK is if you raise a good amount and then get reraised or reraised all-in by an unimaginative player. If I just get reraised I'll most likely call. If the person has a bunch of chips and goes all-in then I'm going to have to look hard at the situation. Do I really want to put a lot of my money at risk when I only may be a small favorite (they have AK), or a big underdog (they have AA or KK)? How much it is going to cost me is another thing I look at in this situation. If I'm playing at a $200 game and it will just cost me $100 total then sobeit. Or if the person is a wild player that raises a lot of hands and you don't know if they have anything, let alone a good hand then go ahead and do the dirty dance. Also understand that calling the reraise and seeing the flop is only the start. Most likely all the money will go in by showdown. My goal in trouble spots like this is to just break even. If I can make a few reads here and there and win a few pots and then make a few mistakes and lose a few I'm ok with it.
Face Cards (AJ, KQ, KJ, QJ, QT etc) - I mentioned these hands above in the "lose a big pot or a win a small one" paragraph. My advice with these cards is to play them but be careful. I play these cards pretty weakly. If I flop something big like top two pair then of course I'll play more aggressively and try to win more but with just top pair I'm careful. I'll bet but I'm not going to get married to the pot. What you want to avoid like the plague is calling big preflop raises with these, flopping top pair and paying off the raiser. That's how you lose fast in no limit poker. I will limp in with these hands from early position but if someone raises a good amount, I'm out unless lots of other people are in. I'll need a really strong flop to continue. There is no way I'll limp in with KJs, call a preflop raise, and then call all the way down with top pair hoping I'm good. If you don't have the initiative in the hand (doing the betting), there is a reason.
Small Pocket Pairs - Of all the hands in no limit holdem, these are my favorites. They play themselves and when they hit, you are "set". My ideal situation is when I limp in with a small pocket pair in early position, get raised a decent amount from someone with a big pair or AK and then I call and flop trips. You'll hit your set/trips about 1 in 8 times. I'll call preflop with these hands as long as the raise isn't too much and the person has enough chips in front of them (or alternatively other people are in the hand too). Having pocket deuces is no different then having pocket fives or sevens. You won't continue on the flop unless you hit (or you see a bluffing opportunity in which case the denomination of your cards doesn't matter either). Pocket eights and up can win without improving but it's rare you'll get much action in those situations.
Suited Cards - In no limit holdem I don't make a big distinction between a suited connector (67s) and two suited cards (T6s). In either case you are going to need a big flop to make much with the hand. In limit poker having the suited cards connected really helps out a lot but in no limit it doesn't matter as much. With these cards I'll limp in late position, sometimes in the front if they are decent cards. I particularly like the smaller suited cards like 35s or 46s. The reason is because if no one raised preflop it usually means someone is out there with a "weak ace" (A5, A6, A2, A3, etc). Sometimes you'll flop the straight and they will have two pair, in which case you can sting them nicely.
Staying Out Of Trouble - In limit holdem much of the play is in the middle. What I mean by that is you win the majority of your money by just having decent hands -- top pair and betting it down. For example, you have KQ, raise, flop top pair, and bet it down and win. To play no limit well you need to adjust your thinking. In no limit you want either a great hand or a trash hand. You don't want a lot of stuff in the middle since a mistake can cost you your whole stack. This is why you would prefer to have 33 against a raiser instead of AJ or KQ.
How Much To Bet
If you already know how to play limit holdem, one issue you'll be faced with when playing no limit is the question of how much to bet. Let me start off by saying what is typical. Let's say you are playing in a $100 no limit buy-in game where the blinds are 1/2. It would be normal for people to raise anywhere from $6-10 preflop. You'll see people raising different amounts, sometimes much more then that or just doubling the big blind, but by and large it is usually about 3 or 4 times the big blind. So is that how much you should raise? Maybe, maybe not. How much you should raise preflop depends on who you are playing with and what you want to accomplish. I've heard many players talk about how raising the same amount preflop and betting the same amount post flop (the size of the pot for example) is good because you don't give away any information about the strength of your hand. In other words people can't look at how much you are betting and getting a better read on what you have. I don't buy into that. I think that varying your amounts is much more advantageous to winning money. You need to be flexible and see opportunities to where you can maximize your return. If a guy is willing to call with all of his money, why would you want to only bet the size of the pot? Let me give you some different scenarios. Let's say you are on the dealer button with KK and seven people before you called $4. Your goal with the raise is to cut down the competition and get one or two callers. A raise to $6 or $8 won't do. In this case you can raise much more then you normally would for a few reasons: one, there are already a lot of people in and the likelihood of getting called by a couple of them is high; two, there is already a lot of money in the pot; three, you want to get rid of a bunch of the hands since your hand doesn't play well against a lot of people. A raise here for $12 or even $15 would be fine. Another scenario might be if you have a really bad player at the table who doesn't seem to ever fold preflop if he has already called the big blind. If you find a person like that, then by all means raise as much as you can without making him fold. It's very common to find players like this and when you do, make sure you get as much of their money as you can before someone else does. This is where paying attention comes in handy. If you notice someone else just raised $15 preflop and he called, then I would do the same if I was dealt a good hand. Post flop play again depends on two things, what you want to accomplish and who your opponents are. Let me give another few scenarios. Let's say that you have flopped a set of 7s and you are fairly sure that the person you are against has a big hand since he raised preflop. This is a prime money making opportunity. Your goal here is not to shut him out on the flop. You want to do whatever you can to make him put all his money in the middle. This might be calling the flop and then check raising the turn card. Or you may want to bet some into him and pretend like you have a marginal hand, then call his raise and check raise the turn, etc. See it all depends on what you think the best way to get all his money might be. Another extreme is when you don't want anyone to call. Let's say for example you have T9 and the flop is T98. You really don't want anyone to call here so you better come out swinging. What you are trying to do is make it unprofitable for someone to call with a draw. Lastly, let's say you flop top pair with a decent hand. Betting the size of the pot is fine here. Ok, so those are a few tips on how much to bet and when.
How To Make Money
Trapping Hands - This is the number one way you make money in no limit. The definition of a trapping hand is when you have a really strong hand and another person has a lessor hand that they can't get away from. An example of a trapping hand would be if you flop a set/trips and another person has pocket Aces or Kings. You've got him and he is going to lose big time. There are a variety of trapping hands out there like if you flop a straight and another person has a set. Or if you have a full house and another person has a smaller one or just trips. Trapping hands can come in all kinds of forms. One hand I just had was really funny. I had 92 in the big blind. No one raised so I got to see the flop for free and to my surprise it was 992. Some poor guy had A9 and promptly lost all his money to me. That was a trapping hand. He couldn't lay it down. Another example of a trapping hand that I got butchered on was as follows. I had A2 of diamonds and the flop was AA9 with one diamond. It got checked around and the turn was another diamond. The flush draw didn't get there and I lost a sizeable amount to someone with a better Ace (I think he had AQ actually but didn't raise preflop).
Big pair over big pair (AK included) - I mentioned above about how most of the time you won't make that much with your big pairs. The usual routine is your raise preflop, get a caller or two and then bet the flop and everyone folds. Sometimes you'll get an idiot who doesn't believe you and calls you down but that's usually not the case I would say about 80% of the time I don't win that much money with my AA, KK or AK. The other 20% of the time that you win, you are up against someone who has a smaller pair. AA versus KK is always a sure way for the guy to lose his stack but many people at this level also lose their whole stack playing QQ against AA, KK or AK. If I'm dealt AA or KK on the dealer button, I have a better chance of making more money with it since people assume that I'm playing my position instead of my cards. This is why if you are on the button with a big hand and everyone folds to you, don't slow play it and limp in, raise it since people won't believe you. Sometimes I'll even make a raise much larger then I normally do on the button if everyone folds to me. For example, if I normally raised to $15-20 preflop, I'll raise it to $30 or $40. Then people really think I'm trying to steal the blinds. Every now and then I'll have a guy who tries to raise over the top of me thinking I'm bluffing and will fold. That's the best.
Small pots - Most of the pots in no limit, and the ones you'll win, are going to be small. Everyone will be winning little pots for a while and then bam, someone will get nailed and lose their stack. That's how it goes. The small pots can add up after a while though.
Betting in the back - You won't make a bunch of money betting in late position when everyone checks to you but its worth mentioning. I'm not a religious bettor in late position. Instead I like to mold my table image -- how the other players see me -- by sometimes betting in the back and sometimes just checking.
Drawing Hands - Drawing hands are tricky in no limit. When you flop four of one suite in limit holdem, it is an easy decision to keep calling till the river. In no limit that isn't always going to be the case since if you miss your draw on the turn card, often the next size bet will be too large to make it profitable to keep calling. I've found that if I'm in early position with a flush draw or straight draw it is often better to come out betting some instead of checking and calling. First of all, if you check and call you give away your hand and also you leave yourself open to being bet out of the pot. Secondly, you may even win the pot by just betting. The risk of betting is that you are going to get raised an amount you can't call. My advice for drawing hands is to learn the numbers and then compare them to the size of the pot. I want to also add that if you do flop a really large draw, you don't have to hit it to win. Bet big and win that way and if get called hope to catch it. An example would be if you have 67s and the flop is 4s5sAh. I would bet that really hard and get all the money in on the flop.
Bluffing - I don't think bluffing is of much importance in limit poker. It's almost impossible to bet someone out of a pot in limit poker since it just costs them one more big bet. In no limit it is much more of a potent tool, especially coupled with a good read of a hand and position. Learning when to bluff is an advanced skill that you will pick up as you learn the ins and outs of the game more but I'll give a few tips. Number one tip is you aren't going to bluff someone out of the pot if they have AA, KK, or AK and flop top pair. If you find a really good player you might, but at the $200 NL and below games it would be very hard to get someone to fold their Aces. Number two tip is that it is much easier to bluff someone out of a pot if they aren't committed. Being committed to a pot means if you have so much money in it already that even if you are beat, you still have to call. Number three tip is that it is much easier to bluff someone out of a pot if it is going to cost them a lot of money to call. Your bluff isn't very powerful if they just have to call 1/10th of the pot. If you can make them pay dearly to see your hand, then the chance of it working is higher. Number four tip is that it is easier to win with a bluff if you know what your opponent has and you know what he thinks you have. If he thinks you caught your flush and checks to you, then that's a decent time to make a play at the pot. Lastly, the only player immune to a bluff is a bad player.
