How To Win At No-Limit Hold’em Poker
No-Limit Hold’em Poker
Online No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker is expanding quicker than any other game on the Internet. To become a truly successful No-Limit (NL) poker player it takes a lot of learning and perseverance but with the right skills, an experienced No Limit player may earn considerable amounts of money and reputation in the gaming community.
Most of the new players believe that reading a few books or websites about online Texas Hold’em poker will profoundly increase their No Limit skills, but a good player knows that this can lead to an enormous disenchantment and loss of money. If you strictly follow these easy but extremely effective playing strategies your poker game will guarantee to improve and turn potential losses into winnings and longtime profits. By reading, learning and implementing our poker strategy tips you are on your way to become a successful online NL poker player.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #1 – Play against same level players
If you are a new No Limit player you should start playing against similar players and avoid the pros (sharks). Novice poker players play usually with all kinds of cards and make bets that make no real sense. These types of players can be great to gain profit with when drawing strong hands on the flop, though they will allow you to build the pot and keep calling you through the turn and river. You should not bluff beginners because they will call you even with very weak hands!
Top No-Limit players are good at every aspect of the Texas Hold’em game and they always know the exact odds, pot odds and implied odds of the hands that they have been dealt. “Sharks” can adjust there playing style to all types of players and they are very hard to read and play with. You should leave a table instantly when you recognize a shark player.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #2 – Reading your opponent
A skillful player will know that to be successful at online poker you have to not plainly play your Hold’em cards, you also need to play your competitors by constantly observing them, memorizing and learning all there steps to outclass them at the online No-Limit Hold’em game.
This goes further than only learning all of the Hold’em odds and key playing strategies, it means you have to know the other online poker player as much as you understand your own poker playing technique. Actually, all good No-Limit Hold’em players knows that understanding and strengthening the mental way of thinking is the true solution to winning at No-Limit Texas Hold ’em, even when your opponent has the better poker hand.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #3 – Don’t get overconfident
The overconfidence problem is one of the common NL beginners mistakes The worst thing that can happen to a new player is to win too big to fast then lose it all back again. A lot of rookie players who win become loose and over-aggressive. It’s just so easy to fall into this trap, it’s therefore very important to keep yourself under control and constantly uphold your attention even when you start to win big. To keep a winning game in online poker it’s essential to develop your mental strength and never let your emotions control your NL bets.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #4 – Learn the odds
To play No Limit poker well, you must learn the basic Hold’em odds. The most important No Limit odds are the implied odds when you calculate the implied odds you have to consider how good your poker hand will be and the number of chips you could win from the other players. Sometimes it’s right to play hands you wouldn’t play in Limit Hold’em poker because you can trap your opponents with a set, flush or straights draw into situations where they will put all their money into the pot (All-In). Feel free to use our Online Poker Odds Calculator to work on your Texas Hold’em strategy.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #5 – Bluffing the flop
There is one specific type of low-risk bluff known as “Repping The Flop” that you must master to boost your winnings at online Texas Hold’em. This betting bluff is the most frequently used and most profitable bluff in No-Limit poker. The concept of this bluff is to represent a better poker hand with small bets than you actually have at the flop, this allows you to maintain complete control of a hand after the flop when being the first player to bet.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #6 – Flopping the set
Play small pocket pairs (pocket two’s up to 8’s) cheaply by calling the blinds and expecting to hit the set on the flop. If you are dealt a small pocket pair at the pre-flop it is mostly a good idea to just limp, this Hold’em strategy is called “flopping a set”. In case you flop your set you are quite sure to have the top hand before the turn when this occurs try to get your opponents to put as many chips in the pot as you can. The more player is active at the flop, the more possible that one of them has hit a hand and will call your bets. In the case, you miss the set just check and fold to any bet. IMPORTANT: Beginning No Limit poker players should never call a large bet or raise on the flop to hit a set on the turn!
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #7 – Play varied tight aggressive
The tight aggressive poker style is the simplest and most powerful style to play to make a longtime profit at No-Limit Hold’em. In a No-Limit cash game, you should be patient and wait in the right hands, there’s no reason to take unnecessary chances. Just play the strong hands and always be super tight when playing from 1-3 positions. You should learn this poker technique and varying your pre-flop game so you know when to play with strong cards and when to play passively with weak hands. Varying your play tight-aggressive playing style means that you don’t only raise preflop hands with strong hands like AA, KK, QQ or AK.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #8 – Play suited connectors
Suited connector hands are referring to cards that are of the same suit and are close enough to each other that they can form a straight on the flop like 7d 6d, Qc 10c or Ad 10d. Suited connectors can be especially effective in No Limit poker and work very well against most of the hands (such as pocket aces) because they will often flop very strong draws when only 1 more card is needed to form a flush or straight on the turn or river. Suited connectors will mostly be folded on the flop, but when they hit they are usually strong enough to beat all other hands and you should expect to win a large part of your opponent’s entire stack.
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #9 – Using the power of position
Many novices and beginning No-Limit players underrate the importance of position and how it can affect their poker play. The understanding of position in No Limit is perhaps the most important and will give the greatest gains in improving your game style. Being the last player to act gives you a major advantage in because you will make decisions after you’ve collected information from your opponents. In many cases, the ability to use a position will help you win pots even when you don’t have the best hand. Playing position in No Limit (NL) can seem confusing to the novice player when it’s actually quite an easy poker theory to understand.
Where you are sitting on the table in relation to the dealer button determines your playable NL hands. If you’re on the button or in late position and no one has raised behind you then even weak hands become a playable and you may call or raise with them. The weakest position is the third seat also referred to as “under the gun”, you should only call or raise this position with AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AQs, and AK!
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #10 – When to call, raise, reraise and fold at preflop
When you’re playing online No-Limit Hold’em and none of the opponents has entered the pot, you should always raise roughly 3xBB (big blind). To prevent opponents from getting read on you should vary your game and slow play pair of aces 10-20% the time.
For maximum profit you should also vary your preflop opening bet size:
Raise 35% of the time 3 times the big blind
Raise 35% of the time 2 times the big blind
Raise 15% of the time 1 times the big blind
Raise 15% of the time 5 times the big blind
In late position you should not raise more than 3 BB with AA and KK though you want to give the impression you try to steal the blinds
How to play Pocket Aces, Kings and Queens (9 players)
Pocket cards
Early position
Middle position
Late position
Pair of aces (AA)
Calling/betting: 30% Calling/betting: 20% Calling/betting: 10%
Raising: 70% Raising: 80% Raising: 90%
Reraising: 80% Reraising: 90% Reraising: 100%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: 5-7xBB Reraising size: 6-8xBB Reraising size: 7-9xBB
Pair of kings (KK)
Calling/betting: 20% Calling/betting: 10% Calling/betting: 10%
Raising: 9080% Raising: 90% Raising: 90%
Reraising: 70% Reraising: 80% Reraising: 90%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: 5-7xBB Reraising size: 6-8xBB Reraising size: 7-9xBB
Pair of queens (QQ)
Calling/betting: 10% Calling/betting: 0% Calling/betting: 0%
Raising: 90% Raising: 100% Raising: 100%
Reraising: – Reraising: 60% Reraising: 70%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: 6-8xBB Reraising size: 7-9xBB
How to play Pocket Jacks, Tens and Nines (9 players)
Pocket cards
Early position
Middle position
Late position
Pair of jacks (JJ)
Calling/betting: 20% Calling/betting: 0% Calling/betting: 0%
Raising: 70% Raising: 100% Raising: 100%
Reraising: – Reraising: 40% Reraising: 60%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: 6-8xBB Reraising size: 7-9xBB
Pair of tens (TT)
Calling/betting: 35% Calling/betting: 20% Calling/betting: 10%
Raising: 65% Raising (3BB): 80% Raising: 90%
Reraising: – Reraising: 30% Reraising: 50%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: 6-8xBB Reraising size: 7-9xBB
Pair of nines (99)
Calling/betting: 40% Calling/betting: 30% Calling/betting: 20%
Raising: 60% Raising: 70% Raising: 80%
Reraising: – Reraising: 20% Reraising: 40%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: 6-8xBB Reraising size: 7-9xBB
How to play Pocket Eights, Sevens and Sixes (9 players)
Pocket cards
Early position
Middle position
Late position
Pair of eights (88)
Calling/betting: 50% Calling/betting: 40% Calling/betting: 30%
Raising: 50% Raising: 60% Raising: 70%
Reraising: – Reraising: 10% Reraising: 30%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: 4-6xBB Reraising size: 6-8xBB
Pair of sevens (77)
Calling/betting: 60% Calling/betting: 50% Calling/betting: 40%
Raising: 40% Raising: 50% Raising: 60%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: 20%
Folding: – Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: 6-8xBB
Pair of sixes (66)
Calling/betting: 70% Calling/betting: 60% Calling/betting: 50%
Raising: 30% Raising: 40% Raising: 50%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: 10%
Folding: 10% Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: 6-8xBB
How to play Pocket Fives, Fours, Threes and Twos (9 players)
Pocket cards
Early position
Middle position
Late position
Pair of fives (55)
Calling/betting: 80% Calling/betting: 70% Calling/betting: 60%
Raising: 20% Raising: 30% Raising: 40%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding: 20% Folding: 10% Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
Pair of fours (44)
Calling/betting: 80% Calling/betting: 70% Calling/betting: 60%
Raising: 20% Raising: 30% Raising: 40%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding: 30% Folding: 20% Folding: 10%
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
Pair of threes (33)
Calling/betting: 90% Calling/betting: 80% Calling/betting: 70%
Raising: 10% Raising: 20% Raising: 30%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding: 40% Folding: 30% Folding: 40%
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
Pair of twos (22)
Calling/betting: 90% Calling/betting: 60% Calling/betting: 70%
Raising: 10% Raising: 40% Raising: 30%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding: 50% Folding: 40% Folding: 30%
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
How to play Pocket Ace-King and Ace-Queen (9 players)
Pocket cards
Early position
Middle position
Late position
Ace-king (AK)
Calling/betting: 25% Calling/betting: 10% Calling/betting: 10%
Raising: 75% Raising: 90% Raising: 90%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding: 10% Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
Ace-queen (AQ)
Calling/betting: 10% Calling/betting: 10% Calling/betting: 10%
Raising: 90% Raising: 90% Raising: 90%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding: 20% Folding: 10% Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
How to play Pocket Ace-Jack and Ace-Ten (9 players)
Pocket cards
Early position
Middle position
Late position
Ace-Jack (AJ)
Calling/betting (s): 40% Calling/betting: 20% Calling/betting: 10%
Raising (s): 60% Raising: 75% Raising: 80%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding (s): 30% Folding: – Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
Ace-ten (AT)
Calling/betting: – Calling/betting: 30% Calling/betting: 20%
Raising: – Raising: 70% Raising: 80%
Reraising: – Reraising: – Reraising: –
Folding: 100% Folding: 30% Folding: –
Reraising size: – Reraising size: – Reraising size: –
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #11 – Recognize and avoid “tilt”
Avoiding “going on tilt” is, without doubt, the most important winning concept in No Limit Holdem poker. Tilt describes a state of frustration usually due to a loss of money when an impulsive player makes irrational decisions and plays too loose and over-aggressive. Tilt or tilting is described by many No-Limit players as a there biggest enemy in their game. Tilt usually happens when a player on a losing streak with the statistically better hand loses to a lucky opponent (also known as “bad beat”). Many players on “tilt” view their losses as unfair and blames it entirely on bad luck and make further bad decisions. If you want to succeed at online No-Limit poker, you need to spot and stop tilt in time!
No-Limit Hold’em Tip #12 – When not to play no limit poker
- Never play poker drunk
- Never play poker when you are in a bad mood
- Never play poker tired or sick
- Never play poker with money you can’t afford to lose
- Never play poker more than 8 hours a day