tomonbass

I made a deal with my fellow peeps a few weeks ago that if I got my bankroll back up over $300 after nearly losing it all I would make a post about my strategys at these low limit no fold em no limit hold em games.

So here goes.....

In my brief experiance at these levels of no limit hold em I have learn many valuable lessons that helped me improve my game and enable me to win money regularly at these low limit games as stated I nearly lost all my bankroll experimenting with NLHE at these levels and it took alot of expensive lessons to learn what I did and play the game a better way than I was and turning my sessions into winning one rather than losing ones.

What you must remember at these levels is that most of the players aren't that great....they wouldnt be at these levels if they were would they!!! And alot of the times they are very obvious and their actions mean exactly what they should...if they are betting I would imaging they have caught a piece of something....if they check...normally they have nothing.....if they go all in normally they have a very strong hand (two pair etc)....the best way to play these people is very straightforwardly and I will go into detail now...

Game Selection

When I say game selection I mean between a full ring game and a 6 max table....at these limits I prefer to play the 6 max tables and the reason for this is simply that you get to see more hands and when you do catch "something" a majority of the time it will more likely hold up in these short handed games than it will in a Full ring game...also alot of your opponents (who have read articles/books about shorthanded play etc) will think its correct to play more unorthodox holdings and try to be more aggressive than usual and this can work wonders when you have a hand.

Game Strategy

In a nutshell your pre-flop play should be "Loose Passive" and Post Flop "Tight Aggressive" I know this sounds unusual but I will explain in more depth now...

Pre flop unless you have a premium starting hand that is worth protecting you shouldnt be raising at all you should be limping or calling reasonable bets the reason you should be doing this is so that you dont feel that you have invested to much in the pot and feel that you have to stay in because of what you invested...trapping you against "whatever" kind of holdings your opponents hold.

You want to see as many flops as you can as cheaply as possible and those flops that miss you completely you want to make it as easy on your self as possible to throw the hand away

Post flop you want to catch a good hand and then VALUE BET the pot for all its worth no fancy play no sneaky moves just straight forward value betting that way you more often than not get paid off for your good holdings...I will go into this in more detail later in this post.

Ok onto starting hands and ones that I recommend be played at this level and some hands to be weary of...

Starting Hands

Ok before I mentioned that you dont want to be raising to much without a premium hand so just to clear up what I mean by premium hand.....Ill post the hands that I think warrant protecting therefore a preflop raise is in order.....(I normally raise 5BB)

With no raises in front of you....

AA/KK/QQ/JJ/1010/99/AKs/AKo/AQs and that is it do not raise with any other hand they are not worth protecting that much even if its folded round to you on the button do not be tempted to raise with any other hands bar these ones...

In these types of games often you can find yourself reraised or find yourself with 4 callers thats not exactly a problem with these types of hands.....if reraised with AA/KK it gives you a good opportunity to get all the money in preflop with a player and if lots of players call your building a large pot in which your favorite...you might not always win and if the flop is scary you may have to slow down or fold but that wont happen too often for you to worry about...although most players are poor a majority of the time they will respect a raise and tighten up a little.... not always but mostly.....

With raises in front of you only reraise with AA & KK (I normally reraise the size of the pot)....and only call with the other hands mentioned above....

Hands to be limping with or calling a reasonable raise (upto 5BB)

These are the hands that you should be looking to limp in with...... Any Pair/Suited Connectors (one & two gappers) Ace x suited and King x Suited ... now when you look at it it may not seem alot but if you think about all the suited connectors that you can pick up it soon opens up to a huge range of hands to be playing with......

Hands to be weary of.....

Be very careful with these off suited hands (this is in SSII) but this especially applys to these low limit games also

AQ/AJ/A10/KQ/KJ/K10/QJ/Q10/J10/98 I wouldnt call a reasonable raise with these hands chances are that you would catch a marginal flop or a flop which appears to be good only to find out that you have been dominated all the way.....

If I was to play these hands I would want to limp in cheaply in a late position and then look to flop a solid hand.....

ok so now I've covered preflop play I'll move onto the flop......

Flop Play

Ok when playing the flop you should be TIGHT AGGRESSIVE as mentioned above i.e. your looking to flop some solid values then make your opponents pay you off...I'll go through certain flop situations now.....

Top Pair & Over Cards

Even with a good kicker at these limits this is not a hand to get excited about...with this hand I would be looking to get to a showdown as cheaply as possible....if I was in late position with no action in front of me prehaps I would throw out a bet to see if there was any intrest.....but if anyone played back or called I would be looking to check it down if possible.....

Top pair is especially dangerous if it is a Pair of ACES as you know poor players have a nasty habit of playing any A - rag making it very likely that they hold Two pair...thats why hands like AJ/A10 etc are dangerous as they are very difficult to throw away if you catch that Ace.....so I would play it very carefully...the only exception to this is when you have raised with AK/AQs or your big overpairs and managed to get the hand heads up... then I would play the hand for value....

I wouldnt be calling an all in with Top pair or over pair (except for heads up if I feel Im ahead)...

Two Pair

With two pair im looking for the top two pairs or the bottom two pairs I dont like holding top and bottom pair as your bottom pair could be counterfeited leaving you playing the board with a bad kicker.

Also be careful when there is an Ace on board..... if an Ace forms part of your two pair I would be very careful unless I held the top two pairs... as explained above these players have a nasty habit of playing A- rag so without the top two pair be careful.....

You should be betting for value with two pair.....I would also call an all in with two pair on most occasions

Trips

You should bet for value when you flop trips simple if the board is dangerous ie 3 flush cards 3 straight cards you should be playing trips very slowly hoping to catch a full house or Quads...

I would call an all in on a safe board...I wouldn't if the board was obviously dangerous....

Straights & Flushes

With the good end of a straight and any kind of flush you should be betting for value you cant be afraid when calling with 56s then flopping your flush then playing it slow you need to grow some balls and play the hand for value these are the kinds of hands when you get the poor players playing a single high card of that suit and then watch them pay for the privilage to draw out on you......dont get me wrong sometimes they will but thats the chance you have to take.....most of the time they wont and thats when you get their money......

Just please make sure that you bet enough so that they dont get the right odds to call you same goes with any hand that you catch with flush or straight draws present...although you are betting for value you must make sure that you arent giving your opponent correct odds to call......and please dont go all in on the flop with these draws present as you have just gave your opponent the right conditions to call and most of the time they will call you and some of the time they will hit there required cards.....

I would be weary if I caught the idiot end of a straight and look to play it out cheaply.....again if in late position with no action I would throw out a bet to see if anyone is intrested...and if there is any action again
I would slow down...

Obviously I would most certainly call an all in with a flush or straight

Straight and Flush Draws

Please Please for the love of God do not push on the flop if you catch an open ended straight or flush draw....try and make your hand as cheaply as you can and then bet for value....

Pushing with these hands works well in the higher levels of NLHE as the players are of better quality there fore they are more likly to fold there marginal hands like Top pair weak two pair...giving you two chances to win the pot....1. they will fold giving you the pot or 2. they call and you catch the card you need.....

However at this level they will call with marginal hands even as bad as bottom pair in most cases giving one one chance to win and thats if you catch your card which is all well and good if you do but often it is not the case.....

Having said that if it is pushed in front of me and there is alot of money in the middle and you WILL get to see the remaining two cards to come I will often call as I am being given the correct odds to catch my draw making it a good call.... but it is up to your own discretion....

Monster Hands Full Houses and Above

I shouldn't have to tell you that you should be betting for value with these hands

Turn and River Play

Simple really if you think your ahead bet for value on the turn and river try not to show any fear on the turn even if a bad card falls...if you feel that your opponent has caught up with you or caught their draw then slow down and try and get to the showdown cheaply if possible...if they start pushing when a scare card comes...unless you have a good read on the player it is most likely you are beat and therefore should fold.

Bluffing

Ok there are two occasions when I will bluff at these limits and that is all....fancy plays and bluffs do not work at this level do not try it you will only get frustrated by the moron who calls your well planned bluff all the way down to the river with bottom pair.....ok the times I will bluff.....

1. Continuation bet....if after I have raised pre flop with the hands mentioned above ie(AK AQ) and got the pot heads up or three handed and miss the flop with these hands I will happily make a continuation bet on the flop in hopes to steal the pot....if I get called or if they play back I will be looking to check it down to the river or muck the hand straight away....

2. If i am in a late position and it has been checked round to me on the flop....and then again the turn...I will presume that the player(s) has nothing and be happy to throw out a reasonable bet in hope of taking the pot down if called again I would be happy to check it down

Note Taking

I Do not take notes on players at this level it will just confuse you as there play is so varied and unorthodox the notes are likely to backfire on you...I tend to watch how they are playing at that particular moment in time and make my decsions from there.

Ok folks that just about covers it...I hope that you can find some use for these strategys and prehaps win some $$$ using them....

Also remember that just because these strategys work for me doesnt mean that you will be happy playing in this manner you may be happier taking a different approach but there is no right or wrong way to play poker and this way suits me

Hope you enjoyed the read and Im always happy to receive karma or comments on my guide

Tom

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Lil Fizz

Great post Tom, plus karma from the Fizz!!!

ICBM

Wow that's long

Great work Tom - great post

This is my strategy for low limit holdem

1 Abondon it
2 Move up to minimum 1/2 - 6 table max

PapaHun

Brilliant post tom!

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Force10

Top bombing.

Excellent work Tom.

Can I ask a Question?
Oh, that was one.

I assume you are talking about 10c/20c and 25c/50c tables so I wondered what you think is a suitable amount of money to sit down with at these tables.
My personal view is that you need to put yourself in a commanding position before you even get dealt any cards. Therefore I would sit down with at least 50% more than the high stack.

Do you watch the table for a while before sitting in. I tend to, coz you can often get an idea who the nutters are and who is likely to follow you to the river etc before you start spending your money.


BTW: Well done for getting your bankroll back.

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tomonbass

Good question number two

My advice would be to start out with the maximum amount that you can sit down with at RVP at 5/10c NLHE you can only sit down with $10 so start out with that.....also its not always possible to sit down with more than the biggest stack due to that rescriction I dont know how it works on other sites but on RVP I always sit down with $10.

The reason to sit down with as much as possible is so that when you are value betting...if it gets all in you will get maximum value for your hand.

Also I just sit down and play straight away I dont think its worthwhile watching a table at this level as players come and go quickly and normally you can tell within the first orbit or two what your up against...and also as I mentioned in the main guide the players are very obvious most of the time...if there betting they normally have something...If there calling they normally have nothing...and if there pushing they normally have a strong hand

Hope that clears that up

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mjr_jojo

Great post! I find there are alot of nuts at the low limit tables but you have to start somewhere. I find it hard to build a bankroll onthese levels because of all the unpredictable crazies. One problem I have though that I need to fix is that once I have been playing at these levels a while I tend to forget how to play against good players and then I make some really stupid calls. Very bad habit.

dsvw56

Great post Tom. It's amazing cause it is almost word for word the same strategy I use at these levels. Good job.

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tomonbass

what can I say great minds think alike

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Stephenp

Tom

I know that you said that you start out at .05/.10 limit but I was wondering up to what limit do you think this strategy will still be effective.

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