The purpose of this article is to familiarize you with advanced strategy for No-Limit Texas Holdem. According to Doyle Brunson, a famous Texas Holdem player and author of many poker books, No-Limit Texas Holdem is a Cadillac of all existing poker games, because the skill involved within No-Limit Texas Holdem games is simply tremendous, so even seasoned poker pros agree that they still have much to learn at this game. However, I’m not trying to scare you – No-Limit Texas Holdem is the most fun of all Holdem variants and other poker games as well. Moreover, unlike its counterparts, No-Limit Texas Holdem can be profitable even for beginners.

Winning professionals say that the keys to success in No-Limit Texas Holdem are your skill and knowledge of the game and your ability to adapt your knowledge in particular situations using weaknesses of your opponents. This means that you must know your skills and what aspects of the game you have mastered. Once you realize your No-Limit potential, you must then be able to apply this to how other players at your table play it badly.

Well, in order to simplify your task, I’m going to divide No-Limit Texas Holdem skills into several levels. You can expect certain increase in potential (and wins) after mastering each of these levels.

Using pot odds.

You must always know what odds you get, when calling a bet with a draw. Since in No-Limit Texas Holdem you can decide the size of the bet (it is not fixed), your goal is to figure out whether you get or give odds to someone else.

For instance, when you call an un-raised pot preflop with a pocket pair like 55, 66 or 77 you get good odds, because if you hit a set, you can squeeze a lot of money out of your opponents, who won’t expect much from you and will probably call with a high pair. On the other hand, if you have a flush draw after the turn, the pot is $10 and somebody bets $20 all-in, then you get terribly negative odds (roughly 1:5) and you should bet $20 in order to win a $50 pot.

Although this may sound really surprisingly, but most no-limit player didn’t even try to master this skill, so if you’re still insecure about pot odds, you shouldn’t worry – many of your opponents are unaware of the pot odds concept too.

Important differences between Limit and No-Limit Texas Holdem poker.

There are some important differences between these two types of Texas Holdem Poker, so even if you are successful in Limit Texas Holdem, it doesn’t mean that you will succeed in its No-Limit counterpart. For example, check-raising for value is way less effective in No-Limit games, because you may be gifting a deciding free card to your opponent. While this situation in Limit Texas Holdem would make you lose a bit, in No-Limit Texas Holdem it can lead you to a terrible loss.

Aggressive play in No-Limit Texas Holdem.

Generally, in No-Limit Texas Holdem betting is preferable to calling, because when you bet, you can win if you have stronger hand or if your opponent folds, while if you call, you can only win if your hand is better. Moreover, when you bet – you determine the bet size and pot odds, while when you call – you are accepting your opponent’s odds. Besides of this, when you bet – you force your opponents to pay off, when you hold a decent hand, while if you’re a calling station, then you are only hoping that someone else will be generous enough to pay you off. That’s why tight-aggressive players usually dominate and win in more No-Limit Texas Holdem than in its Limit counterpart.

Adjusting to different types of the game.

Various types of the game require different approach as well as different amounts of aggression. For example, shorter games require a player to be more loose and aggressive, but if you’re up against a lot of loose players, then you must tighten up and wait for strong hands in order to succeed. That means that you should generally oppose the nature of the game: if the players are too loose – tighten up and if the game is rather tight, then you should take advantage and steal pots.

Another thing to master is to adjust to your opponent’s strength and play. If you’re playing against weak opponents – just give them negative pot odds and steal their money buck by buck, but if you’re up against a tight and skilled opponent, then you should set some tricky traps.

Evaluation in No-Limit Texas Holdem.

Evaluating your opponents is essential. Although this usually takes much time and experience, you can simplify this task by what is called the three-questions-technique. You should always try to answer the following questions regarding any of your opponents, who makes or calls a bet:

•  What cards do my opponents have?

•  What do they think about my cards?

•  What does they think I think they have?

Psychological aspects and traps in No-Limit Texas Holdem.

What would you do if you get dealt a decent hand, but your opponent has a whopper too? You must know how to get out of difficult situations and set traps, but only experience will help you to easily do this.

Generally, in No-Limit Texas Holdem both psychology and various traps are used to manipulate 3 questions that were mentioned earlier here. For instance, if you over-bet the pot holding a flush draw and then check, when you hit the flush, then your opponent will either swallow this bait thinking that you hold a top pair, or he will spot the trap earlier and check-fold to you at the river. This slowplaying method is applied to manipulate the second question: what do my opponents think I have?

Basically, these psychology methods are used against strong players. If you play against the beginners, it’s quite sufficient to build strong hands and squeeze money out of them buck by buck, because such players won’t make any trouble – they’ll just play their hands without even trying to think about yours.