Bankroll Building $200 and UP - Part 1

No Limit and Pot Limit Tables:

So you have $200.00 and want to play with the big boys and girls, time to move to No Limit and Pot Limit tables. These are the big money makers and bankroll killers for nearly all players. These look like limit, smell like limit but are not!! Here is where the strict adherence to starting hands and position become critical – and if you have been a bit lax, Picking starting hands or playing K9 suited in early position or limping in – all will kill you.  There are 3 sites I love for this part of the game Party Poker, Empire Poker and Sporting Bet Poker.

Knowledge of players as betting habits is also a critical skill and if you are predictable someone will notice and you will pay a price in smaller pots or taking a bad beat..

Here is the key difference between these games – in limit with blinds at $.50/$1.00, ($1/$2 Table) average pots will be $5 to $10, with Pot Limit and No Limit, ($40 to $50 Buy-in Tables) The average pot will be from $18 to $30 or more. This should tell you a few things, first you will have to be in and win more pots on a limit table or the blinds will eat you alive, the risks associated with Pot Limit and No Limit are much higher – the Pots is not getting that big unless there is heavy betting/costs associate with playing a hand. Limit you will need to win 3 or more hands an hour to stay ahead of the Blinds, in No Limit and Pot Limit – one big hand every hour and a half is enough to not only stay ahead of the blinds, but win some big money. All further examples will be a Pot Limit $50.00 Buy-In Table – this is where the boys and girls are separated from the men and women.

Key mistakes that are made for those that just came from the limit world – passive play and chasing pots – both of which are dangerous in any poker game – devastating at this level of play. Don’t do either of these or you will be back at the limit games rebuilding very soon.

Be prepared to take a loss – they will happen just like in limit, but the loss will be huge. Take this example Picked up AJ suited in late position at a $50 Buy-in Table, 1 player in early position call ($1) I made it $3.00 to go ($2 raise) the small blind folded the BB called, and the early position player called - $9.50 in the Pot. Flop 7 J 2 rainbow, it was checked to me, I bet $7.00 the BB hesitated then called the other player folded out – $23 in the pot figure I am against a smaller Pair, 2 Pair or a J weak kicker. The turn is a 2, giving me J’s over 2’s w/ and A kicker, I bet out w/ $10.00 long pause, then a call – at this point I put him on a Jack Q or lower Kicker -$43 in the pot, the river is an 8 rag, he checks, I bet out $20, he calls and Flops over J 8!! Beating my J’s over 2’s w/ J’s over 8’s – it cost me $40.00 even though I made the correct read… I did a re-buy and capped off, 30 minutes later Picked of JJ, flopped a set, he chased to the river again, picking up what he though was a winning set of 3’s, but giving me a Full House and got all my chips back plus a few.

Pre-flop Play:

Bet aggressively in late position, call raises cautiously in early positions, bet consistently throughout a session.

This is a game where a bet truly does 2 things – limits the players against you and builds the pot, you have got to get marginal hands out, you are playing few hands as it is and a suck out here will be very expensive, follow starting hands and position play closely – if in late position and playing a hand w/ what looks like you and the blinds – raise raise raise..

Only call or re-raise raise w/ AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ or AJ suited – follow section 1 about what to do with each. It will be frustrating – you will wait for 30 minutes and finally pickup K Q suited and here comes a raise from the same guy that showed down w/ 10 9 off suit 2 hands ago after raising pre-flop – but don’t call!! You job is to win money, not call his likely bluff – he may have been setting you up! That is what we call the “Gap Principal” What in mean is you need to have much stronger cards to call a bet that to make one. Lets use the K Q Suited hand, in middle position against a tight table you should raise the pot to $3 and force the blinds to make a decision. Same cards, same position, a strong player (any player) raises to $3, you should fold – he/she is representing a A X or High Pocket Pair, more over, any one calling will need to have the same, so even if you K or Q hit – it is likely you are out kicked by someone with AK or AQ or someone w/ a set and even if the flush hits someone calling or making the raise is likely to have that A. At this level it will be an expensive lesson. Don’t get mixed up in a Pot that will cost you everything you brought to the table – save the bullets for another pot where you have position and made the initial raise – let them worry about what you have.

Make you raise consistent, do not vary it with the strength of you hand – pick a number you are comfortable with and bet that number every time you raise AA or 6 7 suited are raised the same amount. This makes you much harder to read, if you go to the showdown and win several times and stop getting calls, from late position raise w/ 5 6 off-suit, when the they fold – show your cards, then get back to normal tight play, someone will call the next time you have A A and raise..

This is already long – so will let you digest that a bit and publish the rest shortly..

Thanks to TechMan Poker for contributing this article!




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