1 2 Live Poker Strategy
- Video 1 of my series on how to beat 1/2 live poker cash games. Poker Strategy 101! This video series applies to players who are having trouble at $1/$2 NLH.
- 2 Nl Poker Strategy We are the world's premier independent directory and reviewer of online casinos and 2 Nl Poker Strategy casino player forum. Note that we are an informational resource only, featuring reviews and recommendations of casinos, games, and bonuses. We are not a casino and no gambling with real money takes place on this site.
- Live Poker Strategy. Although online poker is significantly more popular because of how easy it is to get started, live poker is one of the most enjoyable forms of the game. Although the rules of the game are the same, the strategy for live poker vs. Online poker does differ. The strategy advice we give for online poker is still ultimately more.
- That being said, this was my actual first game ever playing 1/2 at a Casino. I built up my bankroll in home games over the pandemic, waiting for card rooms to open. I know it's not complicated when I flop a set, 'just bet for value', but being so new to the felt I just felt inexperienced and froze up with excitement instead of analyzing combos.
This time around we're going to get a bit more specific and provide you with some tips on how to beat the smallest buy-in no-limit hold'em game that you will find in most live casinos in Las Vegas and the rest of the world, $1/$2 game.
How Much Should I Buy In for?
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The first important tip we can give is to buy in for the maximum every time, unless the game is uncapped and doesn't have a maximum. It is completely reasonable that you might feel a bit timid with the idea of plopping down $200 or $300, but this will give you the best chance in the game. At first, your instincts might tell you that buying in for the minimum amount will help you to get your feet wet while losing as little as possible, but if you've gained enough confidence in yourself to finally take the leap into a live game, remember to also exude hat same confidence when sitting down. Even if you are going in a casino playing for the first time, your mind should always be focused on winning and doing everything you can to boost your chances of doing so. Buying in for the maximum is the first step in doing this.
*Note that some rare $1/$2 games will have an uncapped buy-in. In those cases, we would suggest buying in for 100-200 big blinds, or simply looking to find another game with a bit more structure.
There are a few reasons why you want to buy in for the maximum. In general, most $1/$2 game play in two very distinct ways; either very tight or loose-passive. In the former, it's often hard to win a big pot without coolering someone else at the table, and in that case you want to be able to win the maximum. In more loose-passive games, having the larger stack when you buy in for the maximum will allow you to have a bit more maneuverability. For example, say you buy in for $100 in a $1/$2 no-limit hold'em game. You call a raise of $8 preflop, then fold on the flop. A few hands later, you call another preflop raise for $8, but this time, you call a bet of $10 on the flop, then fold on the turn. Just like that, you have lost over 25% of your stack. If you buy in for the max, you will be able to wade through these small hits to your stack.
Also, having a larger stack means the passing of the blinds won't take so much of a toll on you. One round in a standard $1/$2 no-limit hold'em game costs for $3. If you buy in for $100, that $3 is 3% of your stack, whereas if you buy in for $200, that $3 is 1.5% of your stack.
Preflop Aggression
Often, cash games and tournaments differ when it comes to preflop aggression; many lower-limit cash games play passively while tournaments have heightened aggression due to the increasing blind levels. In tournaments, taking down blinds and antes can be crucial for one's tournament life, especially as the stakes continue to grow. In a $1/$2 cash game, the blinds always remain the same and there are no antes.
It is often best for lower-limit cash games to play a tight-aggressive game. Playing more premium hands and playing them strongly is a great way to start off on the right foot and have success. Splashing around in too many pots with more marginal holdings is not something a beginning player should do. We all see Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth on television playing some pretty creative hands, but we must remember that we are not Ivey and we are not Hellmuth.
Avoiding the Unusual
As a last bit of advice, let's take a look at common raise sizes for these games. If you're going to be playing the tight-aggressive form of poker that we recommend, it will be good to familiarize yourself with an amount you should be raising to when you pick up pocket aces. Oftentimes in a standard $1/$2 no-limit hold'em game, preflop raises are to an amount of $10-$15. Once in awhile, you'll have someone who makes an even larger raise size to $20-$25, but that is unusual. If a player makes an oversized raise, it is usually the sign of a scared player who has a monster hand and wants to protect it. Don’t get tricky with these players. Just sit back and wait until you have a premium hand and happily invite them to put a lot of money into the pot.
Cashing Out
After your done playing, hopefully you'll have the welcomed problem of having to find a few racks for your chips in order to carry them to the cage. In most $1/$2 no-limit hold'em games, a winning session of around $50-$200 is normal and should be considered successful, especially if this was your first attempt at playing in a live casino. Don't be intimidated by others saying that this isn't successful, or the ones who look like they are winning several hundreds of dollars — those days will come. It's much more important to focus on your play and making the best decisions possible at the table than the end result.
We hope these tips helped you a bit. If you have an adequate bankroll and follow some of these tips, you will see your profits benefit in the long run! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below in the comments section. Enjoy your first trip to a live casino and we hope you win big!
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Quick, in your head, think of the top three differences between online no-limit hold’em and live no-limit hold’em strategy.
I’ll tell you mine. In a live game (compared to online), I:
Play more hands
Bet more flops and turns
Overbet more frequently
I do these three things because, in general, I can expect my live game to have one or more opponents that are truly terrible. (In fact, if a live game doesn’t meet that standard, I typically find a different one.)
Now here’s a different question. What are the intrinsic strategic differences between live no-limit and online. That is, what strategic differences should you make because of the format of the game, rather than the players at the table?
I’d argue there are almost no intrinsic differences. Online games tend to play a little shallower on average than live games, so that’s a difference. But it’s not intrinsic to either format, as you can have deep stacks online and shallow stacks live. The rake structure online is often slightly more forgiving, but I don’t consider this a major difference.
Online games are often played six-max, whereas live games are nearly always nine-handed or ten-handed. Ok, that’s another difference, but there are nine-handed online games too.
“Correct strategy” (whatever that term may mean to you) in a nine-handed online $5-$10 game played with $1,000 stacks is nearly identical to that in a nine-handed live $5-$10 game played with $1,000 stacks. And yet, if you play the two games, you’ll see stark differences in how people play. Indeed everyone plays differently in the live game, even the good players.
The live game deviations most players make are, strictly speaking, mistakes as compared to a more theoretically sound strategy. This gives you a window to gain an edge, even on some pretty good live players. Here are three mistakes good live no-limit players at the $2-$5 and $5-$10 levels make.
1. They open too many hands.
This one is nearly universal. Theoretically speaking, no-limit hold’em is a fight for the blind money. When you’re under-the-gun (UTG) in a nine-handed game, how frequently do you think you should be trying to attack the blind money?
There are seven players outside the blinds. If we were to assume that each of these players would attack the blind money an equal percentage of the time, that would have you opening about 14 percent of the time.
All is, however, not equal. Position matters. When you’re first to speak, you run the risk of any of six non-blind players behind you waking up with a hand. Furthermore, if one does wake up with a hand, you will have to play out of position postflop. Therefore, the UTG player clearly should not be opening 14 percent of hands. Perhaps 10 percent is a better estimate.
The worst hands in a range that includes the best 14 percent of all preflop hands is roughly Q-10 suited or K-Q offsuit or 7-6 suited or 2-2. Theoretically speaking, all four of these hands are likely too weak to open from UTG, yet most live players would open every one of them.
Furthermore, many live players would open to four or five times the big blind (for example, $40 or $50 in a $5-$10 game). This is just plain too much money with too many hands.
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This over-looseness carries through nearly all of the early and middle positions. Good live no-limit players play too many hands from the first six or so positions.
If you merely play correctly tight preflop ranges against these players, you will automatically exploit their looseness. (Though it’s possible to play so poorly after the flop that you give back your advantage.)
2. They reraise too many hands preflop from outside the blinds.
It used to be that you’d rarely see anyone make a preflop reraise. When you did see one, you could count on the raise coming from A-A or K-K or maybe A-K or Q-Q.
Now you see it much more frequently, with good players leading the reraising revolution. It’s now not uncommon to see hands like this:
In a nine-handed game, a good live player raises first in to $40 second to act. Two players fold, and then another good player reraises to $110.
If the hand goes to showdown, you’ll frequently see that the reraiser has a hand such as A-Q offsuit or 10-10.
These reraises are too loose. There are two main problems with them. First, when you make this reraise, you’re risking $110 to win the $40 open plus $15 in blind money. So it’s $110 to win $55. You have to win this particular pot often to justify risking $110 to win $55. But there will often be four or five players who can still wake up with a big hand. The chance someone wakes up with a big hand, combined with the chance you get out-flopped makes this a marginal reraise.
The second problem is that reraising these hands depletes the strength of your calling range. If you typically reraise hands like A-K, A-Q, J-J, and 10-10, then it becomes difficult for you to have a strong hand on an ace-high, king-high, queen-high, jack-high or ten-high flop when you just call preflop. The original preflop raiser does not have this problem, as all these hands are in his opening range. Moreover, the vast majority of flops contain one of these five cards.
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Good players reraise too much preflop, which causes them to be vulnerable in pots where they just call. And, in some cases, they may be turning otherwise profitable hands like A-Q and 10-10 into unprofitable ones.
3. They don’t defend their checks enough.
Another way to say this is that they bet too many hands. Since good players bet so much, they tend to bet nearly all of their legitimately good hands (as well as a bunch of bluffs). Thus, when they check, they have nothing too often, and they’ll fold too predictably.
Let’s put these concepts into practice. It’s a $5-$10 game. You’re on the button with $1,000 and 9 8. A good player opens to $40 second to act, and three players fold. A good player calls, and it folds to you. You call. The blinds both fold.
The flop comes Q J 2.
The original preflop raiser checks. The next player bets $90 into the $135 pot. You call with your bottom-end gutshot and backdoor-flush draw. The preflop raiser folds.
The turn is the 4. The flop bettor checks. You can make a small bet like $100 (into the $315 pot), and you will win far too frequently.
The preflop raiser opened too many hands. This may include stuff like A-5 suited and 8-6 suited that whiffed this flop. He checks. He doesn’t defend checks often enough, so you can count too heavily on him to fold.
The next player bets. His range, however, is depleted in strong queen and jack hands. You call.
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He then checks the turn and, even to the small bet, predictably folds. ♠
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Ed’s newest book, Playing The Player: Moving Beyond ABC Poker To Dominate Your Opponents, is on sale at notedpokerauthority.com. Find Ed on Facebook at facebook.com/edmillerauthor and on Twitter @EdMillerPoker.