There’s always a twinge of excitement every time you look down to see a pocket pair. Pocket pairs can turn into sets, and sets can turn into big paydays. While small pocket pairs can be some of the most straightforward hands in no-limit, they do present a pitfall or two for the unwary player. I’ll [...]

Suited connectors are widely misunderstood hands. A while back I wrote an article called “How Suited Connectors Cost You Money.” In that article I talked about a common way that many people misplay suited connectors, and how it costs them money. This article is also about suited connectors, but here I’ll focus more on how [...]

Everyone regular no-limit hold’em player wants to win money. Only a modest percentage of players, however, actually win over monthlong and yearlong timeframes. What factors determine who wins and who doesn’t? One could come up with thousands of little differences between winners and non-winners. I tend to be more big picture-oriented, so in this article [...]

How do you beat a guy who won’t fold? It’s a question I hear asked frequently at the no-limit hold’em table, usually after T-5 suited has made a flush on the river or a pair of fours has called a river bluff. Maybe you’ve even asked it once or twice. What To Do When They [...]

Protecting your hand is a well-known poker concept. If you think you likely have the best hand at the moment, you bet to force your opponents either to fold or to pay to draw out. In no-limit hold’em, however, many players tend to overprotect their hands. Here’s a simple example. When Overprotecting Your Hand|1000|3.95|USD|| I [...]

Most live $1-$2, $1-$3, and $2-$5 players focus on the big pots. They want to see flops, hit hands, and stack opponents holding second-best hands. This focus, unfortunately, does not promote long-term, consistent winning. The problem with it is obvious once you think about it. Everyone else is trying to Winning In Live No-Limit Games|997|3.95|USD|| [...]

Poker is a peculiar game. There’s no score. If you’re playing a cash game, there’s no winner. If you’re playing a tournament, there’s one winner and a zillion losers. Your opponents can play terribly and win a bundle. You can play great and crash and burn. All of this peculiarity Measuring Success|994|3.95|USD|| has left more [...]

I play no-limit cash games regularly both live and online. I prefer to play live, and a major reason is because live players are for the most part much easier to read. It’s not that I can magically decode an opponent’s every twitch and tic. Physical tells are sometimes useful, Two No-Limit Plays That Make [...]

Your no-limit hold’em opponents bluff. I know it may shock you, but it’s true. Are you just going to let them get away with it, or are you going to do something about it? If you don’t have a good plan for dealing with your opponents’ bluffs, you may want to Picking Off Bluffs|980|3.95|USD|| just [...]

The final hand always gets the most attention. It could be the last hand of a grueling heads-up battle to determine a million dollar tournament winner. Or it could just be the hand you busted out on in your local Wednesday night tournament. Either way, chances are that you (and The Final Hand|977|3.95|USD|| maybe a [...]