Many students want to know how I size up a game. Once the brush assigns me a table and a seat, what do I do then? How much do I buy in for? What’s my strategy on the first few hands? What am I looking for? How do I use Sizing Up A Game|369|3.95|USD|| [...]

Last issue I tackled the biggest no-limit myth: Big stacks can bully little stacks to gain an advantage. Not only is it not true, little stacks can actually gain an edge over big stacks! Before I tell you how, let’s revisit the biggest myth.
It’s very common to hear people The Virtue of Playing The Short [...]

Live $1-$2 and $2-$5 no-limit cash games can, for many players, be some of the most lucrative games in the cardroom. Several years ago, I was a committed limit player (even wrote a couple of books about it), but nowadays I’m sold on no-limit. It’s great because, at least at The Biggest No-Limit Myth|350|3.95|USD|| [...]

Yesterday I benefited from a serious case of what I call adjustment tilt. I was in a live $2-$5 no-limit game. Most of the players in the game, including me, had helped to start the game a few hours earlier, so we were familiar with each others’ play.
Many of the Avoid Adjustment Tilt|343|3.95|USD|| [...]

I played an interesting hand last week that I felt could have been approached in a number of ways. To refresh your memory, here’s the story so far:
I was on the button in a $2-$5 game. A reasonable player limped in. I had noticed earlier that he tended to Hand Discussion #10: My Thoughts|338|3.95|USD|| [...]

This hand is a little more open-ended than some of the previous hand discussions. I don’t think there’s necessarily a right-or-wrong answer, but I think a few concepts come into play.
I was on the button in a $2-$5 game. A reasonable player limped in. I had noticed earlier that …Login/Register for more.

Almost everyone is familiar with a per-hand rake. In each pot, the house takes out a few dollars as its cut. In live play, this rake is often taken $1 for every $10 in the pot, capped at $4 per pot (in the United States), So if the final pot Q&A #87: Rake and Time [...]

You’re playing in a live $2-$5 game, and you buy in for the $500 maximum. About thirty minutes into your session, you catch AA on the button. You raise preflop, get called, and a king flops. Two cards later, you’ve beaten AK out of a nice-sized pot, and your stack Q&A #83: Adjusting to a [...]

When I watched this hand play out, it really stuck out like a sore thumb to me. As I watched the hand, I kept expecting the button to play a certain way, and the button didn’t. Since the button was a decent player, it surprised me at first. But Hand Discussion #8: My Thoughts|311|3.95|USD|| [...]