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|| [...]

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|| [...]

In my last article, I discussed how the relative strength of your hand reading skills versus your opponents’ can help determine whether you’re ready to move up to higher stakes games. The river betting round is the one that allows you to benefit most from sharp hand reading, so it’s Bluffing And Moving Up|930|3.95|USD|| [...]

Eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable. An image enters the eye and hits the back of the retina. Almost immediately the brain goes to work trying to fill in the blanks. Was only half of a face in view? Just the back of a head? The brain seamlessly fills in the Three No-Limit Realities|872|3.95|USD|| [...]

In Understanding Deception: Part 2, I introduced the concept of reading your own hand and using that process to identify situations where you tend to play too straightforwardly. In this installment I wanted to offer a few specific examples of how to add deception to your game.
If you’ve Playing Deceptively – Part 3: Adding [...]

For today’s column I examine a hand played by wahoointexas and posted on the message board. Here’s what wahoo had to say:
Appreciate any advice as to the way this hand was played, and what you think is the correct move on the river is in this situation.
Live 2/5 NL, Q&A #122: A Top Pair Facing [...]

In Understanding Deception: Part 1 I introduced the notion of a deceptive strategy as opposed to a deceptive play. A slowplay by itself, for instance, cannot be deceptive because it is just one play. Indeed, if you slowplay habitually you will often end up with a strategy that is not deceptive at all.
A deceptive strategy [...]

Lately I’ve been thinking about deception in poker, and I decided to write a modest series of articles describing my take on exactly what deception means and how to play in a deceptive way.
I think if you asked people to define what it means to play poker “deceptively” I think most of them would mention [...]

Firing the second barrel means bluffing again on the turn after your opponent called your flop bluff. It’s probably one of the most important skills to master if you want to crush no-limit games.
Second Barrel Basics
Many flop calls are made for speculative reasons. Someone has a draw they hope to improve on the turn. Or [...]

In Part 2 of Moving Up: Beyond Winrate And Bankroll, I discussed how the relative strength of your hand reading skills versus your opponents’ is a big factor in whether you’re ready to move up or not. The river betting round is the one that allows you to benefit most from sharp hand reading, [...]