Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em

PokerMagpie, you seem to be thinking that there is some kind of natural progression from LHE to NLHE.  This is not really the case.  LHE and NLHE are alike in some ways and very different in other ways.  There's nothing wrong with learning both, but keep in mind that you are learning two games and try not to let one interfere with the other.

I also think that Small Stakes No Limit Holdem should not be your first NLE book.  Maybe start with Professional No Limit Holdem first.

Post edited 7:04 pm – July 26, 2009 by Hitman
Post edited 7:05 pm – July 26, 2009 by Hitman

I spent several years playing limit hold'em at a professional level before transitioning to NL.  Limit and No Limit Hold'em are exactly the same in that players receive 2 personal cards, and share in 5 community cards via the flop, turn, and river.  After that, there's not much similarity.  Ok, that's a bit of an exagerattion, but not much… while there are many poker concepts and hold'em specific concepts that do translate between the games, comparing them is truly comparing apples to oranges.

I think your question is a bit premature.  There is a lot of benefit to focusing on learning limit hold'em first imo, but it's going to take time.  There's a difference between “grasping” the concepts and “mastering” them, and it's not a small difference.  This is not a 2 or 3 month project.  To really gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies of limit hold'em, is going to take you quite a bit of time (how much will depend on how sharp a study you are, how dedictated, and how much time you have to invest).  Even if you are a poker whiz with tons of free time on your hands, it's going to take months to get really strong at the game.  The same will be true of NL.

You will learn quite a bit playing limit that will translate in it's own way to NL, it will be helpful for you.

One of the major benefits of Limit is that you can develop hand reading skills at an accelerated pace.  You learn the process of reading hands and can practice this process each and every hand that's dealt, but without constructive feedback (i.e. seeing the villains holding), you have no way to “check your work” and know if the read was decent or if you were way off… and when you're off you can reconstruct how the hand was played and all the information you had to improve on the reads.  If you never saw your opponents hands, your hand reading skills would not really develop well, it would be a slow process because you'd always just be guessing.  That's where limit comes in.  If you play 100 hands of NL, during that time you might see 20 showdowns, sometimes less depending on the table dynamic.  In a limit game however, you'll often see 50 showdowns or more in that same time frame… in some really loose games, 75-80% of the hands going to showdown are not uncommon.  That's really great for hand reading practice, and hand reading is a skill that translates to all forms of poker and provides you a definite skill edge over opponents who don't read as well, no matter what the game. 

Post edited 3:21 pm – July 27, 2009 by jdk050507

Yea, Its not good news…..but its not terrible news either!  Hitman hit the nail on the head. 

I would go as far to say that Limit and No Limit are 2 totally different games.  The good news is that many great players start out at limit. 

The interesting thing is how learning no limit has helped my limit game also, so learning both is definitely productive, yet they are such dissimilar animals. 

The amazing thing about poker is there is ALWAYS MORE.  Poker is infinite. 

I think 2 years ago I would have told you I was decent at poker.  6 months later I would have told you how much more i knew and that i sucked 6 months ago.  6 Months after that I would have told you that i was TERRIBLE 6 months prior. 

Its important to play within your level.  If you read PNLHE V1 (the authors first book), and master the techniques, you will beat 1-2 NL Live games pretty easily. 

In fact (and I think most players can attest to this), your percentage of winning sessions at No Limit will increase (as compared to limit) if you're a good player………….in other words there is less variance.  At least I found this to be true at live play (i'm not sure about internet play).

The hand reading will come with the study hands and playing.  I would dare say that some days at a live 1-2 table I feel like i can see through the cards.  This only comes with experience and learning the player's tendencies.  Online it has more to do wtih statistics on players (which ARE their tendencies). 

Hope this helps some!

mullethaiku said:

reboot said:

My cash game required book list (not in any particular order):

“Winning Strategies for No Limit Hold'em” (in particular the excellent section on bet sizing, which is vastly different from Limit Hold'em)

“No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice” (The cash game Bible)

“Professional No Limit Hold'em Volume I” (Absolutely required reading for cash games)

“The Book of Bluffs” (Can't make money if you don't learn how to bluff)

“Super System” (The Granddaddy of Poker books)

“Small Stakes No Limit Hold'em” (I haven't even finished it yet and I already know it belongs here)

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Reboot is “The Book of Bluffs” really good? I've heard mixed reviews….

In my opinion, yes, it's a very good read.  I typically rank pokers books on a scale of "Worth multiple reads" to "Good fireplace material on a cold winters day" (and I have a few of the latter). The Book of Bluffs is definitely in the former category.