Basic Strategy for No Limit Holdem Cash Games

No limit holdem is easy to understand, but difficult to master. Learning a few basic strategies will help the novice player start along the path to greatness (and be sure that it is a long road). This beginner strategy guide is intended for someone who knows the rules of no limit holdem, understands bet sizes, and knows which hands win at showdown.

Practice Starting Hand Selection

One of the simplest ways for a holdem player to improve their game is to practice a little selectivity in choosing which starting hands to play. It is easy to get caught in a mindset that any two cards can win, because you will see some really poor starting hands win some really big pots at times, especially in loose games. That does not mean that you should be playing any two cards to the flop, though. Although bad hands like 52 offsuit occasionally win big pots, they lose small amounts before the flop a lot. All of those small losses add up quickly to an amount that is difficult to overcome.

In poker, tight is usually right. Being extremely tight with starting hands is a good way to approach the game at the beginning. It is far easier to teach a tight player to open up than to teach a loose player to be more selective. It is true that many successful professional poker players are known for their loose style. Understand that they are pros, and you aren’t (yet). Prove yourself with a basic tight style, then learn to open things up to take advantage when appropriate.

There are three things to notice when deciding whether to play a starting hand:

1) Position. If you are in early position (one of the first to act preflop), you should tend to be a little tighter. Don’t play marginal hands that can’t stand a raise coming from behind you. Since several players are yet to act, the chances of someone having a good hand behind you, and raising, are high. Don’t risk a small bet here that you will throw away (or worse, make a bad call) later.

2) Action before you. If there was a raise (or two) before you, you generally want a stronger hand to get involved. Although your 87 suited looks good enough to see a flop with, a raise and a re-raise before you tells you to stay away. You might get trapped in the middle of a raising war.

3) Hand strength. This is listed third for a reason…so you would consider points one and two before simply looking at your cards and deciding to play. Marginal hands can be played profitably, but only if the other considerations are right.

General rules for selecting hands include:

- From early position, only play big pairs (perhaps 88 or better), and big cards like AK or AQ.

- From middle position, open this up to include most pairs, big cards KQ and AT or better, suited connectors down to 98, and higher suited aces (A9 or better).

- From late position, play all pairs, big cards JT or better, suited connectors down to 54, unsuited connectors down to 76, most suited aces, and some suited kings.

- From the blinds, be very tight, especially against a lone aggressive player, since you will be out of position for the rest of the hand. If many players are in the pot, you can call a small raise with marginal hands.

Increase Your Level of Thinking

The second most important thing beginning players can do to improve their game is to stop thinking about themselves and their cards so much, and start thinking about the other players more.

“Levels” are used to describe a poker player’s thought process. Basic thinking says “what do I have?” If you have 8h7s on a flop of 9d8d7d, you have two pairs. While the answer is important, in no limit holdem, many more levels of thought come into play. 

The next level asks “what hands are possible with this board, and how does my hand relate to them?” Here, anybody with JT, T6, 65, 99, 88, 77, 98, 97, or any two diamonds has you crushed. You could even be drawing dead at this point (no chance to win regardless of what comes). Your hand might be good, but you must recognize that there are a lot of ways to be way behind here, and proceed cautiously.

Now, holding Q8 on a board of JT943 (no flush possible) is a lot safer. You have the second-best possible hand (only KQ has you beat). That’s a lot safer situation, and you can be more confident of a win.

There are many more levels of thought beyond this, but mastering this one is a good start down that long road to poker success.