Texas Hold’em | Rules For Texas Hold Em

No Limit 6 players

Introduction

These days most money is earned with playing No Limit. Good Limit players earn between 2 till 4 times the big bets per every 100 hands they play, whereas Good No Limit Players earn many many times more. Therefore it is absolutely a good idea to try to become a good No Limit player. Below we will lay out a basic strategy for Shorthand (6 players max) Texas No Limit, which is by far the most popular No Limit poker game. After you've mastered this strategy you can expect to earn between 5 till 15 big bets per every 100 hands you play. So when playing 4 NL100 ($0.50/$1) tables at the same time, you should easily earn about $50 an hour if you follow the strategy below!

When you're a beginning player it is best to play tight aggressive, just like when playing Limit. Playing "tight" should be interpreted as playing only good hands and playing "aggressive" should be interpreted as in case you play a hand you should bet and raise a lot. Below we will explain to you how to play in order to be a good tight aggressive player at the NL6 max tables. These strategies work when playing limits of NL10 ($0.05/$0.10) till NL400 ($2/$4). When playing above NL400 the players will be better, which means that more knowledge is required in order to still be profitable. For this we refer to our article about NL on higher limits for the more experienced players.

Once again to be sure:
A = Ace
K = King
Q = Queen
J = Jack
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 = speaks for itself
x = a random card
s = suited, the cards are of the same suit for example they are all diamonds

Strategy

Firstly and above all: The most important thing when playing NL, which is even way more important than when playing Limit, is that you are very much aware of your position at the table! In other words: That you are aware of when it is your turn to make a move. The button and the position before that (the cut-off) are the best positions at the table. The reason for that is because at these positions you are the last to make a decision. At the button or cut-off you will see what your opponents decide to do (fold, call or raise), before you have to decide for yourself. This gives you a superior position with respect to your opponents. So in other words the button and the cut-off are the positions at the table which are by far the most profitable. This should be very clear to you! You always have to be very much aware of why these positions are extremely important at NL!

Second point is that you should NEVER EVER call when you're the first to make a decision. You should always either fold or raise. Calling is for losers! Calling when being to first to make a decision is one of the worst mistakes you can make when playing NL 6 max. Don't ever to this! Raise of fold!

Button and cut-off position

When you're at the button / cut-off position you can consider yourself the bouncer of the table (J). In that position it is you who decides whether the blinds are allowed to enter the table for free or not. And why would you let them play there cards for free given that they are in a bad position? Exactly! Therefore, you should always abuse the power or the button / cut-off position and raise (just like those bouncers always abuse their position at the club ;)). Good tight aggressive players understand this very well and abuse the power of the button / cut-off as often as possible. A good tight aggressive player raises the following hands at the button / cut-off in case everyone before him folds: All pocket pairs, all Axs, all suited connectors, all high cards A10 and better like for example KJ or QJ etc. Some more experienced players even raise any Ax in case all players before him have folded.

The reasons why you should do this are because:

1. You steal the blinds in case everybody folds (in the long run this is more profitable than you think and for many players this is even a big part of their earnings).
2. In case some players call, you will play a bigger pot in a better position than the rest. Even when you hit nothing at the flop you are likely to win the pot in case you bet again (make a continuation bet).
3. In case you haven't raised (which you should have) and you hit a three of a kind (set) at the flop you will probably not win that much because the pot is still small and that is not a good thing because hands like three of a kind are of major importance for your earnings in the long run when playing NL.
4. People tend to loose all their chips (total stack) more easily when there's a bigger pot in which there has been raised compared to when there's a smaller pot in which there has not been raised. When there's a bigger pot they will tend to bluff more and thus hand over their money to you.

Example 1:
The first player (under the gun) calls the big blind. All other players fold. You have info for poker

and you're on the button. What should you do?
Answer: You should raise. A raise of 4-5 times the big blind is good.

Example 2:
You're on the button and you get info for poker

. Under the gun (UTG) calls the big blind, a player in middle position calls as well and the rest folds. What should you do?
Answer: RAISE!

In case other players call and you do a continuation bet (c-bet) you will win the pot often enough to make it profitable. You should c-bet in 75%-90% of the time. In case your opponents haven't flopped anything they will most likely fold, so when your opponent checks you should raise!!
When being in position it is often a good idea to re-raise at the flop in case you have a flush draw at the turn. This because you can then "check-behind" at the turn in order to get a free card.

So now you know what to do when you're at the button or cut-off. Being under the gun (UTG) or at middle position is a totally different story:

Under the Gun (UTG)

When being UTG you should play extremely tight. You should fold suited connectors, high cards and Axs. They only thing you should raise are pocket pairs.

Actually, you should raise pocket pairs in any position. This because they have a chance of flopping such good hands (three of a kind or more) that you can almost never fold them because of their potential. So raising pocket pairs is standard! Those are the cards to play someone else broke when you hit a three of a kind. You should never call with a pocket pair! It is too obvious that a weak tight player (who thinks he/she is a tight aggressive player) has a pocket pair when he/she calls when being UTG and after that calls someone else his or her raise. That just shows the player at the UTG position has a pocket pair (which appears to be true in 95% of the occasions).
Also keep raising with a AJ or better. Folding KQ, KJ, QJ is not bad playing given that these hands are not that good in this position!

Middle position

When being in middle position (MP) you can still fold KQ, KJ or QJ though you will have to play slightly less tight. Start with raising an Axs and suited connectors now and then in order to vary your game.

When being in the blinds you should play very tight. When you call too many raises out of position you will loose money. You don't want to play pots which are too big when you're in the blinds with marginal hands. Fold suited connectors, Axs and other high cards and call any pocket pair.
And another thing: The fact that you play tight does not mean you should play like a cowardJ. In case the button/ cut-off/ or middle position raises, you can RE-RAISE with hands like AK, AQ, JJ, 1010 etc. Re-raising with cards like these at the blinds is way better than calling which is what most other players would do. Re-raising with these hands is beginning to become more advanced poker playing so you should be very careful. Beginning players who start to re-raise often loose their stack because they play out of position and therefore do not play good enough after the flop.

Example 3:
You are in the big blind (BB) or small blind (SB) position with info for poker

. UTG calls, MP calls and button calls. What should you do?
Answer: RAISE. Raise 6-7 times the big blind dependant on the number of opponents. Getting the pot right now without seeing the flop is way better than checking and playing a non-raised multi way-pot.

The fact that you should raise with hands like the example above is because in that way you'll get the chance to play for big pots against players who don not have any idea about position and the advantages of it. You win their stack more often than vice versa. Also do not hesitate too much with making continuation bets (c-bets). You should do this in 75%-90% of the occasions, depending on the flop. Only in case more than two players call and you've totally missed the flop you can decide to fold or check and give up the pot.

Example 4:
You have info for poker

and you're on the button. UTG calls. You raise 5 times the BB, the BB calls and so does UTG. The flop is info for poker

. What should you do?
Answer: you should bet 100% in case everyone else checks.

OK then, these were the basics of position playing. If you master this totally and you integrate it slowly but steady in you game, you will eventually become a winning player at the NL 6 max tables. Good luck!