Aug 18, 2007 The great thing about a 10 handed $1/$2 no limit table is that it only costs you $3 per orbit in forced bets. So you can afford to sit back and wait for premium hands to play. Unlike tournament play the blinds are not going to jump up on you. So take your time. Pick your spots. For example, if you make a bet of $2, the next person can only raise it $2. Then the next guy $2. That's the gist, anyway. Limit holdem used to be a real popular game. That is, until no limit games were shown on TV. Now limit is mostly used in poker games like stud and razz. It's one of the easiest betting formats to learn.
- Poker 1 2 No Limit Strategy
- 1 2 No Limit Poker Strategy
- 1 2 No Limit Poker Tips
- Make A Living Playing 1 2 No Limit Poker
In worse shape?
It is weak to play with a 7 in your hand unless you had a pair. No limit is so harrowing you might consider not even staying in with a low pair. If two 7's are in the flop and that's how you got your trips, everybody has a pair now and somebody might have a hidden Aces over or even a boat. So, IMHO you never are surprised to lose with a low pair even when it improves. Also, you showed weakness when you first checked. This can make the guy with the flush convinced you were bluffing, especially when a weak card came out ; he would be doubting that it was the card you were looking for, and if it was, all you had was trips. On the other hand, with the flush and the King, he could probably remember even recently losing to the guy with the Ace. His check made sense.
There are no doubt tables on the internet showing what you open with vis a vis the stakes involved. I'd take a look at those.
There were three of us in the pot and after the flop I had a set of 7's. i was going last, so I was in the best position.There were three hearts on the flop. The first and second player checked and I check also. A dead card hit the turn and the first and second player checked into me again. Playing for the first time, I was confused what i should do. I'm in the last position and had no idea what to do. I knew I had to bet, but how much should I bet. I knew someone must have a heart in there hand and I didn't want to give them a free card to see the river. I decide to go all in.
That could have been a good decision against tight, not very aggressive players. But otherwise:
- By checking before, none of you indicated having a pat flush;
- The turn didn't change your position;
With a scary flop, someone was bound to try a bluff or semi-bluff. Since there was one card left, a draw semi-bluff was expected.
Really you were closer to a cold bluff than a semi-bluff even, and that wasn't really worth doing. For a successful bluff, don't send mixed signals. Not that it would have helped here, but still. By raising on the flop, you could get players who missed it to fold, and you'd be aware that the calling player has a hand.
Can anyone tell me how they would have played the hand.
It's too hard to tell. Depends on how loose or tight the table was. Without past information, I would probably just check and see what happens, play for value on the river. Making a small bet (less than half the pot) would do nothing, making a proper bet (pot or more) was inviting trouble. 7 is a low card. Any flush, any higher set would drown you.
A set of sevens is still a bluffcatcher, however, so... Well, once again depends on what I know about other players. If the player with king-flush was a strong one and raised on the river, I's give him credit for actually having a strong hand, likely not a flush, but say a high set. If he's been making bad moves before, a raise on the river could be seen as a bad bluff. Generally, it was a losing situation already, with a slowplayed nut hand in play. You risked too much without a sufficient chance at a payoff.
I'm telling you that this game is harder than it looks and when you learn to play the game right, you can make a good buck playing people like me. There are a lot of people like me that sit down at the table and have no idea that they don't have a chance of winning. Maybe get lucky the first time. I went back to playing fixed limit. television has made 1-2 no limit poker a gold mine for many good no limit players. They can sit at a table for eight or ten hours and make $500 to $600 with no problem.
Well, not so easily... there are runs of luck going down, and there can be other strong players at the table.
But yes, NLH is a very different game from fixed limit. They have similar rules, but Fixed Limit is a game of probabilities, like blackjack, with an element of deception; No Limit is a game of outright intimidation. Basic probability understanding, as learned in FL, still plays a major role, but it's only one of the tools that need to be employed.
It is weak to play with a 7 in your hand unless you had a pair. No limit is so harrowing you might consider not even staying in with a low pair. If two 7's are in the flop and that's how you got your trips, everybody has a pair now and somebody might have a hidden Aces over or even a boat.
'Flopping a set of 7s' means he had a pair already - even if not distinguishing between a set and trips, since the flop was all hearts, there could be just one 7 there.
77 was an acceptable hand to play, at least in position, but his out was a dry flop with a 7; when the flop came suited, the set became weaker than the middle pair was in the first place.
Going all-in sends a very specific message: You do NOT want any callers, because you either have a hand like what you have and are afraid of someone drawing a flush, or you have flush and are afraid of drawing a better flush, or you have the nuts and are afraid someone with a set will boat up. Either way, going all in on the turn, after checking the flop, usually rules out the nut flush. This tells the player with the king high flush that his hand is probably the best.
If you had the ace high flush, you'd make a reasonable bet, right on the flop, trying to get paid off. If you had the Ace high draw, you might bet just to build the pot hoping to get another heart. In your case, you should have been afraid of the flush, but bet a few bucks to get an idea of where you stand, as well as to build the pot so you're paid off if the board pairs.
Mind you, your hand is NOT great. a set of 7's is easily beaten not just by the flush, but by a higher set, or even a straight. Were there straight cards out there?
Poker 1 2 No Limit Strategy
My advice: Find a poker league in your area. They generally play in bars and restaurants. They are free, but you're kinda expected to patronize the venue.The key is, in the league, you're able to ask questions, and get honest answers. You can never be sure of the answers you get in a casino from the people that are trying to take your money.
The guy with the King flush is pretty much committed to staying in the hand all in unless the board pairs or a fourth heart comes up.
If you bet $20 after the flop, he's probably calling.
The turn is a blank, you bet $20-$40 again, he's either calling you or raising you. If he raises you, do you think you're strong/smart enough to fold a set of 7's against his flush? I'm not, which is why I play limit.
Basically, I'm trying to say that maybe you weren't going to lose your whole stack that hand, but you'd have to be the smartest player ever not to lose any money that hand.
Where would Vegas be without the poker boom?
In worse shape?
Only marginally. Poker isn't a major moneymaker for casinos - they don't bank the action. Same for bingo, for what it's worth -- I've had operators tell me that bingo is basically break-even for them, and it's really just to get players in the casino to play slots between breaks. I wouldn't be surprised if drop on other table games went up as a result of poker players, and that generating more revenue than the poker room itself.
I am tight aggressive, passive pre-flop, aggressive post-flop.
Preflop if I have premium I am raising 3x the BB plus 1 for every caller. Speculative hands like 77, or suited connectors I am just calling in position.
Postflop I am always betting 75% of the pot if I still like my hand. I only check raise/call when I have a monster.
I think you could of avoiding going broke by not bgoing all-in. Think about what sort of hands are going to call an all-in. Your looking at a higher set, or a made hand. The expected value in going all-in there is very low. You might of got away if you had bet 50-75% of the pot, and the flush had raised.
Understanding how to correctly use bet sizes to influence and manipulate the action is what separates skilled poker players from absolute beginners. Without a doubt, improper bet sizing is a very common mistake among beginners to poker and such errors are a tell-tale sign of a player's inexperience. Beginners often raise or bet at the extremes – betting either too little or too much.
When playing poker it's really important that you think about the result you hope to achieve before you make a bet. In our previous lesson we discussed some of the main reasons to bet in poker and provided some clear objectives that you should always consider before firing out a bet. In this lesson we're not going to discuss why you should bet, because you should know already. Instead, this lesson is all about how much you should bet – and we'll be focusing on basic bet sizing before and after the flop.
Bet Sizing before the Flop
A good tip for beginners is to raise three times (3x) the big blind, plus one big blind for every limper in the pot. If it folds to you, raising three times the big blind is often enough to ensure the field of players doesn't grow too large. For example, using this forumla in a cash game with blinds of $0.25 / $0.50, your standard raise would be to $1.50 (3 x $0.50), but with two callers you should raise to around $2.50 (that's 3 x $0.50 + 2 x $0.50 for the limpers).
Beginners often make the mistake of raising the same amount regardless of whether several players have already entered the pot. Remember, it's much easier to play poker against fewer opponents and if you don't increase the size of your bet when limpers are involved then you're effectively inviting a whole heap of trouble after the flop.
For many years now the 3x + 1 for each limper has arguably been the standard pre-flop bet size favoured by the majority of skilled poker players. These days it's equally common to see raises of 2.5x + 1. For example, in a poker tournament with blinds of 300/600 your standard opening raise would be 1,500 and not the 1,800 it would be if you were betting 3x. Many players favour 2.5x because they believe it has the same end result as a 3x raise, but fewer chips are put at risk.
It's also fairly common to see tournament poker players mix up their pre-flop bets based on the stage of the tournament or their stack size. For example, a player might choose to start with 3x for the early levels but may switch to 2.5x when they're deeper into the tournament.
Betting Too Much
While many beginners are guilty of not betting enough pre-flop, another typical beginner mistake is betting too much. An example would be raising 5x-6x the size of the blinds when you are first to enter a hand in a game where the standard raise is 3x. Sure, everyone might fold and you pick up the blinds – and if that was your goal then it worked, but what if your intention was to maximize your winnings with a solid starting hand? Your failure was likely the result of improper bet sizing.
Adjusting Your Bets
Be sure to base your bet sizing on the tendencies of the poker players at the table and other situational factors. Make sure you adjust If you find yourself in a game where the 3x (or 2.5x) betting formula does not accomplish your goals. Different games play differently. Maybe you're in a game that requires 4x to 6x the big blind to consistently accomplish your objectives.
Bet Sizing after the Flop
Miss-sizing of bets also occurs after the flop. So, how much should you bet? While your bet size should depend on the situation, a general rule of thumb is to bet between ½ the pot and the size of the pot. This will usually give draws incorrect odds to call, get worse hands to call and often times get better hands to fold.
The size of your post-flop bets should be related to the amount in the pot. For example, let's suppose you're playing in a no-limit cash game and the pot contains $20 after the flop. A respectable bet size would be $15. However on the next hand the pot might be smaller, let's say it's just $12. If you're sticking with the same bet size then, based on the pot, your bet should be $9. This is of course assuming you're betting 3/4 of the pot.
What about betting the turn? Well if you bet the flop and get called then obviously there'll be more money in the pot. You have various options on the turn, but if you decide to place another wager then it should again be based on the size of the pot – so your bet on the turn will be more than the flop. Many beginners fail to adjust the size of their bets to the amount in the pot – avoid this mistake.
Giving Draws the Incorrect Odds
There will be many post-flop situations where you're playing against an opponent who has a drawing hand. One key to successful poker is to charge your adversaries for the opportunity to draw out on you. In a fixed-limit game you can only charge them as much as the betting limits allow, but in a no-limit game you can bet enough so that the cost for them to draw exceeds their chances of completing their straight or flush. When that's the case, the long run supports bets of that nature.
Here are some typical bet amounts relative to the pot and the odds offered to your opponent:
- If you bet 1/4 of the pot you're offering 5-to-1 odds.
- If you bet 1/2 of the pot you're offering 3-to-1 odds.
- If you bet 3/4 of the pot you're offering 2.33-to-1 odds.
- If you bet the the full pot you're offering 2-to-1 odds.
As you can see, if you only bet 1/4 of the pot then you might be giving decent drawing odds to your opponent. Whereas a decent bet of 3/4 the pot against a single opponent would rule out common draws such as straights and flushes. Even if your opponent gets lucky, he'll lose in the long run when he's drawing to longer odds than are offered by the payoff.
It is weak to play with a 7 in your hand unless you had a pair. No limit is so harrowing you might consider not even staying in with a low pair. If two 7's are in the flop and that's how you got your trips, everybody has a pair now and somebody might have a hidden Aces over or even a boat. So, IMHO you never are surprised to lose with a low pair even when it improves. Also, you showed weakness when you first checked. This can make the guy with the flush convinced you were bluffing, especially when a weak card came out ; he would be doubting that it was the card you were looking for, and if it was, all you had was trips. On the other hand, with the flush and the King, he could probably remember even recently losing to the guy with the Ace. His check made sense.
There are no doubt tables on the internet showing what you open with vis a vis the stakes involved. I'd take a look at those.
There were three of us in the pot and after the flop I had a set of 7's. i was going last, so I was in the best position.There were three hearts on the flop. The first and second player checked and I check also. A dead card hit the turn and the first and second player checked into me again. Playing for the first time, I was confused what i should do. I'm in the last position and had no idea what to do. I knew I had to bet, but how much should I bet. I knew someone must have a heart in there hand and I didn't want to give them a free card to see the river. I decide to go all in.
That could have been a good decision against tight, not very aggressive players. But otherwise:
- By checking before, none of you indicated having a pat flush;
- The turn didn't change your position;
With a scary flop, someone was bound to try a bluff or semi-bluff. Since there was one card left, a draw semi-bluff was expected.
If you weren't playing very aggressively before, an all-in just marked you perfectly. The player with the flush was intentionally waiting for a semi-bluffer to catch, with a flop like that.
Really you were closer to a cold bluff than a semi-bluff even, and that wasn't really worth doing. For a successful bluff, don't send mixed signals. Not that it would have helped here, but still. By raising on the flop, you could get players who missed it to fold, and you'd be aware that the calling player has a hand.
Can anyone tell me how they would have played the hand.
It's too hard to tell. Depends on how loose or tight the table was. Without past information, I would probably just check and see what happens, play for value on the river. Making a small bet (less than half the pot) would do nothing, making a proper bet (pot or more) was inviting trouble. 7 is a low card. Any flush, any higher set would drown you.
A set of sevens is still a bluffcatcher, however, so... Well, once again depends on what I know about other players. If the player with king-flush was a strong one and raised on the river, I's give him credit for actually having a strong hand, likely not a flush, but say a high set. If he's been making bad moves before, a raise on the river could be seen as a bad bluff. Generally, it was a losing situation already, with a slowplayed nut hand in play. You risked too much without a sufficient chance at a payoff.
I'm telling you that this game is harder than it looks and when you learn to play the game right, you can make a good buck playing people like me. There are a lot of people like me that sit down at the table and have no idea that they don't have a chance of winning. Maybe get lucky the first time. I went back to playing fixed limit. television has made 1-2 no limit poker a gold mine for many good no limit players. They can sit at a table for eight or ten hours and make $500 to $600 with no problem.
Well, not so easily... there are runs of luck going down, and there can be other strong players at the table.
But yes, NLH is a very different game from fixed limit. They have similar rules, but Fixed Limit is a game of probabilities, like blackjack, with an element of deception; No Limit is a game of outright intimidation. Basic probability understanding, as learned in FL, still plays a major role, but it's only one of the tools that need to be employed.
It is weak to play with a 7 in your hand unless you had a pair. No limit is so harrowing you might consider not even staying in with a low pair. If two 7's are in the flop and that's how you got your trips, everybody has a pair now and somebody might have a hidden Aces over or even a boat.
'Flopping a set of 7s' means he had a pair already - even if not distinguishing between a set and trips, since the flop was all hearts, there could be just one 7 there.
77 was an acceptable hand to play, at least in position, but his out was a dry flop with a 7; when the flop came suited, the set became weaker than the middle pair was in the first place.
Going all-in sends a very specific message: You do NOT want any callers, because you either have a hand like what you have and are afraid of someone drawing a flush, or you have flush and are afraid of drawing a better flush, or you have the nuts and are afraid someone with a set will boat up. Either way, going all in on the turn, after checking the flop, usually rules out the nut flush. This tells the player with the king high flush that his hand is probably the best.
If you had the ace high flush, you'd make a reasonable bet, right on the flop, trying to get paid off. If you had the Ace high draw, you might bet just to build the pot hoping to get another heart. In your case, you should have been afraid of the flush, but bet a few bucks to get an idea of where you stand, as well as to build the pot so you're paid off if the board pairs.
Mind you, your hand is NOT great. a set of 7's is easily beaten not just by the flush, but by a higher set, or even a straight. Were there straight cards out there?
Poker 1 2 No Limit Strategy
My advice: Find a poker league in your area. They generally play in bars and restaurants. They are free, but you're kinda expected to patronize the venue.The key is, in the league, you're able to ask questions, and get honest answers. You can never be sure of the answers you get in a casino from the people that are trying to take your money.
The guy with the King flush is pretty much committed to staying in the hand all in unless the board pairs or a fourth heart comes up.
If you bet $20 after the flop, he's probably calling.
The turn is a blank, you bet $20-$40 again, he's either calling you or raising you. If he raises you, do you think you're strong/smart enough to fold a set of 7's against his flush? I'm not, which is why I play limit.
Basically, I'm trying to say that maybe you weren't going to lose your whole stack that hand, but you'd have to be the smartest player ever not to lose any money that hand.
Where would Vegas be without the poker boom?
In worse shape?
Only marginally. Poker isn't a major moneymaker for casinos - they don't bank the action. Same for bingo, for what it's worth -- I've had operators tell me that bingo is basically break-even for them, and it's really just to get players in the casino to play slots between breaks. I wouldn't be surprised if drop on other table games went up as a result of poker players, and that generating more revenue than the poker room itself.
I am tight aggressive, passive pre-flop, aggressive post-flop.
Preflop if I have premium I am raising 3x the BB plus 1 for every caller. Speculative hands like 77, or suited connectors I am just calling in position.
Postflop I am always betting 75% of the pot if I still like my hand. I only check raise/call when I have a monster.
I think you could of avoiding going broke by not bgoing all-in. Think about what sort of hands are going to call an all-in. Your looking at a higher set, or a made hand. The expected value in going all-in there is very low. You might of got away if you had bet 50-75% of the pot, and the flush had raised.
Understanding how to correctly use bet sizes to influence and manipulate the action is what separates skilled poker players from absolute beginners. Without a doubt, improper bet sizing is a very common mistake among beginners to poker and such errors are a tell-tale sign of a player's inexperience. Beginners often raise or bet at the extremes – betting either too little or too much.
When playing poker it's really important that you think about the result you hope to achieve before you make a bet. In our previous lesson we discussed some of the main reasons to bet in poker and provided some clear objectives that you should always consider before firing out a bet. In this lesson we're not going to discuss why you should bet, because you should know already. Instead, this lesson is all about how much you should bet – and we'll be focusing on basic bet sizing before and after the flop.
Bet Sizing before the Flop
A good tip for beginners is to raise three times (3x) the big blind, plus one big blind for every limper in the pot. If it folds to you, raising three times the big blind is often enough to ensure the field of players doesn't grow too large. For example, using this forumla in a cash game with blinds of $0.25 / $0.50, your standard raise would be to $1.50 (3 x $0.50), but with two callers you should raise to around $2.50 (that's 3 x $0.50 + 2 x $0.50 for the limpers).
Beginners often make the mistake of raising the same amount regardless of whether several players have already entered the pot. Remember, it's much easier to play poker against fewer opponents and if you don't increase the size of your bet when limpers are involved then you're effectively inviting a whole heap of trouble after the flop.
For many years now the 3x + 1 for each limper has arguably been the standard pre-flop bet size favoured by the majority of skilled poker players. These days it's equally common to see raises of 2.5x + 1. For example, in a poker tournament with blinds of 300/600 your standard opening raise would be 1,500 and not the 1,800 it would be if you were betting 3x. Many players favour 2.5x because they believe it has the same end result as a 3x raise, but fewer chips are put at risk.
It's also fairly common to see tournament poker players mix up their pre-flop bets based on the stage of the tournament or their stack size. For example, a player might choose to start with 3x for the early levels but may switch to 2.5x when they're deeper into the tournament.
Betting Too Much
While many beginners are guilty of not betting enough pre-flop, another typical beginner mistake is betting too much. An example would be raising 5x-6x the size of the blinds when you are first to enter a hand in a game where the standard raise is 3x. Sure, everyone might fold and you pick up the blinds – and if that was your goal then it worked, but what if your intention was to maximize your winnings with a solid starting hand? Your failure was likely the result of improper bet sizing.
Adjusting Your Bets
Be sure to base your bet sizing on the tendencies of the poker players at the table and other situational factors. Make sure you adjust If you find yourself in a game where the 3x (or 2.5x) betting formula does not accomplish your goals. Different games play differently. Maybe you're in a game that requires 4x to 6x the big blind to consistently accomplish your objectives.
Bet Sizing after the Flop
Miss-sizing of bets also occurs after the flop. So, how much should you bet? While your bet size should depend on the situation, a general rule of thumb is to bet between ½ the pot and the size of the pot. This will usually give draws incorrect odds to call, get worse hands to call and often times get better hands to fold.
The size of your post-flop bets should be related to the amount in the pot. For example, let's suppose you're playing in a no-limit cash game and the pot contains $20 after the flop. A respectable bet size would be $15. However on the next hand the pot might be smaller, let's say it's just $12. If you're sticking with the same bet size then, based on the pot, your bet should be $9. This is of course assuming you're betting 3/4 of the pot.
What about betting the turn? Well if you bet the flop and get called then obviously there'll be more money in the pot. You have various options on the turn, but if you decide to place another wager then it should again be based on the size of the pot – so your bet on the turn will be more than the flop. Many beginners fail to adjust the size of their bets to the amount in the pot – avoid this mistake.
Giving Draws the Incorrect Odds
There will be many post-flop situations where you're playing against an opponent who has a drawing hand. One key to successful poker is to charge your adversaries for the opportunity to draw out on you. In a fixed-limit game you can only charge them as much as the betting limits allow, but in a no-limit game you can bet enough so that the cost for them to draw exceeds their chances of completing their straight or flush. When that's the case, the long run supports bets of that nature.
Here are some typical bet amounts relative to the pot and the odds offered to your opponent:
- If you bet 1/4 of the pot you're offering 5-to-1 odds.
- If you bet 1/2 of the pot you're offering 3-to-1 odds.
- If you bet 3/4 of the pot you're offering 2.33-to-1 odds.
- If you bet the the full pot you're offering 2-to-1 odds.
As you can see, if you only bet 1/4 of the pot then you might be giving decent drawing odds to your opponent. Whereas a decent bet of 3/4 the pot against a single opponent would rule out common draws such as straights and flushes. Even if your opponent gets lucky, he'll lose in the long run when he's drawing to longer odds than are offered by the payoff.
While it's generally better to wager more rather than less, don't fall into the trap of over betting to 'protect' your hand. Ideally, in poker you want to bet an amount that maximizes how much you can win and minimizes how much you can lose. When you structure your no-limit bet so that the pot is offering even money on a call, but the odds against your opponent completing his hand are 2-to-1, you'll win in the long run. And that's what poker is all about. Make ‘em pay to get there, and charge ‘em what you think the traffic will bear.
Varied vs. Consistent Bet Sizes
Since the size of your bet tells a story to the other players, it's important that you do not give off patterns in your play – both pre-flop and after the flop. A common pattern for beginners is to bet more with a strong hand and less with a weak hand. This can eventually become predictable and thereby exploitable – making it easy for opponents.
In order to prevent being readable, there are two schools of thought: randomly vary the size of your bet or keep betting the same increment every time. The reason why you would vary your bet sizes is to throw off your opponent and keep them guessing. At the same time, that is also the goal of staying consistent. If you bet the same amount whether you have a hand or are bluffing, your bluffs are more believable and your opponents cannot pick up patterns in your play.
I believe you should be consistent in how you bet regardless of your holding so as to make it more difficult for observant opponents to put you on a hand accurately. If you always raise 3x the big blind plus one additional bet for every limper in front of you and always bet 3/4 of the pot post-flop then no one can get a read on your play.
Conclusion
1 2 No Limit Poker Strategy
To summarize, here's a recap of some of the bet sizing strategy tips we've discussed in this lesson:
1 2 No Limit Poker Tips
- Betting around 3x the big blind + 1 for every limper when raising pre-flop is a solid formula to stick with.
- Adjust your bet sizing depending on situational factors.
- Post-flop bets should always be based on the size of the pot and betting around 3/4 of the pot is a good benchmark.
- Be consistent with your bet sizing, regardless of your cards.
Take onboard what you've learned in this lesson regarding bet sizing. Remember that every game and situation is different so remain alert and flexible in your thinking for greatest results.
Related Lessons
By Donovan Panone
Donovan started playing poker in 2004 and is an experienced tournament and cash game player who has a passion for teaching and helping others improve their game.
Related Lessons
Make A Living Playing 1 2 No Limit Poker
