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Exclusive Netbettor Texas Hold'em Article: "no-limit Texas holdem is essentially a betting game, while limit texas hold'em is by contrast a card game"
When Your Cards are Face-Up A while ago I stumbled into a post on an internet forum that involved a Texas hold em hand which I found interesting. What happened is this: Our hero was in a $1-2 no limit Texas hold em cash game, and raised to $7 pre-flop with A Q offsuit after the field had folded to him. The button called- a player who was described as better than average-and the blinds folded. The flop came A A T, Our hero checked and the button checked. The turn was a blank, Our hero bet $15, the button raised to $45, and the button went all in for $90 more. Our hero called. The button showed pocket tens, the river was a blank and the button took it down. This hand interested me for a couple reasons. First, let's look at the check on the flop. This move merits discussion, if only because it highlights the fact that no limit Texas hold em is essentially a betting game, while limit Texas hold em is by contrast a card game. In no limit Texas hold em it is paramount that you bet your hand in a way that will a) get better hands to fold, or b) get worse hands to call (this phenomenon exists in limit hold 'em as well, albeit to a much lesser extent). When our hero checks this flop after raising pre-flop he can only have one hand-a set of aces. The button, being an adroit Texas hold em player, must surely know this, which means he's not going to give action unless he can beat three aces. By checking this flop our hero has put himself in a classic Texas hold em nightmare; i.e., playing a hand with reverse implied odds out of position. If he has simply bet the pot-and perhaps over bet it-the button may have thought he was on a bluff, and given him some action with hand like JJ, or 99. But when he checked the flop the button is going to shut down unless he has our hero beaten. This is what I mean by a betting game as opposed to a card game. The reason a limit betting Texas hold em hand is subject to reverse implied odds is usually due to the specific hole cards which a player is holding. In no limit Texas hold em, however, you can subject yourself to reverse implied odds (or, by extension, receive implied odds) by virtue of how you play the hand. By checking the flop our hero assured himself of either winning the minimum on a later street, or losing his whole stack. As you might imagine, most of the debate centered over whether or not our hero could have gotten away from his hand on the turn-which is to be expected, I suppose, although it's not really important. Our hero was probably destined to lose a lot of money on this particular deal, and it's unlikely that there's much he could have done about that.. But what is worth understanding is the fact that his check on the flop put him in a position where he could not expect any additional action if he was ahead in the hand. Needless to say, this is not how you want to play Texas hold em. When he checks the flop his cards might as well be 'face up' on the felt, as any good player will know at this point exactly what he has. The second interesting thing about this hand involves the slowplay. Those of you who've read our article The Art of the Slowplay know that you should not slowplay a hand unless the next card could give your opponent a quality second best hand. That condition does not apply here, since the only cards that could fall off which the button would truly like to see are those that fill him up or give him an ace high straight. If he has KQ, for instance, he's not going to get too giddy if a king falls on the turn. If a jack drops, however, he's going to see things a little differently. Notice that things are completely different if our hero has a hand like pocket nines, and the flop brings something like 964. Here our hero's flop check could be seen as representing a hand like AK that missed the flop; thus, the button may give action with a second best hand. Also, if the button has two overcards-something like AJs, for instance-the free card could give him just enough of a hand to tie him on to the pot. But when you flop the set of aces you've essentially crippled the deck, and there aren't many second best hands that are going to want to play with you. This rule holds true for limit Texas hold em, and it's critical that you understand it if you want to be a successful no limit Texas hold em player. Whenever you have a hand that you won't be able to get away from, and the only turn card that your opponent would really like is one that would beat you (as opposed to one that would give him a quality second best hand), you don't want to give that card for free. Bet your hand, and make him pay. If he pays for the turn card and hits, well, that's just Texas hold em, and there's not much you can do about it. But at least be sure you make him pay for the privilege. Return to Exclusive Netbettor Poker Articles Other Poker Strategy Articles: |
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