No Limit Hold 'Em Poker Discussion

[Fugazy]

Sherbros...

I love poker, NL Hold 'Em is my game. I play varieties of Omaha as well, but not nearly as much.

I was hoping of the over 200k members here, there would be a few of us who play on a regular basis.

I've played on and off for better than 15 years. I began in college, putzing around at a few house/bar games and the occasional cash game at a casino. After getting busy with life I took off for about 3 years.

Recently I've slowly worked my way back in. I watch as much poker as I can, listen to podcasts and started reading books. I never studied the game in the past the way that I do now, and I've noticed a tangible improvement in my overall game. I deal with the stress and excitement much better and my decision making is much more formulaic and logical than it was when I played in years past.

My goal is to become a stronger player and to have conversations about the game with other players. If you are at all like me, you can't turn off being a poker player. Thoughts about past hands and future games always hum along in the back of my mind.

If you love the game, and are a player that is in any way serious, check in and share.

Theory, strategy, stories, good beats, bad beats, whatever you've got. This is the place for it all.

I'll post my thoughts whenever I've got time.

Thanks in advance to anyone who participates in this thread and may you all be dealt many, many Aces.

 

[Makani]

Had a regular weekly cash game all through Uni, now it doesn't run as much, but my town is full of tech guys and they love their poker, so finding a game isn't hard. I'm a winning cash player live, down online, though I'm way up in tournies thanks to an 8k win on Full Tilt when I was younger. My strengths are hand reading and patience, my weaknesses are being unable to make the big fold sometimes, and maintaining aggression over a full session. I actually started as an Omaha player, so I think that makes undervalue certain hands, but I think it also helped me adapt to variance and run hand possibilities faster. I love poker, it's probably where I'm happiest, especially a relaxed table of friends.

 

[Fugazy]

@Makani

We've got our first comment!

Thanks man!

How big is NL Hold 'Em in Canada?

Did you see the same boom - bust in popularity that the states saw with the newly televised WSOP events all those years ago?

I'm currently an even player after about 50 hours back in the saddle. All live casino games, I don't bother trying to figure out how to play online for money. I do play online to practice certain strategies and to develop certain habits though.

It's been very up and down. I play cash games, in a few months or a year I'll begin to play some smaller tournaments when I feel confident enough.

My situational hand selection is strong, I've gotten good at using position and trying to disguise it. I need to get better at folding big hands though and trusting my reads, and I want to work on my continuation bets after not connecting on a flop.

I really feel like I've been getting better by leaps and bounds as I've played recently. I've gotten 100x better at critiquing my play. When I think of how I played 10 years ago, I literally had no idea what I was doing.

 

[Fugazy]

Also I will say that being at a poker table is one of my happy places, without question.

Cheers mate.

 

[gspieler]

I played religiously for a couple of years back in the day. I've only played sparingly since then. Limit Hold 'em was my game generally. Had some real marathon sessions at Canterbury Card Club in Shakopee, MN. I've lost any edge I may have had since then(against people who know what they are doing).

Does anyone still follow WSOP, WPT, etc?

 

[Fugazy]

I played religiously for a couple of years back in the day. I've only played sparingly since then. Limit Hold 'em was my game generally. Had some real marathon sessions at Canterbury Card Club in Shakopee, MN. I've lost any edge I may have had since then(against people who know what they are doing).

Does anyone still follow WSOP, WPT, etc?

I watch as much as I can, seems like a lot of the big names are fading away, or at least arent playing televised tournaments. I havent been checking the leaderboards online much.

The WPT seems to be televising more stuff than the WSOP as well, but they've got a series called the King of the Club on now that is straight trash. Its made of amateurs that qualified online through ClubWPT.com. It's honestly on par with the $10 tournament me and my family would play to piss off time while drunk watching a football game.

So why did you prefer the limit game to NL?

 

[gspieler]

I watch as much as I can, seems like a lot of the big names are fading away, or at least arent playing televised tournaments. I havent been checking the leaderboards online much.

The WPT seems to be televising more stuff than the WSOP as well, but they've got a series called the King of the Club on now that is straight trash. Its made of amateurs that qualified online through ClubWPT.com. It's honestly on par with the $10 tournament me and my family would play to piss off time while drunk watching a football game.

So why did you prefer the limit game to NL?

Several factors. Limit is more calculable, the swings aren't massive, and IMO is more of a skill game than NL(other than at the highest levels). NL always seemed like more of a gimmick to me, full guys playing more for ego, or newbs who think they're hot shit after seeing Rounders for the first time.

 

[Fugazy]

Several factors. Limit is more calculable, the swings aren't massive, and IMO is more of a skill game than NL(other than at the highest levels). NL always seemed like more of a gimmick to me, full guys playing more for ego, or newbs who think they're hot shit after seeing Rounders for the first time.

I'll say that there is definitely a mixed crowd. But there are a lot of very good players who come along with the riff raff.

The game changes drastically depending on what time and day you play and what blind. The 1/2 is full of idiots who will bust out several times in an hour play anything chase anything, whereas the 3/6 is a far more serious game with much better players.

The thing is, I can watch the poker room at my casino fill up and there will be at most 2 tables playing PL.

So, tell me about your gameplay, are you big on the maths or feel? How would you describe your game?

 

[ProBoxingInsidr]

igot into poker a little back in its heyday a dozen years ago or so. that said, holy hell did that bubble burst. you hardly ever hear about it anymore. i bet the skilled players miss all those newbies coming in and donating all their money.

i should try to get back into it. i dont know if they still have them, but the casinos used to have tons of small tournaments to play in here in vegas. only cost like $40-50 or so

 

[wlu.29]

If I had the discipline to stick to sit and go i can grind out lunch money or date money to take my wife out on the town buy her something nice

I am decent at tourney as well

Down when I play cash

 

[Bubzeh]

I went through a phase as a student trying it out properly, trying to make profit from it but gambling wise, I could only make good profit from football betting (soccer).

Poker, as much as I love it and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm not good enough to be successful at it. But I'll always play for fun.

A friend of mine on the other hand is the type of kid that can play online 10 dollar tournaments with 2-3k people in them and final table them regularly. Insanely good.

 

[Fugazy]

I went through a phase as a student trying it out properly, trying to make profit from it but gambling wise, I could only make good profit from football betting (soccer).

Poker, as much as I love it and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm not good enough to be successful at it. But I'll always play for fun.

A friend of mine on the other hand is the type of kid that can play online 10 dollar tournaments with 2-3k people in them and final table them regularly. Insanely good.

What kind of Poker games were you playing?

 

[Fugazy]

If I had the discipline to stick to sit and go i can grind out lunch money or date money to take my wife out on the town buy her something nice

I am decent at tourney as well

Down when I play cash

How often/what stakes do you play?

 

[wlu.29]

How often/what stakes do you play?

I haven't played in forever

I used to play a few $10-20 sit n go a night

I've played tourneys up to $500 buy in

 

[Fugazy]

I haven't played in forever

I used to play a few $10-20 sit n go a night

I've played tourneys up to $500 buy in

Gotta get back on that felt brother!

What are your thoughts on the difference between Cash games and tourneys?

I've yet to try my hand at any tournaments. There is a weekly $150 buy in at the local casino but I need to rack up more live hours before I try that.

 

[ProBoxingInsidr]

i only played once at a casino. i just wanted to try it out. it was at a smaller local casino. everyone there was like 90 years old and had been playing for 50 years. it was pot limit. my $200 didnt last long

 

[Fugazy]

i only played once at a casino. i just wanted to try it out. it was at a smaller local casino. everyone there was like 90 years old and had been playing for 50 years. it was pot limit. my $200 didnt last long

Its amazing how different crowds play the game. Playing against the 60-70yo crowd is nothing like being at a table of 30-40yo

 

[ProBoxingInsidr]

Its amazing how different crowds play the game. Playing against the 60-70yo crowd is nothing like being at a table of 30-40yo

yea, and i think my inexperience along with it being pot limit meant i was doomed from the start

 

[Bubzeh]

What kind of Poker games were you playing?

NL Hold em. Sit n go's, cash tables, large tournies. Mixture of those really. Used to do better on the Sit n go's but found them boring.

 

[MeanStreets]

I love NLHE, both live and online. I spent most of my 20's playing poker. I still go through phases where I play alot for periods of time, 99% online these days.

There's a high stakes player on PS that I watch sometimes named MMASherdog. I've always wondered who that is.