8 No Limit Holdem Rules

A good No Limit Holdem rule is one that will prevent you from making unnecessary mistakes in the beginning. My intention with these simple no limit holdem rules is to have you understand what you should pay special attention to.

This article is a prelude to a ton of strategy articles that will come next. This article will act as a warning as to what you should not do. Enough repeating myself, let's get started!

No Limit Holdem Rule #1: Bluffing

Many beginners think poker is all about bluffing, making that big move at the right time and looking like a half superman, half doyle brunson. Unfortunately I am here to disappoint you :(

When you are beginning and learning how to win at poker you should keep bluffing to a minimum. And this is especially true when you're playing micro and low stakes poker.

People will likely never fold to your bluffs anyway and even if they do you won't add much to your win rate by bluffing. Much more likely is that you bluff in the wrong spots and it hurts you more than you might think.

So keep bluffing to a minimum, especially the big ones when you are starting to put in more than 25% of your stack on a pure bluff. Think before you act - Plan ahead!

No Limit Holdem Rule #2: Position

Position is crucial in a game like No Limit Holdem! What exactly do I mean by that?

"Having position" basically means being the guy that is last to act. So if someone calls in the cut-off and you decide to raise on the button, you now have position. You are last to act on every street, if the cut-off guy decides to call he will be first to act.

Why is position important? Because you get more information when you have position!

Let us say that cut-off player now bets full pot into you on the flop, and you've been observing him closely, you know this is a legitimate hand. This allows you to play your hand more correctly versus what your opponent actually holds.

Now let us reverse the positions, you raise in the cut-off and get called by the button. You hit something decent like middle pair, so you follow up with a standard continuation bet and you get called.

The turn is a pretty innocuous card but it might have completed a weird straight, now you check because there is no point in betting your middle pair. Your opponents decides to bet full pot, you have no clue where you stand but you have to fold because proceeding would be foolish against 98% of players.

Do you see the power of position? This is why every good player advocates that you play tight out of position, that means play tight in the earlier positions and ESPECIALLY in the blinds!

Play SUPER tight in the blinds when it is raised to you, you will almost always be out of position and get yourself in weird spots if you call a lot from the blinds, not even the best players can play a lot of hands from the blinds.

No Limit Holdem Rule #3: Aggression

When you play a hand you will generally want to be the one raising, this means you will have to tighten up considerably to what you are used to. No longer can you play that King Jack Offsuit in early position, just muck it and play super tight when you are likely to end up out of position!

Now when it is folded to you in the cut-off and you have that King Jack, you should raise.

What happens when you are aggressive? You receive the initiative.

What is the initiative worth? It means you have more than one way to win a pot.

What do you mean? If you raise and the big blind calls and you miss the flop. He will almost always check to you, you will bet sometimes (40-50% is generally a good frequency just to give you a taste) and you will often win the pot.

Why does this happen? Because the big blind will miss and you have the initiative!

Remember to avoid going Phil Ivey on your opponents, it will most likely not work because they don't understand what is going on. They will look at their cards and look at the board, then they will call you down.

Play super tight poker, play in position and have the initiative. If you are called on the flop when you bet with nothing then just give up.

No Limit Holdem Rule #4: Getting Cocky

Never start thinking you can outplay your opponents and start playing too many hands. That has been the fall of too many poker players. Stay humble and never underestimate your opponents.

Recognize when you start falling into this trap because it is one that will make you a losing player guaranteed! You are most vulnerable to this when you have been winning for a while and start reasoning that you should be winning more, so you add a few extra hands.

Things might go O.K for a short time but then you start losing, you start blaming bad luck and it all starts to go downhill from there. Look out for this!

No Limit Holdem Rule #5: Emotions

Controlling your emotions is a fundamental pillar holding up the winning poker players hosue of cards. If you start to make bad decisions when you know better you are experiencing poker tilt.

I have a whole section of the website dedicated to tilt and how to handle it. Check it out at Texas Holdem Tips for Discipline.

A quick list of ways to minimize tilt:

Identify your tilt signs (Do you feel that burning sensation in your chest? Get hot?)
Play short sessions (Keep them to a maximum of 60 minutes, preferrably 30)
If you start noticing a tilt sign - STOP IMMEDIATELY
If you lose a big pot - STOP PLAYING

These quick tips will take you a long way and I can assure you that 99% of poker players out there don't have the discipline to do these things, but I know you do! :-)

No Limit Holdem Rule #6: Multi-Tabling

When starting out you should play one table MAXIMUM, you need to learn how the game plays. If you're bored then you aren't focusing on the other players enough.

Learn what hands they play, how they bet them and what the color of their mouse is!

I know it is tempting to add more tables to get more of those good hands, but don't do it. This will slow down your learning process. Be patient, within time you will get to add another table.

No Limit Holdem Rule #7: Bankroll Management

Make sure you adhere to the bankroll management rules I gave you in the previous articles. You can also study more in-depth by going to my Bankroll Management section

Keep AT LEAST 30 buy-ins for the level you play, preferrably 50 and ONLY play with money you can afford to lose, don't make the mistake so many have made.

No Limit Holdem Rule #8: Study

We are at the end of the list, if you follow all these rules you will be way ahead of most beginning players. One other thing you must love to do is study, every successful poker player loves to think about the game and improve upon what he knows.

You become a great player by constantly studying the game and craving to learn more. You absolutely must learn more because it is so much fun and imagine how much fun it will be when you start out making your first $1 a day, and then $5 maybe even $50 a day. Only you know.

How Much More Do You Want To Learn?

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