How To Crush Live $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em?

sard1010

Hey guys :cool:

Just had my sixth or seventh session at Casino Niagara at the 1/2 NL Hold'em table - bought in for the min. of $60 as usual.

Was just hoping to discuss some strategy and keys to success at this particular level.

How To Crush Live $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em
Ultimate Guide to Crushing Live $1/$2 No-Limit Holdem - PokerListings.com

The article seemed to be very straight-forward and powerful and I caught on to its simple recipe for success.

"You play tight, you make top pair or better and you bet! Not exactly groundbreaking stuff. Play ABC poker, make your good hands and bet them."

The article also notes the plentiful existence of calling stations ready to give you their money, which is why the article calls for the style of play that it does.

I'm just hoping for any thoughts on the article if you are willing to read it and any notions you may have of what it takes to do really well at the 1/2 NL tables. I'm actually quite happy with my improvement over my few sessions I've had, particularly with the one I had just yesterday. I cashed out with $83 and felt really good about how I played. I think I played a tight aggressive style really well, picked up a decent number of strong hands and ran well. So that helps. But I put in a fair degree of aggressive raises and made some reads and things seemed to be clicking which was fun.

If you guys have any poker-related thoughts at all - even just strategies for being more comfortable at the table or anything at all send them my way I'd really appreciate it. I'm tentatively planning to go back this coming Sunday again and I'm hoping to continue to have fun with the game while playing well.

UBetIFold

My only word of advice would be to buy in bigger. $60 is not really an amount that is workable. 1/2 players are bad, you want to have more money behind so you can make more on your premium hands.

compuease

Well let me give some advice from an "old" hand.. That article is so out of touch it is laughable... 2011 was wayyyy different than the current Niagara.

1: Never buy in short ($60) unless you just can't afford to lose more, and if you can't you shouldn't be playing. You are not maximizing your profits and really limiting the hands you can play profitably. ie, suited connectors, small pairs, etc just don't hit big enough or often enough to be profitable buying in for only 30bb.

2: My recent experience there (say the last 2 years) is that calling stations in the traditional sense are rare now. Tight aggressive is fine but make sure that's what you are really doing. Play speculative hands in late position only, and raise half of them preflop so it makes it difficult to put you on a "hand". At least if you are in position and you get lots of heat from an earlier position it is easier to get away without losing much.

3: Don't assume that someone is bluffing half the time, my gut feel is pure bluffing is way less than that. If you are going to bluff try and make it so you are semi bluffing, ie you can win either by getting the other guy to fold or if he calls you make your hand on a later street, ie you flop a flush draw or open ended straight or perhaps a pair and a straight draw. Big bluffs are tough to pull off.

Bfillmaff

I think short stacking is fine for OP while he is learning - in fact I like it. Simplifies post flop and removes a lot of mistakes that will happen deeper with top pairs etc.

Definitely set a goal of being comfortable buying in for the max - but that is way down the road for OP.

sard1010

My only word of advice would be to buy in bigger. $60 is not really an amount that is workable. 1/2 players are bad, you want to have more money behind so you can make more on your premium hands.

$60 is extremely practical for me on so many levels. $60 is more affordable and if I lose it I'm not crying on my way home. Also, like Bfillmaff said, it does simplify the game a bit for me. Also, contrary to what you've said I do find the min. buy-in still quite workable. I felt very able to participate in the normal flow of the game both pre-flop and post-flop, even with the short-stack. That last session I believe I even earned my way to a bigger stack (I think I had as much as $130 at one point), so that was nice too. I did run well so perhaps that helps, I suppose with bad luck you could be out of the game given one hand that doesn't go your way but I guess I have to take that chance for now.

I appreciate your advice though, and to quote Bfillmaff again it's a good goal to work to and more ideal to have the max but for now I'm not there yet.

That article is so out of touch it is laughable

In what way though?, the concepts still seem to be sound. Make a good hand and bet. I do find the players at 1/2 quite loose and they seem to like to gamble a lot with hands like 73 off hoping to flop 733.

set a goal of being comfortable buying in for the max - but that is way down the road for OP

I don't think it's too far down the road, the main thing would be to have the bankroll to afford to spend that on poker. Either way for now I'm more than happy with my experience being short-stacked. Each time I've played I've had more than ample opportunity to play comfortably and to stack-up. It's a cool concept to buy-in for the min. and stack-up to the max. Like I said I was at $130 at one point last session and I was pretty much just playing tight aggressive to a T, according to my play style. Sure, next time I may run poorly or catch a bad beat, but at this point I'm still feeling out the game and feeling out live 1/2 at Niagara and it's all good.