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A Radical Theory For No-Limit Hold'em Cash Games
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Author: Marc Weinberg
You have $200 to play with in your online poker account. Conventional wisdom suggests that you find a low-stakes game where you have at least 50 big blinds in your stack, but I'm proposing a radical departure whereby you seek out far higher stakes, provided you have the skills to cope in that upper echelon.
I suggest that you sit down at a $5-$10 no-limit table or perhaps even a $10-$20 no-limit table and prepare yourself for an aggressive assault. You need to do a little homework first, however. Select a game that is short-handed with no more than 5 other players at the table.
Then further refine those parameters by choosing a game where your opponents all have plenty of cash in front of them. You want the average stack to be over $1,000 and no opponent should have less than 4x your money.
Finally, you would prefer a table that features consistent pre-flop activity. It doesn't really matter if that activity consists of limpers or raisers provided the table is not weak-tight with hands folded round to the blinds.
Let me reiterate that this is a strategy specific to online no-limit cash games. It is not recommended for limit poker, for a poker game in your local card room, or for tournament play.
In short-handed no-limit poker the required hand strength to play pre-flop is fairly low, so you will face a broad range of holdings. As a new player at the table no one will have a read on you, although the fact that you have bought in with so few chips will perk everyone's interest. They might think that you are a weak player looking to empty your account (it is always a good idea to bring a random amount of money to the table - instead of $200 try and bring $198.70, this creates the impression that it is your last buy-in before you are forced to redeposit). But you will confuse your opponents by playing selectively and then dropping the hammer with all-out naked aggression when you are in the right spot.
The "right spot" is any hand QKs or stronger for you and/or any sign of weakness from the rest of the table. If you are in the big blind and two players limp in pre-flop you will push all-in regardless of your hand. The mathematics underpinning this idea cannot really be faulted. There is a very significant possibility that those two limpers will fold and you will pick up two big blinds in a bloodless victory. If someone calls your all-in for your $200 there is still a relatively high % probability that you will actually win the hand, either because your random hand is stronger or because the flop helps you.
Alternatively, you wait until you are dealt a pocket pair or a typically playable hand and you play that hand very aggressively, preferably by check-rasing all in once you have committed opponent who is sitting with a large stack. The idea either way is to win one hand where you double up, and then you are in a fantastic position because you can either leave with a 100% return on your money in less than five minutes, or you can stay at that table and revert to a solid style of poker.
Your opponents will think you're a desperate maniac but at this point your $400 represents a healthy chunk of their bankroll if they confront you. But there is also nothing wrong with leaving the table as quickly as you joined - the beauty of the online game - and finding another scenario that suits this low buy-in 'smash-and-grab' theory.
It is not widely known that a big buy-in is more vulnerable in no-limit cash games, and the smaller buy-in has quite a lot of leverage especially in the hands of a skilled player. So the next time you decide to play in a high-stakes cash game consider the possibility of buying in for the minimum and pushing hard!
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> Find The Choking Point In Online Poker
> Set Mining In Various Poker Cash Games
> How To Read Hands In Poker
> Playing Suited Connectors In No-Limit Hold'em
> How To Deal With Maniacs At Your Table
> The Value Of Deception In Poker
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