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Like many online poker players I started out by learning and playing limit Texas holdem.  While that is still a great poker game that I love to play, I was inexorably drawn to the increased complexity and faster pace of no-limit texas holdem.  Provided here is a some guidance for other poker players that are contemplating making the switch from limit to no-limit texas holdem.

The first thing to realize is that while bluffing is an essential part of no-limit poker, it is not the most important part.  When you bluff you are trying to force the other player out of the pot, accepting only what has already been put into the pot.  While bluffing is an important aspect of the game, what will be more important to your profits in the long run is to get the other player(s) to stay in the hand, putting those chips they still have left behind into the pots that you win. 

In this regard, stack sizes rule no-limit in a way that they never can in limit holdem.  With limit holdem stack sizes larger than 8 or 9 big bets are irrelevant.  The most you can possibly get into the pot on any hand is 12 big bets, and that happens nearly never.  Getting someone to put in 8 or 9 bets with a second best hand is a very big win in limit holdem.  In no-limit you can win as much of your opponent's stack as you can cover with your own stack.  Inducing your opponent to make the mistake of putting more of his chips into the pot when you have him beat is more valuable than making him fold a better hand to a bluff.

In order to get calls from second best hands, you have to give yourself the opportunity to make big hands.  This necessitates playing more hands pre-flop than you are accustomed to playing at your limit tables.  Suited connectors, suited one-gaps, and small pocket pairs are all playable - even to a raise - as long as your opponents have enough chips left behind to pay you off if your hand hits. 

You also must bluff in order to get paid off on your big hands.  If you only bet when you have a great hand your opponents will soon figure it out and you will get no action.  I have found that the best places to bluff are on the flop and out of position on the river.  On the flop the pot is small and you can get in a cheap bluff to try to take it down.  If someone comes over the top you can fold and your opponents have observed that you are willing to splash some chips in the pot without a great hand.  If you are first to act on the river you can make a small bet.  Few players without the nuts will come over the top in this situation.  If you get called the other players will observe that you put chips into a pot without a great hand.  After that you are much more likely to get action - especially from those players whose pride is more important than their chip stack.

Continue reading getting started in no-limit poker.