Texas Holdem Advanced Strategy. Most Texas holdem books and strategy web sites are filled with general advice aimed at beginning and intermediate players. If you think about this it makes sense, because over 90% of the population of poker players fit into one of these categories. It’s also much easier to offer advice to the larger group. Poker strategy tips and tutorials for beginners and advanced players. Improve your skills and learn from experts about Texas Holdem strategy other Poker variants at PokerNews.com.

• 2 5 No Limit Strategy
• Advanced Poker Strategy For Winning
• No Limit Hold Em Strategy

Do you even GTO, bro?

In 2006 Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman wrote The Mathematics of Poker, a dense book that introduced readers to 'game theory optimal' play. More recently, thanks to online wizards like recent $111,111 High Roller for One Drop winner Doug Polk and programs like PokerSnowie, our understanding of optimal play has advanced considerably.

It's a controversial topic. Indeed, the very term 'GTO' intoxicates some, infuriates others and raises plenty of questions. How valuable, really, is game theory? What do all those numbers and formulas and decision trees mean?

Hunter Cichy's brand new book Advanced Concepts in No-Limit Hold'em: A Modern Approach to Poker Analysis offers some compelling answers to these questions.

Cichy, a Florida-based poker pro, coach, and founder of Check Shove Poker, sees optimal play as the starting point to success.

'This book is intended to show what GTO play looks like,' Cichy writes. 'Your ability to exploit Villain stems from determining when and how he's deviating from GTO play.'

In order to 'show what GTO play looks like,' Cichy relies heavily on PokerSnowie. After running billions of simulations that evaluate possible outcomes for a finite number of bet sizes, PokerSnowie has developed GTO opening ranges that require mixed strategies to use. (So, too, have other 'solvers' like PioSolver and GTORangeBuilder.)

For example, PokerSnowie might suggest that you open the button with -suited 72 percent of the time and fold the other 28 percent of the time, or three-bet an UTG raise with -suited 22 percent of the time and otherwise fold.

The first section of Advanced No-Limit Hold 'em, titled 'Math,' covers concepts like equity, pot odds, implied odds, minimum defense frequency, stack-to-pot ratio and combinatorics. Cichy, who seems to have an encyclopedic grasp of poker math and theory, proves an excellent guide for readers new to this material.

The next section, 'Pre-flop,' forms the core of the book. Here Cichy argues that four fundamentals — card edge, skill edge, position and initiative — pave the path to profitability.

Assuming a nine-handed table with 100-big blind stacks and a pot-sized opening raise, he provides PokerSnowie's default opening ranges from every position; isolation ranges against limpers from every position; defense ranges and squeezing ranges from the small blind, the big blind, the button and the cutoff; and three-bet, four-bet and five-bet ranges from most positions.

While some of these ranges may be irrelevant in live games — when's the last time you've had to balance your five-betting range against the small blind? — this section provides a comprehensive overview of pre-flop play.

Okay, fine. PokerSnowie says to raise 36 percent of your hands on the button against optimal opponents. But how does that help against the drunk tourist who hasn't folded in thirty minutes?

Enter exploitative adjustments. Alongside PokerSnowie's default ranges — which are 'much tighter than what you'll see in real life' — Cichy recommends adjustments for human opponents who, thankfully, aren't supercomputers. For instance:

• If the blinds are folding too often, you should open smaller and wider.
• If the blinds are calling too often, you should open bigger and wider.
• If the button is folding too often, you should open wider from the cutoff.
• If the button is flatting too often, you should open tighter from the cutoff.

Beyond these basic considerations, you should also three-bet larger against players who defend too liberally, and aggressively fold to four-bets from players who don't three-bet bluff.

'The whole idea is to inflate the size of the pot preflop artificially — to magnify your equity and playability advantage against weak ranges — so you can win bigger pots on later streets,' Cichy explains. 'Conversely, you should seek to cut your losses early in the hand against tight three-betting and four-betting ranges.'

The final section, 'Post-flop,' covers concepts like reasons to bet, value-betting, checking back, barreling, leading the turn, check-raising and calling check-raises. Once again, Cichy reminds readers that optimal play isn't the goal — it's the means to an exploitative end.

'You've got math, game theory, optimal check-raising ranges, and optimal calling ranges,' he says. 'But there's also a psychological element to poker. You have to ask yourself, 'Who is this guy, what is he thinking, and what is he capable of?'

If you play live low-to-middle stakes poker, the answer is often 'this guy's an amateur who isn't a thinking player or capable of much.' As a result, consider bet-folding overpairs, even on dry boards — an exploitative adjustment that makes more money than PokerSnowie's optimal strategies.

The list of adjustments, especially in live poker, goes on and on. This is the great value of Cichy's book. By using optimal play as a foundation, he replaces guesswork with structure and offers a comprehensive guide to no-limit hold 'em.

Hunter Cichy's Advanced Concepts in No-Limit Hold 'em: A Modern Approach to Poker Analysis is available via D&B Poker.

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According to famous poker player and author Doyle Brunson, no-limit hold'em is the Cadillac of all poker games. The skill involved with no-limit games is tremendous, even seasoned professionals admit that they still have a lot to learn at no-limit hold'em. However, don't let this scare you; no-limit hold'em is, in my opinion, the most fun of all poker games as well. It can also be profitable, sometimes even for beginners.
After playing no-limit extensively, I've noticed that the keys to winning no-limit are one's knowledge of the game and his ability to adapt to his opponents' knowledge. You must know what your skills are at no-limit and what stages of the game you have mastered. Once you realize how good you are at no-limit, you must then apply this to how others at your table play no-limit badly.
For the sake of simplicity, I am going to divide the skills of no-limit into several stages. After mastering each of these stages, one can expect his or her profit potential at no-limit hold'em to increase.
Pot odds


You must understand what odds you are getting if you call a bet with a draw. Since you can decide the size of the bet (it's not fixed), you should know if you are getting or giving good odds to someone.
For example, calling an unraised pot preflop with 5 5 is good odds. If you hit a set, you can expect to make a lot of money (people will not expect it, so they will call with top pair). However, let's say you have a flush draw after the turn. The pot is $10 and someone bets $20 all-in, you are getting horrible odds. You have roughly a 1 in 5 shot of hitting on the river, and you would be betting $20 to win $50.
As basic as this may be, many no-limit players have not even mastered this stage! So, if you are still insecure about pot odds, don't worry. Many others are too, and often they don't even realize it.
Knowing the differences between Limit and No-Limit
Attempting to check-raising for value is far less valuable when playing a no-limit game than a limit one because you may be giving your opponent's a deadly free card. In limit poker, if you have the second-best hand, you will lose a little bit. In no-limit, you could lose your entire stack!
Aggression
Betting is generally preferable to calling in a no-limit game. When you bet, you can win if you have the better hand or if your opponent folds. If you call, you can only win if you have your opponent beaten. If you bet, you determine the bet size. You determine the pot odds. If you call, you are accepting someone else's odds.
If you bet, you force people to pay off when you have a good hand. If you are a caller, you have to hope someone else will willingly pay you off. The importance of aggression is why tight-passive players can win a lot more at limit than no-limit.
Quick Adjustment
Different types of games require different amounts of aggression. Games with fewer players require one to be looser and more aggressive. However, if you're up against many loose opponents, you must tighten up and wait until you have a strong hand. Generally, the opposite of what the game is does well. If the game is very loose, tighten up. If the game is very tight, take advantage and steal pots.
You also must adjust to your opponent's quality. If you are up against weak players, simply giving them bad pot odds and taking money from them bit by bit works well. If you are against better players, you must set some traps.
Reading skills
Getting an idea of your opponent's cards is very important. This takes time and experience. However, a way to improve your reading skills is what I call the 'three question technique.' Always ask yourself these three questions when someone makes or calls a bet:
• What does my opponent have?
• What does my opponent think I have?

2 5 No Limit Strategy

• What does my opponent think I think he has?
Psychology and Traps
When you hold the nuts and your opponent also has a good hand, what's the best way to get all of his chips? Learning to get out of and set traps is very difficult and only experience will help in this department.
Fundamentally, game psychology and traps are used to manipulate the three questions mentioned earlier. For example, if you overbet the pot with a flush draw and then check when you hold the flush, either your opponent will fall for the trap, thinking you had top pair, or he will recognize the trap and check-fold to you on river. This slowplay is used to manipulate the variable: what does he think I have?
Generally, this sort of game psychology is only used on good players (players that have mastered the first four steps). Against weaker players, you should just build a good hand and extract money out of them bit by bit. Weaker players just play their hand; they don't think about what you have.

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Advanced Poker Strategy For Winning

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