How to Crush $1/$2 No-Limit Redux: 3 Secret Tips
When it comes to live $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em, this might be the most valuable strategy article you ever read.
While most strategy articles revolve around broad theories that can give you general assistance with your game, this one will focus on a few simple key points to keep in mind.
In other words: it'll pay for itself in the first session of $1/$2 NLHE you play after reading it.
The Multi-Way Ace
Simply put, don't play against aces.
In a typical live $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em game, it's common for three to eight players to see a flop, regardless of the preflop action. Having four or five players all call a 10BB raise is not only possible, but almost common.
As Daniel Skolovy implied in his article How to Crush Live $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em, almost every player you're ever going to sit with is going to be a mouth-breathing donkey. The level of play common at these tables is truly laughable at times.
For this reason, you have to assume that the majority of these players are playing any hand they're dealt containing an ace - after all aces are the highest cards in the deck.
If more than three players head to the flop, it's extremely likely one of them is holding an ace. Unless you've flopped a monster, if an ace falls on the flop you should be willing to immediately fold.
Not only can you assume that one of the five players to see the flop has the ace, but you can also assume they're not about to fold it - regardless of any bets or raises you may make.
After all, a pair of aces is the highest pair you can get.
Don't Bluff Yourself
A few $1/$2 players are good. Some are average. Most are bad. Many are horrible.
Since the vast majority of the players in the game range in skill from horrible to average, you can almost eliminate bluffing from your opponents' games.
To truly pull off a strong bluff, you need to have a very strong understanding of the game and the thought process of all the other players in the hand. Tom Dwan's play in season five of High Stakes Poker is a superb example of true bluffing.
Rarely, if ever, will you play with a $1/$2 player strong enough to make real bluffs.
You will, occasionally, come across a player making simple dark-tunnel bluffs. But for the most part you can assume that if any player at your table bets, they simply have a strong hand.
Yes, it's true people will bluff you at $1/$2. But the bluffs are rare enough to pretend as if bluffing doesn't exist. If you make the call every time you think your opponent is bluffing, you will lose far more money than you will make in the game.
Unless you have a very good reason to believe otherwise, if someone bets or raises, just assume they have a strong hand.
Contagious Drawing
When you're stuck in the middle of a run of cold cards, you can find yourself sitting for hours, folding hands and watching the other players play pots.
Many of these pots will be large-sized pots won by players calling off their stacks on a draw.
After watching other players double and triple up, and seeing your own stack slowly shrink, you can start yearning to win a big juicy pot. If you're still running cold on cards, it's easy to jump on the bandwagon and push your stack in on a draw.
Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean it's the correct thing to do. Unless you have the odds to draw, or you have some other reason for making the play, you want to avoid chunking off your stack on a 30% shot.
By integrating these three tips into you game you will almost instantly decrease variance and increase profit.
One thing to remember: this article is based on live $1/$2 No-Limit against average to weak players. If you're playing online or sitting with a table of professionals, all the rules change.
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