Introduction

Texas Hold'em Poker is one of the most popular versions of poker known today. One could even go as far as to say that it is one of the most popular games of any kind. This version of poker is favoured by both land based and online casinos as the benchmark due to the fact that up to ten players can play at any given time. Although poker is in a way a game of chance, luck can only last in the short term and it is the players who know the game's intricacies who will dominate in the long term and come out on top. This is why it is of paramount importance to know as much strategy as possible to help you with your game.

In the long run, a tight/aggressive style of play is what tends to be the most profitable, especially when playing against experienced players. The pre-flop and flop is where most players make the biggest mistakes. If you are able to iron out these problems sooner rather than later, the poker playing experience will be much more meaningful. Things do become a lot simpler after the turn card and if you are able to keep your wits up to this point then things will start to make a lot more sense and fall into place.

Bankroll Management

In order to become a sound poker player, you have to learn restraint. This restraint is not limited to the poker table alone. Even before you sit down to play a game of Texas Hold'em you need to be sure that you can afford to lose the money you are playing with. Do not even think about playing on credit.

Building a bankroll is like building up capital. It should be done over time and it should be done intelligently. Using the 50 buy-ins rule is a good place to start. The risks are not exceptionally high, but there is still room to win.

Pre-flop Strategy

Hand ranking for No-Limit Texas Hold'em

With regards to no limit Texas Hold'em, the best hands to start with are

* Pairs AA-22
* Big suited connectors AKs & AQs
* Big connectors AK & AQ

Starting Hand Requirements

If you want a tight/aggressive style of play, then this is the way to go, especially if you are still learning the ropes. You should always stay away from marginal hands because this will put you in a position where you will have to guess. As a new player – especially when playing no limits – you should stick to playing pairs AA-22, AK and AQ. This will limit the damage but also open the door for you to win a few pots. The most important thing to learn is discipline when playing this way because due to the fact that you will not be playing for many pots, you may be tempted to be reckless. By not playing in all the pots you will also have the opportunity to study all your opponents' nuances.

If there are limpers in front of you, you should only be tempted to raise with the top hands and call with marginal hands. If the pot has been raised, then you need to fold/re-raise depending on whether it was a strong or weak player who raised. If you are sitting with a strong hand (AK and AA-JJ) then you should try and shut the stronger players off as soon as you can by calling.

Limping and Raising

If you are sitting with AA-QQ, AK and AQs, you should raise in any position. All other hands should be considered limping hands. You may, however want to occasionally mix up your play so that you do not become like an open book. You need to keep your opponents guessing.

General pre-Flop Advice

You should raise/re-raise with top pairs (AA-QQ) and top connectors (AK, AQs) so that you can make low-pairs and connectors pay to see flops against you. In no limit, you will be safer if you stick to the premium hands. You could lose big if you chase with a second best hand.

You should also keep your raises to between 70% and 100% so that you have a buffer when being re-raised. With regards to limpers in front of you, you can raise 4-6 times the big blind.

On The Flop

This is a very important area of no limit play. This is where you determine the strength of your hand. You have to determine as quickly as possible how strong your hand is. You must learn not to be precious and if you feel that your hand is second best then you should step back.

When deciding what to do, there are certain things you should keep in mind:

You have to know what your relative strength is and to ascertain if anyone has raised before the flop. If anybody did, you need to know if it was a strong or weak player. The number of players at the table also affects how you are about to bluff and the chances of someone having a stronger hand than you.

Unless you think your opponent is bluffing, you should fold when faced with a bet. As they are "setting the odds", it is crucial that you make the appropriate decision. The more experience you gain, the better you will become at judging this.

In order to keep your opponents on their toes, you should also vary your style of play. You may even think about playing back with a raise when you think you have a winning hand or if you want to intimidate a weaker player. This kind of play ofren forces stronger hands into making mistakes.

On the River

Unless you are positive of winning, you should avoid betting. Once it has reached this stage you need to make sure that you do not throw any more money away unnecessarily.
You will do well to try and work out what your opponent is holding. This will give you an indication of what to bet, if you do, and when they might call.
In order to vary your play and to keep your opponents guessing, a good tip is to bet small when you are sure you have the best hand. This could induce players to call with a weaker hand.
On the Turn
At this stage, you want to have the lead and increase the pot value. If you are thinking of betting a draw on the flop, you have to ensure that your judgement is sound. This will help you determine whether to fire again or not. The game of poker is always changing, so do not fall into the habit of not re-evaluating your hand as play continues. This will make your game too rigid.

If you have a medium holding, it is not advisable to call down big bets. If, however you suspect an opponent of bluffing, then go ahead

The Odds

Your "outs" ate the unseen cards that will help make your hand the winning hand.

Number of outs	After the flop Two cards to come		After the turn One card to come
	%	Odds to 1 against	%	Odds to 1 against
1	4.3	22.4	2.2	44.5
2	8.4	10.9	4.3	22.3
3	12.5	7	6.5	14.4
4	16.5	5.1	8.7	10.5
5	20.3	3.9	10.9	8.2
6	24.1	3.1	13	6.7
7	27.8	2.6	15.2	5.6
8	31.5	2.2	17.4	4.7
9	35	1.9	19.6	4.1
10	38.4	1.6	21.7	3.6
11	41.7	1.4	24	3.2
12	45	1.2	26.1	2.8
13	48.1	1.1	28.3	2.5
14	51.2	0.95	30.4	2.3
15	54.1	0.85	32.6	2.1
16	57	0.75	34.3	1.9
17	59.8	0.67	37	1.7
18	62.4	0.6	39.1	1.6
19	65	0.54	41.3	1.4
20	67.5	0.48	43.5	1.3

Where to play

The No Limit Texas Holdem has recently become very popular. Many players give up their successful or not try to master the Limit Texas Holdem and pass to the no limit game.

On one hand it’s good as there are more players. But on the other hand it becomes more and more difficult to find a poker room for the game. This short review gives the characteristics of some popular poker rooms suitable for the comfortable and profitable game of the No Limit Texas Holdem.

1. Absolute Poker (USA players are welcomed)
Is a great site for the no limit poker game. This site is unique as here you can play the short table No limit Texas Holdem 6 players max. with the limit of $5/$10. But if you are playing with the short stake you should be ready to the fact that most players ignore full tables. The minimum buy-in in most poker rooms for the no limit poker is 20BB.

BTW, Absolute has a rather big bad beat jackpot. When I was there the last time it amounted $200,000+. Well, this is not millions like in on-line slots but you have more chances to win in poker ;).

2. Ultimate Bet (USA players are welcomed)
There are many players at different limits. There are no limit poker tables with $0.1/$0.2. Unlike in Absolute Poker the players are rather equally divided between full and short tables, which means that even the players with short stake will have the place where to play.

By the amount of the bad beat jackpot this is the champion site. When I last checked my account there was half a million on the bet.

3. Full Tilt Poker (USA players are welcomed)
Is one of the leaders among the poker players. Only PokerStars has more players but it isn’t present in this review as I have never played No Limit Texas Holdem there. Actually Full Tilt Poker didn’t leave any special memories except rather strong players in the cash games. There are no dear to the beginners no limits. All the games start at $5/$10.

4. EuroPoker
One of my favourite rooms. Why? This is one of the poker rooms where you can start the game with 10BB. And as I have already written in my blog I prefer playing with the short stake. And such a low buy-in let’s me utilize the strategy push or fold.

5. Carbon Poker (USA players are welcomed)
It’s not a very distinguished room with a rather small number of players. But I have always loved these players. If you read a couple of articles about poker and you can keep a little control of your emotions you will be better than 90% of this room’s players.

I don’t want to say that there are only losers there, but they are very numerous!

This is an automatic strategy but it works and brings money. The most important is to be fast and to check the chart of the starting hands.

And here I should end the review. Of course, I can find about ten other fine rooms. But as I have never played there I can say nothing about them.