Having a stop loss strategy can really help, most especially if you normally do not know when to stop or quit. It can help you when you make a choice if it’s time to continue or not.
Basically, a stop loss strategy comes with a stop loss limit (made up of numbers) which is a preset amount that ascertains when you should stop playing say in a particular game. It can be made up of any numbers, can actually be 300, 200, 100, etc.
In case you set 200, this implies that you need to quit when you already lose $200 or almost reach this situation.
But how can you come up with your stop loss limit? Are there any factors you must consider? Or situations you have to look at. Well, stop loss limit should vary from one to another and should make sense.
Typically, in a $3 and $5 blind No Limit game with $200 buy in minimum, a $200 stop loss will not make any sense. Also in $1/$2 Fixed Limit Seven-Card Stud game, $1,000 stop loss is not valuable. Try to have something sensible.
Nonetheless, when you have a sensible or reasonable stop loss limit, you can win without getting yourself into so many troubles. But of course you won’t be free from losing streaks but at least you won’t suffer from them that much. And also, you can be rest assured that though you won’t win, you won’t lose all your hard-earned money. Thus, it is really important that you make a sensible or reasonable stop loss limit. This maybe something so challenging but yet can be so helpful. Rest assured, if you have a sensible or reasonable stop loss limit, determining when to continue or quit won’t anymore be a mind-boggling experience for you.
At some point, you will be tempted to play the most popular poker variety – the No Limit Texas Holdem. Considering that it is one of the most challenging and hard to beat poker variety, it would be helpful if you equip yourself with some information that could really help you. For an instance you can try equipping yourself with the common mistakes players commit in No Limit Texas Holdem games that could later spare you from committing them yourself.
Being Very Aggressive
Many players, play aggressively when in a No Limit Texas Holdem game. They call every challenge, bet on every hand, and play a mediocre hand till its conclusion. In real essence, it is not helpful to play aggressively in most No Limit Texas Holdem games. To beat the game, you must know when to hold on and fold up and walk away.
There should not be any signs of shame when folding in a No Limit Texas Holdem game. Sometimes there’s no any better move than folding. Folding can sometimes save you from losing big bucks. But of course you must fold for good reasons.
Playing Loosely
A lot of players play loosely when in a No Limit Texas Holdem game. Eventually, they fail to realize that playing loosely makes them play like hungry crocodile getting everything being laid down.
Well, to beat the game, there shouldn’t be a lot of starting hands being played. Call on the pre-flop in the event there are some decent hole cards such as Kings, Queens or pocket Aces. At times, temptation to call on the preflop with hole cards like 10-9 unsuited hole cards would be strong. Entertaining the temptation once in a while would be fine but shouldn’t become a practice. Stand firm against temptations to beat the game.
There will be a time at the poker table that you need to slow play. Most especially if you are into no-limit Texas Holdem, some instances will require you to slow play. If you slow play in a no-limit game, you will give your opponents the chance to commit mistake that would eventually cause them big bucks.
However, it won’t be easy for you to know when is the time you really need to slow play. But having some certain hands can be your clue. You need to slow play when you have hands like high pairs like Aces or Kings. However, you must be up against aggressive player who always seems to raise, only giving you little chance to reraise.
Also, ability to flop a full house or better can be your go signal that you need to slow play. Nonetheless, if you are lucky enough to flop a full house or better, remember to always slow play. Most especially if you can feel your opponents are holding few cards that will let them call your bet and you have a powerful hand like a full house, your better be alert and be wise in your strategy. You can try to check and let your opponents see another card for free to see if their hand has the chance to improve.
In general, slow playing can be a fantastic tool you can make use in your every game. If you know how to use it properly, you can eventually earn much. However, although it is a good tool, be careful also in using this as your weapon. Slow playing for a wrong reason can be dangerous. If you are not sure whether or not you must slow play in a certain situation with a certain hand, never continue. Only slow play when you are sure there is a need to.
Hi there!
I have K7 unsuited and flop is A – 7- 4. I normally wind up calling it but later I lose as it comes back to haunt me. Do you think I should call with a hand like such? Why?
By the way, with suited connectors do you think I should call preflop bet?
Many thanks,
Drew
Drew,
- You should probably lay down this hand on this flop when it is bet to you in No Limit as there is an ace. If it is Limit, you can stay in due to the limited bets and the fact you have odds.
- A-K, A-Q, A-J and maybe K-Q, K-J, and K-10 are the only suited connectors I am going to normally consider calling a raise preflop with against a single opponent.
Hello,
I was in a regular No Limit recently. It was a game with 2 maniacs. Well, one of the two has the best numbers on every dimension. Other one has also more or less achieved the same thing if he was not drunk.
On the other side, the rest of us at the table played pretty tight and played only hands that were known for not being weak. But the maniacs then kept on calling, raising, and re-raising.
Now, do you know of any effective way to beat maniacs? I don’t understand why they seem to come out about even in every heads-up play. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
All the best,
Lance
Lance,
The best way to play a maniac is to play tight and bust them when you have strong hands and their luck runs out.
Usually they come out even because many players will not loosen up their requirements when they are heads up with a maniac. Many more hands are playable in heads-up play and the players that don’t understand this get punished.
Hi,
I’ve been playing Poker for more or less 4 months now, mainly I play No Limit. Just this morning I participated in a 2/4 game. I must admit I barely had enough to buy in then.
At some point, I remember I was dealt 83os in late position. I thought of playing it till the end however I considered the players present, they raise preflop most of the time. To make the long story short, flop came but didn’t grant me the top pair. Turn and river followed and were actually 8′s. Unfortunately I missed my 4 of a kind. Highest hand of the day was payed out $1000 and I was really mad and upset.
Do you think I made the right call? How about my buy in which was in minimum, am I just right about it?
Please I need your advice.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Matthew
Matthew,
8-3 offsuit in late position is the same action as any other position, fold. If you can play it in the big blind to no raise, then play it. Otherwise fold. By the way, you didn’t have four of a king, you would have had trip 8’s.
Personally, if you only have enough money to make a minimum buy-in, you shouldn’t play. You don’t have enough money to stand any downswings early on. Come back another time when you have more money to commit. That’s my view.
Hi,
I’m here to ask something. Well, normally in fixed limit games, depending on position I call but I see to it there’s no raise particularly if it’s quite a tight game. And if in case I hit on the flop I call them down, if not it’s check or fold time.
I have this approach but I am not sure if it’s sensible. In pot limit I should be careful not to overestimate what I have, and not get committed easily. In no limit, I should only play whenever there are many other callers preflop. What do you think?
Thanks in advance.
All the best,
Dustin
Dustin,
In Limit, if you hit the flop or flop a draw, you should tend to stay until the end as you usually have odds to stay.
In Pot Limit and No Limit you need to develop a tight aggressive strategy based on hand selection and position. Playing when there is only multiple players in the pot is not an optimum way to play all holdem pots you enter. You need to approach the other Holdem games differently than Limit Holdem. It sounds like you are approaching them like Limit Holdem.
Hello,
I’ve been playing Poker seriously for more or less 5 months now. Honestly I don’t know if I’m already a good poker player or what though I actually grew up with people who loves poker very much and have a play-money bankroll of over $66000. By the way, I’ve been into $25/$50 No Limit online.
As of now I’m bothered about how concerned should I be about misses. For an instance, this morning, I had A,10 off suit and was in middle position. Guy before me then raised with a huge amount and I folded. I thought A,10 off wasn’t strong enough to call. After a while, some players called behind me. Flop then came and brought A-A-10. I was surprised and hurt then, I would have flopped the nuts. Another example was when I folded J,4 in early position and then flop came and brought J-J-4. If I limped in more or less I could have big money.
Any thoughts?
Hope to heart from you soon.
Regards,
Benz
Benz,
Both hands were folding hands based on what came up. This type of scenario occurs a lot. For every time that your hand would have flopped the nuts, 8 or 9 other times you will miss the flop and have to fold and lose money. Both hands are long term losing propositions based on the information given. You were correct to fold.
Hello,
There’s a situation which tends to happen quite often. Please give me clarity on this.
In a $1-$2 No Limit game or at times Limit, I have a high pocket pair Js to Ks and then would raise preflop. Early position and I’ll get 2 or 3 callers. Flop would then came A-6-4 rainbow.
Then I would be the first to act and at least two players would be there behind me. Then I would assume that from the 2 or 3 callers, at least one would have an A and without knowing would then draw 2 outs.
If you were me, will you check or bet then? If in Limit, I would more or less place a bet for the information as for an instance in a $10-$20 game it will just take me $10 to get useful information regarding $60 or $80 pot and if there’d be a raise, I’ll be busted out. On the flip side if in Limit, I will most likely place a min size bet as if it’s a very small one I might just be raised and if a significant bet I might risk possible A.
Any thoughts?
Thanks and more power to you and your site!
All the best,
Alesser
Alesser,
I am going to bet out if I was the aggressor preflop, especially in Limit Holdem. If I am raised, then I will slow down. I will also bet out on the turn if I am just called on the flop in most cases, unless a tight player calls. In that case, I will check.
Hello,
For about a month now, I’ve been playing Holdem at Empire Poker. Usually I play for about 3 hours a day. As of the moment I’m curious about $0.5-$1.0 Limit. I believe the level itself is very tight with usually only 2 or 3 players seeing the flop, often with very little preflop raises.
Oftentimes, level transforms into something potentially unprofitable game of luck. I also notice that having just the second best hand doesn’t work at all at such level. And when I have the winning hand, my losses end up exceeding my wins as I can’t have sufficient action. On the better side, I do well with slow playing hands as JT with flop of 7TT. Same thing with pocket pairs. On the flip side with hands as T4o and A6o I just normally end up having small win that doesn’t cover my blinds.
Generally speaking, I can actually mix up my play and have the potential of remembering the cards I have folded to check if what could have had happened. However, with 52o, I usually fold which isn’t supposed to be. I never realized that I could have won a decent size pot with a full house or if not maybe two pair.
As of now, I believe tight and aggressive game is my aim. I typically win 2 or 3 pots early to be $15- $20 up however later on will just end up losing when the above mentioned factors kick in. Once to change things up, I tried playing two tables at the same time and I could say it was a successful attempt. Also, I tried my hand and luck at the small No Limit game, $25.00 buy-in, blinds $0.5/$0.25 and for some reasons I lost my shirt in the end. Not yet tired of trying so I gave sit and go tournaments, $5+1 NL a shot. I first tried to allow first 3 or 4 wild gamblers weed themselves out as I wait for some strong hands. Well, such approach worked and so I went home with more money though I was just second.
Now, I have two questions:
- Do you think it’s really possible for internet poker games to go this far and this tight even at the smallest pot levels?
- Based on what I’ve shared to you, do you have any piece of advice for me? Should I just stick at tourneys? Do you think it would be best if I try higher limit NL games as players there might act more predictably? And is it wise to just ignore the “life is one big session” motto and just quit while I’m leading?
Thanks in advance!
Regards,
Mark
Mark,
- It is possible for games to be this tight. It all depends on the players. If a game is bad, you can always find a better game. You usually can check the stats on most rooms to determine which games are the most profitable.
- Your approach seems to be decent, but it sounds like you have been in a couple of bad games in the limit side of things. Limit and No-Limit are two totally different games and as a result, I would stick with one or the other as my main game and then slowly work my way into the other. As far as tournaments, one tournament is not enough for me to determine whether you should play tournaments or not. Try a few more and if you do well, you may want to look into that possibility.
