Ok, my regular fans have already heard this. But, the hand so clearly illustrates several important no limit concepts, that I will repeat it here.

Now, people not yet familiar with A.T.E. may not no this, so I'll clarify:

Now limit hold em, when discussed by A.T.E. refers to REAL no limit hold em, as played at a few places in the country. The difference between REAL no limit, and the !@#$^!#$%^#$!king poop that PASSES for no limit on the internet, is that in REAL no limit, there is no restriction to the amount of chips a player may buy.

The Hawiian Gardens Casino in Hawiian Gardens, California, coined the term "one shot" no limit, to refer to there Max buy in game. This is an excellent choice of words, and I will use that, when discussing Max buy in no limit.

Ok, on to the hand:

In May, at the Bellagio in Vegas, our hero ATE was playing in the no limit game, up on the elevated section. Made me feel like a bigshot, to be on the same level as the BIG BOYS.

Anyway, this game has a blind structure of $10 small, $20 Big. The minimum buy in is $600, and of course NO pluckin' Maximum! The average person had about $4,000, some had as much as $20,000, and yours truely had $3000. I had pretty much just sat down, when I was dealt 88 in early middle position. The player second to act after the BB, opened for $80, pretty much a standard raise, in this game. Now, in a limit hold em game, it's pretty much FINANCIAL SUICIDE, to be the first caller after an early position raiser, with "dog balls" (Ed note: "dog balls" is crude slang for pocket eights) This is because if there are not several callers behind you, you are not getting sufficient pot odds to flop a set, and you don't want to be heads up against someone with a bigger pair.

But, this is no limit, and even though calling here presents entirely different possible problems, I decided to call the eighty.

The reason for this is: even though I may be heads up agaisnt a possible bigger pair, in no limit the IMPLIED odds go through the roof. Especially if the guy actually has a huge pair. He looked loose enough to actually put in the 3 G's that would cover me, if I flopped a set, and he had AA or KK.

Well, if someone raises more than the minimum behind me, I'll have to dump, for 80 for a potential 3 large, seemed like a good risk to me.

Also, I thought, many people (incorrectly) just smooth call in this situation, with AA or KK, so even if one of those hands is out there, I still have a reasonable chance to see the flop for $80, and maybe win a REALLY big one.

Two more players called the eighty, and including the blinds (who didn't call) the pot now totalled $350

The flop comes down: 2 6 7, with two clubs The preflop raiser, checked, I bet 300 (not wanting to give a free card) The two callers mucked, and NOW THE PREFLOP RAISER, JACKS IT UP TO $700!!! Oh, POOP! Now what do I do. Well I'll tell you what I did, I jacked it back another 700, and he mucked within two seconds.

Gosh! ATE, you must have had some great read, did you play with the guy before, and thus knew how he played? . . . . . NOPE. Did he accidently flash his cards to you, so you SAW that you had the best hand?
NOPE. Are you crazy? Did you just make a lucky guess? NOPE.

I was able to make this play, for several reasons:

(1) I have the experience to know how the average person plays

The vast majority of players, will not give a free card with a flop like this, (connecting and suited board) when they have a big pair. There is already a decent amount in the pot (350) and there is a fairly good chance that someone may have clubs or something like a 98 suited.

The amount of his raise, 1/3 more than the minumum, suggests the following.

"I want to make my raise look as threatening as possible, while also saving money if I'm beaten.

This is often a dead give away. Kind of like people putting up a sign in their house "warning, I have a gun" Translation: I'm too cheap to buy a gun, I'll try to scare you off cheaply.

Also, the play was a classic "either or" play, in that in addition to the chance that I had the best hand (very good), and the chance that I could still get called by a worst one (AK may still call, as the pot odds, 700 for 2400 is kinda attractive enough, to try to "spike" up an Ace of King), Or I
could have even GOTTEN A BETTER, BUT NOT MONSTER hand to muck.

This was entirely very likely. With another 1600 left after I reraised, someone holding 99, 1010 JJ, or even possibly QQ, probably would not want to risk the 2300 extra, that I didn't have 77 or 66. Notice how I also raised just the right amount, as It looks like I want the call, and thus I mimicked a set.

The last consideration, was my chances of making a comeback in the game, if I was wrong, and he called. With 1600 left, If ATE misjudged the situation, I could still come back and win.

A small, but significant consideraton, was my chances to win, if the guy did have a bigger pair, and called.

Well, even if he called, he probably would not bet out on the turn, hoping that I would just check the hand down. This means that I could improve to an open end draw, with a 5 or a nine, which would give me 10 outs to win on the river, and a probable free card to do so.

And, the important thing to remember, is that I thought all this out, IN ABOUT A SECOND and a half.

NOW, I know y'all don't like it, when I get bragging, and I want to tell you: I'm not. In a matter of fact way, I'm saying that I AM very skilled in this game, with a lot of experience behind my belt. Even though I have memory problems, I'm still very fast with my decisions.

This is very important, Y'all. Although it isn't always the case, HESITATION is almost always viewed as WEAKNESS. So if you are going to do anything, with a hand that's not a monster, in order to be respected, you have to act quickly.

Ok, so I know this is a long post, but No limit hold em, is a complicated game. I'm trying to give you a good example of the thought processes necessary to compete in this game.

(Ed note: you do not have to be this good at thinking, to beat the "one shot" games. I recommend these for making money, just don't like that they call it "no limit")

Ok, so let's recap what we've learned


(1`) In no limit, we look not at the pot, but the pot and our opponent's
stacks, to determine implied odds we will be receiving. Since the
guy had enough to cover my 3, I'm getting 38 to 1 odds, and it's 7.5
to 1 against flopping a set.

(2) Since you won't always have information about how a particular
Player plays, it's important to study how the AVERAGE person plays
so you can make semi-informed decisions.

(3) Try to look for plays, that can be an "either or" play. that you may
have the best hand, or that your opponent has a higher, but not
monster hand-and may fold.

(4) Learn to make decisions that are almost INSTANT, unless you want
to fake strength, by hesitating.

(5) Don't play a minumum stack. If I did not have the extra money,
there was no chance that he would have folded a bigger pair.

(6) LOOK FOR GOOD GAMES!! The very fact that there was a person
willing to check raise bluff, indicated a good game. (He threw his
hand too quickly, to actually have had a pair)

(7) Look for games that offer a very good ratio of money potential/house
collection. In this game, I could have won as much as 10,000, but
the house only charges $7 a hour hour, for your seat

( Most raises in hold em, are NOT big pairs. It's almost exactly 3 times
easier to get AK, then a specific Big Pair. Even if someone will raise
with only AA, KK or AK, it's still about 40% harder to get EITHER AA
or KK, then AK


Beginning players, I would not suggest that you go fly off to Vegas, to
try this game. Get a ton of experience first.
Also remember, this: Just because it's the game most often featured in T.V. does NOT mean that this is what you have to, or should play.



No limit, requires 34346.0045 times the talent and experience and talent.
(figure is made up, for dramatic purposes)

Adam - very informative post as usual.
keep 'em coming, maybe I can take a lesson from you one day, I would like too.

Uh, gee Guys (gals?) This was a classic post, about no limit hold em. Why only one response?

adam that was a great post. common betting patterns are so interesting, and handy to know, i love learning new ones.