No-Limit Speed

When you play in a no-limit hold'em tournament, do you tend to play one set style and strategy? Or, do you make several adjustments – call it "shifting gears" – depending on the speed of the table?

What is a fast table? One reasonable definition of "fast" is a table where more than two-thirds of the hands are raised before the flop. What is a slow table? Perhaps where less than one-third of the hands are raised before the flop. Note that a fast table probably has two or more very aggressive players. But occasionally the presence of just one fast fish who bets and raises frequently juices up the speed of the table, as many of the better players try to engage him.

We all have heard the old adage, "Play tight in a loose game; play loose in a tight game." And certainly there is some truth in that. My general no-limit hold'em strategy is, "Trap in a fast game, bash in a slow game, and make lots of probing and provocative small bets in a medium-speed game." However, I seldom play any set strategy more than two-thirds of the time.

Last year when I first played in the no-limit hold'em tournaments at Casinos Europa in Costa Rica, I was amazed at the speed of the game. The buy-in and rebuys were $10 for 35 chips. Although the blinds started out at one and two chips, the betting on most hands quickly became five or more before the flop. I adopted the simple strategy of waiting for a good starting hand and then pushing in several chips.

For example, the first nonblind hand I played was A-J suited. Someone made it five to go and there were several callers. I pushed in my 32 chips, got two callers, and managed to win. I sat on my hundred chips for almost a half-hour until my next encounter with pocket jacks, which succumbed to a king on the river. Win some, lose some. In Costa Rica, when you need a rebuy, you shout "camisa," which literally means "shirt" (as in having lost your shirt).

By using this approach (playing tight until moving all in) in all five tournaments, I managed to accumulate several hundred chips with only two or three rebuys. After the two-hour rebuy period, there was a final add-on, when you could make up to 20 rebuys! It was still $10 for 35 chips, but at this point, you got three rebuys for the price of two.

After this final add-on, the speed of play changed drastically! Most players now had between 500 and 1,000 chips, and most of them now played as if they were aware of their own mortality.

It became almost a classic medium-speed game, and my probing and provocative small bets were working very effectively (like Mohammed Ali's left jab). From that point, in four of the five daily tournaments, I managed to increase my chip holdings to about 2,000 or more. And from that favorable position, if I only could have won my share of key confrontations, I would have made it to one or more final tables. So, I'll be going back this year (the last week of June) to try again.

The speed of the table also has a significant impact on your padding strategy. In no-limit poker, "padding" is a small raise with the single objective of increasing the size of the pot (as opposed to a larger raise that might also narrow the competition). For example, if four players have each called $10, you might want to raise the stakes slightly to $20 or $25 to go. Although padding is much more important in pot-limit than in no-limit (in looking ahead to getting more of your chips into the pot), the initial size of the pot in no-limit often changes the whole flow of the hand. But note that in a fast game in which there is a substantial chance of being check-raised, that certainly affects the sometimes delicate odds of padding the pot.

Also influenced by the speed of the table is how often you "speculate" in no-limit – that is, play a lesser or slightly offbeat hand (for example, play or raise before the flop with 6-5 suited). By definition, it would certainly be unsound to play all speculative hands; however, playing an occasional long shot is often a sound strategy in no-limit because of the much greater potential payoff.

Thus, soundness depends on the relative size of the stakes. If the "average chips-to-ante" ratio is greater than 50 (for example, if everyone started with 1,000 chips and the big blind is 20 chips, you can usually afford an occasional speculation, hoping to flop a "home run" (or "no-brainer"). But in fast games it is often sound to "spec" only from late positions, since there are usually raises and reraises before the flop, and you strongly prefer to minimize your investment.

So, when you arrive at a new table and notice that the speed is slow to medium, bring out your finest weaponry and look for a target. But when the chips are really flying, it is often best to simply lie back and wait for a big opportunity. In poker, especially no-limit poker, you are often in the hands of fate. So, as they say, you might as well relax and enjoy it.