The preceding columns in this series discussed several issues to consider when deciding whether to switch. If you performed the analyses these columns recognized, and you believe that you can succeed in no-limit hold'em (NLH), take the next step: Plan a transition strategy. Learning new skills is just the first step, and it is not the toughest or most important one.
The critical task is changing your mindset, the way you think about poker. Changing it can be quite difficult. You're not a computer. You can't just click on a program to change everything you do. In fact, for the first few months, you will often react like a limit hold'em player. Some of my friends did very well at limit, but tried and failed to make the switch.
Despite their skills and discipline, they could not change their mindsets enough to play winning NLH. I can understand their problems because I have made and continue to make serious mistakes by reacting like a limit player.
The poker literature often reminds me of my management-consulting days. Experts tell readers what they should do and naively assume that they will follow their advice. Many consultants made the same assumption. They brilliantly analyzed the flaws in the current organization and drew a new organization chart. Then they left without telling management how to change the procedures, attitudes, and behaviors that the new organization demanded. The result was predictable: Because people did not change their mindsets, many reorganizations failed.
Don't make the same mistake. Don't expect to become a good NLH player just because you know how to play. Make a plan for changing your mindset. For the few months, take these steps:
Don't expect too much
This point is critical. If you expect quick improvements, you almost certainly will be disappointed. You may even become so discouraged that you give up on NLH.
Don't expect immediate, large profits. Even though some terrible players give away their chips, don't expect to make a lot of money immediately. In fact, your win rate will probably go down. Let's say that you have been winning $20 per hour in a mixture of $10-$20 and $15-$30 limit games. Expect to win less at first, and you may even lose for a while. Regard that lost income as tuition or an investment in a new business.
Play only NLH cash games
Most winning limit players (myself included) played both limit and NLH at first, but it was a huge mistake. We also made another, smaller mistake: We played in NLH tournaments, even though they require a somewhat different strategy from cash games. Don't repeat our errors. Play
only NLH cash games until you gain some mastery and confidence.
Playing varied games will almost certainly slow down your progress. The demands are so different that each game interferes with the others. You will think like a limit or tournament player while playing another game.
If you're playing both NLH cash games and tournaments, you may think like a tournament player while playing for cash. In most tournaments, the chips in your stack are more valuable than the ones you can win. If you win all of the chips on the table, you get only 30 percent to 40 percent of their value. Therefore, the value of each chip goes down as your stack goes up. The difference in value becomes much more important as your stack goes down: If you lose those few chips, you're gone.
In cash games, every chip has the same value. If you think like a tournament player, you may sacrifice expected value (EV) to reduce the risk of going broke. Protecting your stack is critically important in tournaments, but since you can buy more chips in cash games, it doesn't matter much.
If you play both limit and NLH cash games, you probably will make fundamental strategic errors. When playing NLH, you probably will overemphasize cards and pot odds, because they are more important in limit than in NLH. You probably will underemphasize position, people, and implied odds, because they are much more important in NLH than in limit.
One reason people continue to play both limit and NLH is to minimize their lost profits during the transition period. Some need the income to pay bills, while others just don't want to see their winnings decline. To reduce these factors, budget an amount you can afford for the transition and regard that money as an investment in your future. If you can't afford - either financially or psychologically - to have your win rate drop temporarily, don't switch to NLH.
Play in small games
You may want to play in larger games because you can win more money, and they are more stimulating and challenging. You also may be embarrassed to play in small games, especially if you enjoy the status of playing in larger ones. But you should avoid bigger games at first.
Because the players in small games are weaker, you will win more often. You won't win much, but so what? If you have budgeted for reduced profits, you won't need to win much; you can survive by breaking even or (gasp!) losing.
Jim Brier is the co-author of
Middle Limit Holdem Poker, and he has written many
Card Player columns on that subject. He has beaten limit games as high as $100-$200. When he started to play NLH, he played in $50 buy-in games. He suggested that new NLH players should "set up little targets for yourself such as, 'I will play one hundred hours of no-limit at the lowest levels I can find and see if I can at least break even. ... If I can't break even, I will either drop no-limit and go back to limit or I will remain at the lowest level of no-limit until I am a proven winner.'"
Many people refuse to play in small games. They may need the kick out of playing for higher stakes, or they may worry, "What will my friends think if they see me here?" It's a silly reaction, but a very human one. If Jim Brier, with his reputation as a player and writer, was not ashamed to play in tiny games, why should you feel embarrassed?
Remember, your primary goal should not be to maximize your immediate profits, and it certainly should not be to impress your friends. Instead, lay a solid foundation for the future.
Concentrate on developing your skills and confidence, and nothing develops confidence more than winning. In addition, if the stakes are low, you will be more willing to experiment with new and uncomfortable strategies, such as playing weak hands from late position and making large semibluffs with good draws.
The lower the stakes, the less fear you will have of losing your stack, and that fear can be crippling. Many good limit players play scared in NLH, and they can be run over easily.
If the stakes are too high, you will become uncomfortable, and that discomfort can cause you to do what you have always done: think and act like a limit player. You will wait for premium hands, avoid draws without pot odds, overprotect your good hands instead of trying to win your opponents' stacks, and so on.
Final Remarks
Knowing how to play NLH is just the first step toward becoming a good NLH player. Despite what countless experts say, knowledge alone does not change your way of thinking, feeling, and reacting. Perhaps they had relatively few transition problems, but they also have gifts that you and I don't have.
You have developed certain habits and attitudes that served you well while playing limit poker, and you almost certainly will have problems changing them. Taking small, slow steps will make the transition easier, but for several months, you may frequently think and act like a limit player. Don't worry about it. Changing your mindset is almost always difficult, and it can't be rushed. This discussion will continue in my next column.
Dr. Schoonmaker ([email protected]) coaches only on psychology issues, such as controlling impulses, coping with losing streaks, going on tilt, and planning your self-development.
