Sky's the Limit for No-Limit

Florida is home to 24 legal cardrooms. I have a Christmas gift for the millions of Florida poker players. My buddy John can be found, bankroll in his pocket, prowling the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood and the Isle of Capri in Pompano Beach. He's been known to wander as far afield as Tampa, Brighton, and Immokalee. Boyd Gaming, the nation's third-largest gaming company, is renovating Dania Jai Alai, just three minutes from his home.

Why is John playing? He's playing because he is learning no-limit hold'em - and Floridians should be excited because John is probably the world's most terrible knowledgeable player. Or is that knowledgeable terrible player? Regardless, you also should be excited because lots of people like John continue to find their way to no-limit hold'em games.

I have watched the number of players and the volume of dollars wagered in poker rise and fall in an oscillating wave many times during my 35 years in the game - long term, always trending upward. These are the major variables in the poker economy. Twice, there have been sharp upward spikes: the opening of poker in California in the late '80s and the TV/Internet boom of 2001-2006. Things have always slowed in hard economic times, such as the dot-com bust and the post-9/11 recession - and the current subprime credit crisis.

When middle- and upper-income people worry about their money, the poker economy tends to contract. Compounded by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, what we have now is a definite downswing in poker. Yet, I'd venture to say that more people have played poker in 2007 than during the entire decade of the '90s, and have wagered more inflation-adjusted dollars, as well. And those tens of millions of players wagering billions of dollars this year played more no-limit hold'em poker than limit hold'em poker. I have written before that if I were starting my professional poker career right now, no-limit hold'em would be my game of choice.

In the late '70s and early '80s, no-limit hold'em died out and was replaced by limit hold'em, mostly because the good players won the money quickly, drying up the economic sources for the game. It is possible that this evolutionary process will repeat and no-limit hold'em games will wither and die, to be replaced by limit hold'em. But the numbers are different than they were then. Yes, weak players will go broke and give up, or switch to limit hold'em games, where they are not so swiftly punished for the weakness of their play. However, the pool of those familiar with and interested in the game, from which new money can be drawn into the no-limit hold'em economy, is larger than it has ever been.

Furthermore, the young players who built up their bankrolls and egos when Internet games were very soft and good players totally pounded the games are still in action. They don't figure to give up easily. Most of the new young players entering the game are drawn to it through their experiences of watching TV; no-limit is much more interesting to watch. No-limit hold'em games are getting incrementally tougher over time, and that will continue until Internet poker laws change or the economy experiences an upsurge. Nonetheless, it is the game to play if you're willing to put serious effort into learning how to play, can handle the stresses of the game, and are looking for optimal financial upside!

I have a very good friend - not John! - who I think is one of the best no-limit hold'em players you've never heard of. He says that, as is the case in limit hold'em, every single wagering decision is situational, meaning there is very rarely a "right" answer beyond "it depends." Also, like limit hold'em, the game is about edge and expectation. However, many limit hold'em concepts are less important in no-limit hold'em, and others are more important. And as is the case in limit hold'em, there are some rules of thumb that ought not be used to determine your decisions in a pre-defined way, but instead serve as a baseline from which to formulate decisions.

Here are some broad general concepts that, while not always universally true, can aid in no-limit hold'em decision-making:

1. The stack size of every player in the hand, and your relative position to each, is a significant variable in every single no-limit decision.

2. The goal is to get your opponent's whole stack.

3. No-limit is about manipulating your opponents to make mistakes!

4. Implied odds and reverse implied odds are even more important in no-limit hold'em.

5. Knowing how much your opponents will call with given hands is something you want to grasp.

6. Picking up reliable tells on opponents has huge value!

7. Think about how you can control the size of the pot in regard to how much risk you wish to take in a given situation.

8. Think in terms of the expectation of bets made/folded. Don't get mentally caught up in dollar amounts!

9. Concentrate and focus on player tendencies. It will pay huge dividends!

10. Don't tilt.

You'll be able to recognize John easily enough in those Florida no-limit hold'em games; he plays in the biggest legal game, $5-$10 blinds that's often played with a $20 live straddle, $8 half-hour time change, $1 jackpot, $100 max buy-in. (Yes, you read that right!) Just look for the Hemingway look-alike/wannabe in safari vest and wide-brimmed Panama. Or, listen for the biggest yakker in the room. (Mason Malmuth once coined the term "Headset Case" about John - because when John sits in your game, you want to put your headset on!) Or, just find the $5-$10 blinds no-limit hold'em game with the longest transfer-in list - the one everybody wants to play.

The sky's the limit for no-limit hold'em, especially if John's in your game. This is my Christmas gift to Florida readers.

Roy Cooke has played more than 60,000 hours of pro poker and has been part of the I-poker industry since its beginnings. His longtime collaborator, John Bond, is a freelance writer in South Florida. Bond's poker mystery T-Bird is featured in the just-released Best American Mystery Stories of 2007. Real Poker III: The Best of Cooke 1992-2005 is available at www.conjelco.com.