Learning No-Limit From Scratch ­- The World’s Best Cash Game Poker Players

What makes the best the best? What do they accomplish that very good players don’t? How do they obtain that extra edge?

There are many factors that go into being a great poker player; strategic knowledge and emotional control are big. But lots of highly intelligent people have intensely studied poker and also possess emotional control. And there are many styles of play that can be winning strategies, though some are more effective than others. But in order to dominate the game, the world’s best players read situations very accurately and know how to take the optimal strategic line.

Oftentimes, the optimum line is an aggressive play that others either miss or lack the fortitude to implement. What taking the additional positive expected value (EV) plays accomplishes is that, overall, they wager more money per hour with the best of it, giving them a larger overall blended EV. At the end of the year, that larger overall EV translates into bigger profits.

But how exactly do they accomplish that? The most prevalent way to increase the amount of positive EV volume per hour is to analyze situations in which positive EV value can be created by aggression. Great poker players locate more aggressive positive EV situations by their ability to read their opponents’ hands effectively so that they get better overall fold equity.

Utilizing aggression transcends the value of its current worth. Poker should not be analyzed in a vacuum where only the current situation is focused on. Any actions you currently take affect your image and how your opponents will react to you in future hands.

Think about how you view two different opponents. One is obviously peddling the nuts, just sitting there waiting for a big hand and some poor sucker to pay him off. The other is aggressively betting and raising, often with some seemingly very marginal hands. Isn’t your play much friskier with Mr. Aggressive than Mr. Nut-Peddler? That said, if Mr. Aggressive has better poker knowledge and reads hands well, that may end up being a costly decision for you!

Aggression has many virtues. Played correctly, not only do you win more with your fold equity, it also widens your betting range from your opponent’s perspective, making you much harder to read. That confusion in your opponent’s mind ought to widen their calling range, causing them to make weaker calls with hands that are often in bad shape to your holding. Some of those calls will be highly positive EV calls for you, specifically those for large wagers.

Being aggressive should also allow you to make larger bet sizes, increasing your edge. One important concept to keep in mind is that, if your opponent is correct in calling a $20 bet and you can get him to call a $25 bet, if you can induce him to call a $35 wager, that bet has three times the EV of the $25 wager. That’s because the positive EV is only on the portion of the bet that is beyond what is expectationally neutral! Being able to induce your opponents to call larger bet sizes has even more value than it intuitively appears.

Being outstanding hand readers is what allows the world’s best players to correctly analyze situations and locate the positive EV aggressive opportunities. Their reading accuracy and correct strategic responses makes them the players they are. Yes, there are other reasons that they are great, but this is the biggest factor.

Many novice players think that to become a good poker player you need to memorize a rules-based strategy system and apply it, similar to the way you would play winning blackjack. But while understanding optimum game theory is valuable knowledge, playing world-class poker also requires analyzing and locating opportunities in non-standard situations. Non-standard situations occur quite often. They are frequently complicated and often require a high level of game knowledge to both read and solve. Poker is more of a judgement-based game than blackjack. It is based on your read of the current situation and your strategic and conceptual knowledge, so you can calculate the correct solution.

Focus on learning how to read hands. Constantly analyze your opponents whether you’re in the hand or not. Consider what each player’s range is in every situation. Think through those situations and evaluate whether an aggressive play would increase EV.

And if an aggressive play has the greatest value the situation has to offer, pull the trigger and make it. Don’t chicken out and pass up these situations by justifying passing as a way to “reduce variance” or “looking for a better spot.” Take into account that aggressive play will help your image when you hold a hand. Even if it’s a slightly negative play, it may have later value.

And if you learn to do that well, you’re on the path to greatness! ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman. Should you wish any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-376-1515 or Roy’s e-mail is [email protected]. His website is www.RoyCooke.com. Roy’s blogs and poker tips are at www.RoyCookePokerlv.com. You can also find him on Facebook or Twitter @RealRoyCooke