Learning No-Limit From Scratch ­- What I’ve Learned and What I Need To Learn

It’s been about a year since I started the transition from limit to no-limit hold’em. The conversion has been more difficult than I envisioned. I’ve transitioned from limit hold’em to other limit poker games previously and found that my conceptual understanding of poker made the changeover relatively painless. That’s not true with changing from limit to no-limit hold’em; they’re very different games.

I’ve played about 700 hours of no-limit. While I’m beating the games I play, albeit $1-$2 online and $2-$5 live, I’m not putting up top numbers in either game. I feel that $1-2 online is tougher than the $2-5 live, though I’m doing proportionally better online.
I get excellent coaching, and with my good conceptual poker knowledge, I feel my poker fundamentals are sound. But, I’m having problems acquiring a first-rate feel for no-limit situations, which I need to formulate the optimal play. Possessing good feel is where a lot of edge exists. Hands play so differently from limit games, and my natural instincts process my thoughts with a limit mentality. Switching that mindset is proving difficult. I need to develop, be in tune with, and be capable of instantly switching to a no-limit thought process. That will improve my play selection, my hand reading, and will come over time and with focused experience.

I’m trying to analyze my mistakes, why I made them, and how I can avoid making them again. I need to get away from my instinctive limit reactions and process every no-limit situation in a deeply thought out manner until the thought process becomes instinctual. Poker requires an effective decision-making process. The more you can effectively streamline that thought process, the more consistent, deeper, and accurate your decisions will be. By making more thoughts instinctual, I’ll be able to process greater information and improve my decision-making process.

Additionally, I need to read my opponents’ thoughts and minds more effectively to make better reads and make more optimum plays. My 70,000 hours of limit play have made me take for granted my instinctual level of thought and hand-reading abilities in limit. In no-limit, some of my quality opponents understand my thoughts better than I do theirs, which is not a good foundation for success.

To become effective at no-limit, I need to change that. This is going to come mostly from experience and focus. Some people can repeat the same task over and over and never learn anything. They just don’t concentrate on improving. I retroactively mentally go through every hand I play and also many others my opponents play. By thinking through my own and their thought processes, I learn how to read hands, emotions, and thought processes and acquire a better feel. Fortunately, whenever I’m befuddled, I can discuss difficult situations with the many great players I know.

While I do range analysis in limit and am therefore experienced in processing those thoughts, fold equity equations take on a much bigger meaning in no-limit. They’re also more complicated with no-limit’s varying bet-sizing. I’ve done some work in estimating ranges and the fold equity required to make given plays, but those equations require an accurate reading of your opponents’ ranges, and I‘ve made a lot of mistakes. In many cases, opponents turn over hands which I haven’t put in their range, signifying my calculations were invalid. I always give myself a fudge factor for deception plays, but oftentimes opponents show wider value ranges than I expected.

I need to work on creating a no-limit thought process, a checklist to flowchart my decisions. I need to memorize that checklist until it becomes instinctual. And I need to spend time thinking about my opponents’ thought processes. If I can read their knowledge level, emotional reactions, and thoughts, I can design many effective plays. No-limit lends itself to creative counter-plays that can increase the value of my holding. Such flowcharts need to be designed to fit my preferred strategy and how my opponents react.

It took my friend and coach, Jade Lane, one year of hard study to convert from a quality limit pro to a quality no-limit pro. Since I have a family and real estate business and Jade didn’t, he had much more time than I did, and his game grew faster than mine. But learning no-limit is a marathon, not a sprint. Additionally, I’ve known many high quality limit players who were never able to transfer their expertise to no-limit. Playing limit well doesn’t necessarily give players the significant step up in no-limit that it gives when transferring their skills to other limit games.

I’ve done some things well. I’ve read several books by players I think are the real deal, and I’ve acquired a knowledgeable and experienced coach. I play most of my hours online where I can see the hand histories after the fact, gauge the quality of my decisions, and assist in my hand-reading development. I’ve bought hand range analysis software, which has helped me acquire a feel for hand ranges and their strength, though I know this is an area that will need continuous effort. I’ve learned most of the no-limit plays, though I still need more work on the situational feel of when to make them.

I’ve also made some errors. I underestimated the level of effort that becoming a quality no-limit player would require of me. That underestimation caused me not to devote the time required. I now know that I have a major project in front of me. I’m part of the way home, but know I still have much to learn.

All that said, I’m confident I’ll develop good no-limit skills with effort and persistence. Join me over this next year, and we’ll grow our games together! ♠

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