Poker Articles

By WillisNYC | Published Mar 12 2006, 04:50 PM
Mastering No-Limit Hold'em
by Russell Fox and Scott T. Harker

There is a dearth of literature in the poker world addressing how to play small stakes No Limit Hold’Em. Doyle’s book and other sources for playing high end NL are well known, but very few address NL Hold'Em ring games specifically. Some books that deal primarily with LIMIT Hold’Em discuss NL, but usually without enough depth to do the subject justice. Thus, when I discovered a book at my local Barnes & Noble that devoted its contents to ‘mastering’ NL ring games I immediately purchased it. However, despite the books name, Mastering No-Limit Hold’Em by Russell Fox and Scott T. Harker offers a basic how-to guide on how to play NLHE, but not much more.
 
If you wish to learn the basics of how to play NL ring and you have never played before, Mastering No-Limit Hold'em is an excellent place to start. However, I was disappointed to find that it added absolutely nothing to my knowledge of how to play NL ring games. If you are coming from a background in limit ring games then this book will help you become a winning NL player.

Additionally, I was quite dismayed to learn that the authors have very little experience playing online. Their observations are mostly from their experience playing NL ring live in the card rooms of California. Many of those rooms deal $1/$2 NL with a max buy in of $100. The $100 buy in is very low for 1/ 2 and it inhibits the plays that you can make. They discuss higher buy in ring games, but it is obvious that their thinking is mired in the low buy in game.

The material is solid and basic but it doesn’t cover things like ‘set mining’, how to play different stack sizes or about how to play against different styles of play. The psychological aspect is discussed, but very superficially and in a way that I don’t feel will contribute to your understanding of your own image at the table or how you can exploit it. They don’t discuss implied odds nearly often enough for my taste, after all implied odds of 8-1 are what ‘set mining’ is all about and a key to winning big in NL ring. Implied odds are also very important when considering playing suited connectors and the book has no discussion of that either.

The authors do recommend that you buy in for the maximum at an NL table but there is no discussion of exactly why. Certainly if you are a skilled player, you want to buy in for the max so that you have the maximum opportunity to double up. However the primary audience for this book will be NL beginners who may want to start with a smaller buy in due to their lack of skill and experience. I know several ‘set miners’ who buy in for the minimum or half a buy in an attempt to double up and then leave the table to ‘protect’ their winnings. This style of play can be successful and should be discussed in any meaningful NL poker book.

Anyone who disparages online poker players today as much as the authors of this book, displays a lack of online experience and shows a horribly, prejudiced view of the poker world that could only come from players who have very little online experience. For instance, they cite the ‘2x raise’ that you commonly see at 1/ 2 NL live games and online as well. The authors blame this raise on inexperienced online players who are playing live when in reality, the ‘2x raise’ is simply a product of NL inexperience, not due to ‘online’ playing experience. I consider the 2x raise to be a tell, both online and off, since it is obviously an incorrect raise in over 90% of the NL poker situations you encounter. Personally, I see that raise coming from players with little NL experience, or perhaps lots of Limit experience and have yet to successfully transition to NL.

I also see the ‘2x raise’ as a ‘min raise’ that some players use to unsuccessfully disguise their AA or KK holdings. These guys know they should raise with those hands, but fear they will drive everyone from the pot. But they raise so infrequently anyway, that observant players should have ‘AA, KK alarm bells’ going off in their heads when the minimum or 2x raise is employed by these players. Now sorting this type from the ‘inexperience 2x raise’ is a true master NL skill!

In summary, I found the ideas in both of Harrington’s books which are tournament specific added to my NL ring skill set more than this book which is supposed to help me master it. I was hoping that the authors would discuss some of the ‘advanced plays’ for ring like Harrington discusses for tournament poker. Alas, higher-level plays are just not there in Fox and Harker’s book. These plays need to be discussed in any book that purports to be about 'Mastering No-Limit Hold'em'. They are certainly discussed in the one on one classes that I teach at pokermentors.com!

Best of luck to all of you on the tables!

If you want to buy this book on Amazon.com click here : Mastering No-Limit Hold'em