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It is always wise in sports betting and gambling to use strategies that are contrary to what most of the masses are using. It is never wise to use widespread strategies in any sphere of operation. In poker and especially online poker then most players seem to be going down the multi-tabling and rakeback/sign up bonus route.

There is nothing wrong with that but it does mean one thing and this is that the lower middle limits in online no limit hold’em have become reg infested. Most players are playing at least four tables which means that if you have say 20 tables at say NL50 then this should mean 200 players in theory. But if 20 players are playing six tables each then that equates to 120 of those 200 seats.

So if you then get say 10 players who are perhaps playing 3 tables that are looking to play more then that is another 30 seats taken up by regs. This doesn’t leave an awful lot left and then if you get say a few minimum stack players into the equation then it is clear how little profit potential there is in many online no limit hold’em games.

So it then becomes clear that in order to get an edge in online poker that you need to identify what your opponents are doing and then at least try to do something different. But there comes the problem because in order to change from normal ABC play then you need to find a way of playing that gets you an edge.

This year I have been looking hard at my poker play and am now thinking that I perhaps need to revert back to playing only one table again. It has reached a stage where my one table game (possibly 2 tables) is a lot stronger than what it has been in the past.

I used to single and double table with a very straight forward ABC style in no limit hold’em but that evolved into a stage where it was no longer good enough. Level 1 game strategies which are essentially ABC tactics and game play were too universally known to be profitable.

In higher level poker then you need to balance your ranges and your strategies. Balancing your pre-flop ranges is really only part of the equation as you also need to balance your post flop ranges as well.

For example if you have say KK on a K-9-4 rainbow board in a heads up pot when out of position then you shouldn’t always c-bet. Much depends on what your opponent does and what he has done in the past. If your opponent is an aggressive tricky player that likes to make lots of moves post flop then a standard c-bet is something that he may jump all over.

So it is difficult to maintain this level of balance and alertness when you are playing too many tables at the same time. I find that my best game is played when I single table and even taking on a second table affects my ability to be able to watch the games closely enough.

Recently I have been writing about game strategy within poker but for me then this is where the really interesting part of the game is. I have gone from playing 12 tables at NL100 to playing one table at NL400 recently and the one table environment has been the most interesting for sure.

It is difficult to use multiple level game strategy when you are playing 12 tables or so and it gets to be somewhat of a bind to be honest. I have also experimented with playing fewer tables as well and have found that playing six tables at NL100 allows me to be able to do very well at the level. For example playing at 75 hands per hour per table allows me to see around 450 hands per hour.

Now this isn’t many hands compared to an awful lot of online players but I find that understanding and then implementing multi-level game strategy is a large part of my game and this is harder to do on 12 tables. You can really do well playing fewer tables if you understand game strategy.

But what does that mean? Well previous posts should go some way towards explaining that but at 450 hands per hour then a good player should be making 10bb/100 at a level like NL100. This makes $45/hour which is around $50 with bonuses on top. That is $100,000 per year for a full time player and that is a much more interesting way to play poker than to multi-table like some automated robot that gets so repetitive that you suffer from mental burnout.

Limping is often derided in no limit hold’em cash games but it can often be correct in full ring games as long as you have a deeper strategy than just seeing “cheap flops”. If your only goal for limping is to see a “cheap flop” then what is your play if you get raised? Also what is your plan if you do not get the necessary implied odds from your opponents?

In the previous post then I mentioned how game strategy was important but let us look at say A-K in the UTG seat to highlight a strategy shift from conventional ABC play. If you raise then you reduce the field…..but by how much? A limp is only 1bb and a min-raise is only to 2bb. A conventional raise is to 3.5bb and in a deep stack situation then that is hardly anything at all.

A raise alerts your opponents as to what you might be holding and that cannot be good in a deep stack situation when out of position. But a limp disguises your holding but is a deviation from normal level 1 strategy. If you play the hand correctly then it not only is moving to a higher level but it looks to exploit other level 1 play by players attacking what they see as weak limpers.

So in actual fact not only is limping moving away from level 1 ABC strategy but it is also looking to exploit level 1 positional play…… but also has the option to move to level 3 and exploit someone looking to exploit level 1 as in the button raising but an aggressive blind three betting.

These days you need to be able to think on different levels to be able to get an edge playing online poker. Simple straight forward ABC play is the bedrock of your game but this is like basic strategy in blackjack. It is essential but it is still only the building blocks for more advanced play.

I think that a good analogy could be to compare blackjack with poker when looking at multiple level game strategy. In blackjack then a level 0 player could be someone who simply doesn’t use any strategy or at the most uses a very poor one.

This then moves on to a level 1 player who uses basic strategy. Now years and years ago, players that were using basic strategy were very rare on the ground. But with the invention of the Internet then a whole new age of information has become available to all.

So basic strategy in blackjack is much more widely known or at least a good generic basic strategy is. This is akin to players knowing and then implementing a good solid ABC style in poker or a pretty close approximation of it. The next level which is level 2 is players who learn card counting.

However level 2 isn’t the highest level in blackjack because level 3 involves players who are basically successful counters and utilise game selection strategies and other such profit making tactics. Then we can move on another level to level 4 where the very best may use shuffle tracking methods. Clearly then a level increase can be seen here and that applies to online poker as well.

I am often asked what three things an online poker player needs in order to be able to make money from the game. It is difficult to condense it all into just three components but I will try.

1. Take all of the free money available
This is an area that few players maximise to the fullest. Take advantage of rakeback, sign up bonuses, re-load bonuses, freerolls and everything that you can get your hands on. This process can literally turn many losing poker players into winners just by itself.

2. Marry your skill level properly
It is important to know exactly where you stand in the poker ladder. More often than not then you are better off playing levels lower than what you imagine. If you can guarantee $15/hr at one level then there is a lot to be said for that and do not be in too much hurry to move up in levels and if you do……do it carefully.

3. Never stop learning
This is very important because it is all so easy once you reach a certain level of knowledge and sophistication to believe in your own mind that you really know the game. But only long term results online prove that or not. You still need to read books, join coaching sites and watch videos and participate in good poker forums to continue your education.

Poker isn’t just a list of rules that you learn and you then know the game for life. The game is constantly shifting and evolving and you need to keep up to date and evolve with it.

It is often said that in sports betting that the realm of taking odds on shots remains in the hands of the true professionals. The reason behind this is simple and it is to do with knowing that say a 1/5 chance is value. When you back at say short odds then your strike rate needs to be very high.

If you raise to steal the blinds in no limit hold’em and you make it say 3.5bb then you are risking 3.5bb to win the 1.5bb in blind money. This too is taking odds on but it is better than in the sports betting example for one very important reason. This is because your potential pay off is not linear like it is in sports betting.

If you say take a 1/2 chance then you gain $1 for every $2 staked. That risk and return does not change but it does in no limit hold’em. You can take initial odds of say 1/2 if you look to steal blinds by raising to 3bb to win 1.5bb. However this is not the same as the sports betting example because if you have superior skill than your opponent then you can massively compensate for taking initial odds of 1/2 by recieving huge potential post flop pay-offs.

You can for example raise to 3.5bb to win the pot that only consists of say 1.5bb. This move is taking odds even shorter than 1/2. The big blind could call you and now the pot is 7.5bb. If you hold say J-10 and the flop comes 9-8-7 then you have the nuts. If your opponent holds say 9-8 and decides to stack off on several streets then they have made a big error that has now paid off big time. Implied odds in no limit play make taking initial odds of odds on correct.

Whenever you raise in no limit hold’em then you are risking more money as a rule than you stand to gain. If you raise to a standard 3.5bb for example to win the blinds then you only gain 1.5bb if you succeed but your risk was 3.5bb. Likewise if say the button called you and the pot became 8.5bb and you bet say 6bb on the flop.

While in this instance you are betting 6bb to win 8.5bb…..the key factor here is in how much you have risked in total and how much you increase your stack by. Your total investment in this hand was 9.5bb and should your line be successful then you only increase it by 5bb.

This means that in terms of odds that you are taking odds of around 1/2 which is not great under certain circumstances. However it also needs to be pointed out that if you can be certain or fairly certain that your opponent is weak then taking odds on is a very good strategy. This is because of the fact that you do not always make your big profits by winning the pot straight away.

Even though you are taking odds as short as 1/2 then it is when you win the big pots that one third of the time that you really make up for those odds. Winning more money when you win and losing less money when you lose is how you make money playing online poker.

Whenever you play online poker then your opponents are basically looking to play at a certain level for a reason. In no limit hold’em then if a player is sat in a $10 game then they are doing that because either their bankroll will not permit them to play any higher or because they do not want to risk more money.

One of the keys to making money in poker and doing well is to try and find out what stakes your opponents want to play at and what their style is within those stakes. It is easy to see what stakes they like to play at because they will be sitting in them. While players may play at levels one or two above and below their required level then it will not be more than that as a rule.

If a player plays say NL50 as their main game then they may drop to NL25 and they may play NL100 but players tend not to deviate more than one level above and below as the norm. If a player is tight at a certain level then you can often drag these players out of their comfort zone by raising their limps and re-raising their raises.

What you are actually doing is escalating the stakes of the game and this is a reason for why you raise in no limit hold’em. So for example if someone raises to 3.5bb then if they have say a 100bb stack then this type of raise is just building the pot and nothing more.

The real battle in any poker game revolves around the blinds. Many people believe that the blind money is unimportant in a poker game and especially in a no limit poker game because of the fact that the blinds represent such a small percentage of your stack size. In a full ring game then you pay 1.5bb per orbit which works out at 0.15bb per hand if the game is ten handed.

In days gone by then you could guarantee that this sort of expenditure would be offset by some players passing large numbers of big blinds to you by making a mistake. However these days then that is not the case and it is a far different story. Winning the blinds is more important now because if you can win 1.5bb per orbit then what you are essentially doing is paying for your blinds.

So players look to steal blinds now and also to steal from other players who are stealing blinds. It is literally much more important than it has ever been and this is why six max games are a real battle for the blinds that in many cases end up in multiple level thinking and four, five and even six bet shoving.

You definitely do not need to think on multiple levels when your opponents are not doing so. In fact if you have to think really deeply then this is a clear indication that you are sitting in the wrong game. You should be able to move one level higher than your opponents are capable of thinking on to be able to make money.