My Take $3-$6 and $4-$8
Limit Texas Hold'Em
The past eight years I've played these two variations a lot. And not just at the casino's. I like to play heads up, too, with one, two, or three players with $40 to $100 buy in. Yea, I know, but that's how I help pay the bills. Not that I couldn't pay the the bills without winning at cards now and then. It's just, probably like you, I love playing poker. And all the better if I can earn $1,000 or so a month ... eight, nine, or ten months a year playing $3-$6 and $4-$8 Limit Texas Hold'Em..
I spend roughly 40 hours a month playing poker. That may seem like a lot of hours to some but it's only two or three relatively short poker sessions a week when you do the math. And bottom line, like I said, I love the game. As with any game you stick with you should improve your performance over time. My modest earnings from poker last year tell me I am getting better. Most of last year I was able to pocket about $1000 monthly divided by those 40 hours of play. That yields $25 an hour. Not bad, but unfortunately, that's not the whole story. I also had a few months I lost my monthly purse ($400) or lost some or most of it? I don't believe as some contend, by he way, that "breaking even is a win." Since when? People who say this are trying to consol themselves when in fact they unwittingly assert that their time is worth nothing. So if I lost $400, say, three times (or months) last year, broke even one month, and was able to cash in $1,000 each of the other eight months of the year my net gain was actually just over $14 per hour of play. The math is simple: $8,000 yearly profit minus $1,200 yearly loss nets $6,800. Divide that sum by 480 hours (number of poker hours play annually). Yep, just over $14 an hour. But even this equation is based one crucial assumption. It assumes I am a better poker player, and yes, to a large degree a luckier poker player than the opponent(s) seated at my table.
The biggest mistake novice poker limit hold' em players make, I believe, is thinking that they have X amount of money to lose in any one poker session. The poker game really never starts or ends when you enter or exit the card room.
Limit Texas Hold'Em cont ...
The poker game is always on somewhere or some place, and yes, most likely just a few minutes from where you are seated now.
Card players that look at their poker game as a process (an ongoing never ending game) and not an event usually win out over time. They understand when the spouse has dinner waiting, and they are down $80 after 90 minutes of play, they don't have to play a marginal hand and go "all in" just because the spaghetti is getting cold. Ask yourself, are you more likely to play pocket three's aggressively knowing it my be your last hand for the day and you have only $20 in chips left from your $100 buy-in? If you checked pocket deuces or pocket three's early on in the session why feel compelled to change strategy on "the imaginary last hand." Unless you really believe your spouse is going to hit you over the head with a frying pan when you get home it's best to play your same game, don't be more aggressive, as your timed session comes to a close.
My message is, if you are a novice player like me, don't plan to pay the entire rent or mortgage this month playing 3-6 or 4-8 Limit Texas Hold'em. Most decent card players, (yea, myself included), break even or make a few extra bucks a month, at best,. playing Texas Limit Hold'em. Are there exceptions? Of course! But I have not met anyone yet that got rich playing $3-$6 or $4-$8 limit Texas Hold'em. Have you?
It's important to remember, I believe, why the game was created in the first place. First, so that the card room can make money (and fact is, some card rooms, casino card rooms in particular, are not profitable operations. But this is an article for another day). And second, Texas Limit Hold'em was created so YOU could HAVE FUN! Too many recreational poker players forget why they are at the poker table. Everyone wants to win. So relax. Why is it important to relax, enjoy, and have fun when playing cards?
As with most any sporting event or competition, even in theatre, the one most relaxed usually performs best. The same is true with poker.
Limit Texas Hold'Em cont ...
At one Olympics about ten or twelve years ago I remember a reporter asking the sprinter how it came to be he just ran the fastest 100 meters ever recorded in world history? He said, hardly drawing a breadth, "I was able to relax the last 40 meters." Think about it? The baseball player at the plate, the basketball player at the free throw line, what about Joe Montana and his ability to relax under pressure? Bowlers, chess players, golfers, fisherman, billiard players, without exception, perform at their highest level of competition when most relaxed. Why would it be different with a poker player?
" I PLAY POKER TO RELAX."
If you have heard someone say this, this is the person you want to play cards with.
"I RELAX TO PLAY POKER"
If you have heard someone say this, this is the person that more often than not wins at poker.
With relaxtion comes focus. As for the sprinter he was alsoholding the best hand (winning) half way through the race. He went on to say during his interview once he realized the other sprinters were "over his shoulder" it was easy for him to relax. Same is true with each poker hand. The better hand you hold preflop the more relaxed you'll likely be (so why play chump cards?) if for no other reason than you are, in fact, holding good cards ... hopefully Pocket Aces, A-K, or a big Pocket Pair, right? You simply put yourself ahead of the field "halfway through the race" given your better odds of winning the hand than your opponants. Getting strong hole cards in Texas hold'm, though (as in most any card game) is only half the battle. As with the sprinter it doesn't mean you are home free, by any stretch of the imagination, but for your own good ... relax! You will play better, win more, and have more fun! You see, it's kind of hard to relax limping in with $3 or $4 holding a 5-6 off suit or 10-4 suited, for example, vs. the typical top opening hands.
For the Texas Hold'Em beginner, genrally speaking, it is wise to play only top eleven two card combinationcards you are dealt. At least until you get a real feel for
Limit Texas Hold'Em cont ...
for the nuances and intricacies of the game. It is often debated what the tenth best two cards are that one can be dealt in a Texas Hold'em game: Pocket 7's or 7-8 suited? I prefer the 7-8 suited myself, as you will see below (this too, an article for another day). Here are my top eleven preferred Texas Hold'em hole cards:
1. A-A
2. K-K
3. Q-Q
4. A-K suited
5. J-J
6. 10-10
7. 9-9
8. 8-8
9. A-Q suited
10. 7-8 suited
11: 7-7
I have some other strong marginal hands I like to see the flop with. Familiar opponants affectionately refer to them as "a Philly D hand." Depending on my seating (big blind or button) and table action, I will often raise these two card combinations below, especailly after winning the previous Texas Hold'em hand, in hopes of minimizing the field by "scareing away" even less marginal hands that could derail my run.
A-J suited
A-10 suited
A-5 suited
K-Q suited or not
Q-J suited
J-10 suited
J-9 suited
Lastly, when I do rake in a couple consecutive pots, I am not afraid to expand my hole cards repatoire if no one raises before the flop, and I am on the kill button, sitting with a blind, or on the button. Here are the patented Philly D hole cards* I like to raise with after scooping two or more pots in a row!
* 4-7 Suited
* 4-6 Suited
* Ace double suited any card
PS: Don't forget to tip the dealer.
TM
Napa Valley Casino & Poker Card Room, 3466 Broadway Street (Highway 29) American Canyon, CA 94503
Gambling card games include but not limited to No-Limit Texas Hold'em, Limit Texas Hold'Em, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split, BlackJack and Pai Gaw.
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