Why I don’t play NL online
Written by Chrispian on October 5th, 2005
Sure, making money in poker here and there is easy. Even the worst players come up ahead sometimes. But making money consistently, that’s easier said than done.
My founding belief in playing poker profitably is that, if you play at a table long enough, you will get all the chips on the table (disregarding the rake). For those of you that do play no limit, I ask you how many times have you lost more than $50 in one hand? Ever lost $100? More? If you have lost a large pot, was it because you were outdrawn? Did someone make their flush with 8 3? I’m sure it has, it’s only happened to me a thousand times. My point is that when you play no limit, you will eventually lose everything in one hand.
But I have figured out a way to avoid it. If you play no limit (and I’m talking about ring game, not tournaments), you will eventually lose your buy-in. Let me explain. You sit in on a $100 NL game with $100. For example’s sake, you’re a great player and average $10 an hour. After an hour, you have $110. Another hour later, you have $120. Things are going fine so far, but how much longer can you grind it out before losing that pot? When it does happen, I promise you it will not be cheap. If you flop a set of sevens, are you going to bet small against the diamond draw, or bet that J8d out with an all in? You know as well as I do these guys love to call, and every third time you’ll have “$0″ right below your name.
Like I said earlier, my founding belief in playing poker profitably is that if I play at a table for long enough, I will have all the chips on the table, disregarding the rake of course. So how do I live up to this goal? I play fixed limit, and I love it. Playing for the long term is so much easier, and the risk of getting cleaned out in any given hand becomes minimal.
In my next post I’ll discuss more about the advantages and strategy in fixed limit. Until then, I would appreciate comments. If you agree, disagree, or have questions feel free to comment or send me an email at jmbirchak[at]yahoo[dot]com
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5 Comments to “Why I don’t play NL online”
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Ben
October 5th, 2005 at 3:48 pm
What do you say to the players who think playing limit games is too boring? It takes a while to build a bankroll if you’re starting at $.50/$1 games.
Wouldn’t it be easier to build a bankroll by scoring a few huge pots in a NL game?
Joe
October 5th, 2005 at 4:04 pm
I think limit is more exciting actually. At a $100 NL buy in the average pot is between $12 and $25. At a limit game where the buy in is $100, the average pot is between $20 and $30. By playing limit, there is an opportunity to make more money faster, with less risk.
And regarding building a bankroll, well poker isn’t free. Either deposit more money, or start off at the lower limits.
Justin
October 5th, 2005 at 11:11 pm
I know I am better at Limit than No Limit, but actually prefer to play NL. Limit really doesn’t entertain me enough, and I hate playing to just grind out a profit.
Matthew
October 6th, 2005 at 12:42 am
I enjoy playing no limit because of the chance that I could lose all my money. IT makes it exciting.
Joe
October 6th, 2005 at 10:24 am
Well Justin and Matthew, it seems that we play for different reasons.
I found that poker can be a great source of income if you play smart. If you read my biography, I make quite a bit (I’ll get a picture of my car up soon). If you want to learn how I do it, keep reading my posts. Or, keep doing what entertains you.