Fishing in the Kiddie Pool (Theory)

CaptVimes · #1 06-15-2007, 07:10 PM

An NL Nano Limit Primer

I intend this post to cover what I think are some important concepts that players need to be thinking about when playing at the Nano limts. Basically NL10 and below. There is not going to be anything earth shattering or new. Hopefully, just good foundational principles. Why? Well, the nano limits are like a wild west shootout. Fortunately not a lot of players can hit the broadside of a barn with a shotgun. Good, foundational NL wins big at these limits. Also, there are very few theory posts, especially for full ring, made just for these levels and I want to give back to (hopefully this will be worth something) the community while this was still my primary level (Moving to NL25 soon!). Finally, selfishly, I am trying to improve my own game by opening up my thoughts to the scrutiny of others.

Caution:
I am trying to make this post style neutral, but my own stats at nl10 are 13.4/6/1.4, so I'm on the nitty side of tight and that may color what I say. I also will, most of the time, err on the side of weak tight. I don't think that is too big of a leak at these levels though, which I will address later (see High Variance Plays).

1. Have a plan

This was an idea I hadn't thought too much about when I first started playing. I remember it really hit home when I read it in a post written several months ago by DLM that I cannot find, but I wanted to give him credit.

Now what do I mean by have a plan? I don't mean 'every time I get AA I'm going to raise'. That's not a plan, its a reaction. In other words, there is no 'why' behind what you did. A plan would include how do I play this when I get 1 caller vs. 4 callers. What type of player will I felt a flop with vs. fold to aggression(hand ranges). Also, what flop texture is good or bad for me. Now we can't plan for every situation possible, but there are a ton of spots we find ourselves in on a regular basis. Being prepared for these spots puts you way ahead of most players at these levels.

This doesn't apply to just hand play either. I'm an accountant by trade and I probably take this a little too far but here are a few other things I try to have a plan for:

-What kind of tables to look for
-What to do if current table changes as players move in and out.
-How much time do you have to play
-What are you going to do if you drop a buy-in or two early
-What are you going to do if you win a buy-in or two early
-What are you going to do if you feel yourself pressing or tilting.
-After I'm done clearing this bonus, where to play next

2. Position, Position, Position

I can't stress this enough. Playing hands out of position is the single biggest mistake I see from nano players. Especially calling raises with hands that are easily dominated and over playing when they hit top pair on the flop. I want my opponents to make harder decisions than me, nothing does that better than having position on them. I know I always squirm when I have top pair and am first to act on the turn after a tight player called a flop bet in LP. With position you control how you play the hand and how your opponent has to play the hand because you have the most information. I play about twice as many hands from the LP than from EP.

3. Small pocket pairs

Flopping sets is money. It is almost never a mistake to get your whole stack in if you hit a set. It's also hard to make a mistake with these hands on the flop, you either have it or you don't. Lets look at pre-
flop a little, when we either limp or call a raise for set value. Our main concern, especially when we are calling a raise, is that we can make enough on the hand to justify the call. Will we get paid off?

See my actions in the below hand.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

Hero ($13.65)
MP2 ($9.90)
MP3 ($4.40)
CO ($9.10)
Button ($7.95)
SB ($5.60)
BB ($10)
UTG ($10.75)
UTG+1 ($9.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero calls $0.10, 1 fold, MP3 raises to $0.6, 4 folds, Hero folds.

Set mining relies heavily on implied odds as there are few times PF when you have direct odds. There are several theories bandied about concerning when to call raises with pocket pairs (5/10 rule etc...). The bottom line is we have to pay attention to stack sizes and villains to be sure what we are doing is profitable.

5/10 rule - We should always call with pocket pairs if the call is less than 5% of effective stacks, fold if it is 10% or greater and is a judgment call between 5-9%. I believe having position is part of this also and that your judgment calls can be at a higher % if you have position. Personally I'm a little tighter than this, but your sets get paid off so easily in the Nanos that I think you'll be OK.

This thread has some good ideas about sets and getting paid off.

Dan Bitel on implied odds and sets

4. High Variance plays

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($8.65)
Hero ($12.45)
MP1 ($10.10)
MP2 ($7.10)
CO ($4.40)
Button ($9.55)
SB ($3)
BB ($7.10)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.45, 4 folds, SB raises to $3.05 (All-In), 1 fold, UTG calls $2.90, Hero raises to $12.45, UTG calls $5.65 (All-In).

Flop: ($24.25) T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($24.25) 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($24.25) J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $24.25

Results below:
SB has Ah Qd (one pair, jacks).
UTG has Ad Jd (three of a kind, jacks).
Hero has 9d 9s (two pair, jacks and nines).

I played this hand really badly and it bugged me for a while after I played it. My reads were right on both villains and I pushed to try to get this heads up vs. SB. The hand got me thinking about high variance plays in general at this level. My mistake in the above hand was thinking that UTG would fold if I pushed. If I had been paying attention to stack sizes and the pot, I should have known he wasn't going to fold. These types of plays, whether pushing with a middle pair you think is good pre-flop or pushing a nut flush draw, we rely on fold equity to make them +EV. In the Nanos you find too many people who are willing to risk their whole stack on Top pair, Big Aces, small pocket pairs, and worse. Effectively there is little fold equity, and if a pot gets to 30 bbs or more there is effectively none. People loves to gambol. There are so many opportunities in the Nanos to win pots when you are the clear favorite that if you never make a high variance play in the nanos you
can still beat them for a good rate. I would include excess bluffing, especially on the turn and river where it gets expensive, as a high variance play that needs fold equity to be profitable. Note, I do not mean c-betting flops HU here.

5. Hand Strength and Reading the board

Knowing the strength of your hand relative to the board and how many others are in the pot is a very important skill at any level of NL, but
working on this aspect in the Nanos will give you a significant advantage over most players. This is so important that it should have been higher on the list, but I'm not editing. This is especially true when your hold a TP hand or Two Pair hand. My favorite is when players don't realize when their two pair hand gets counterfeited by the board
pairing a higher card.

Situations you need to look out for when you have a weaker holding (Draw, One Pair, Two Pair): Board paired with a card that doesn't help you, three to a flush and you have no draw, three to a straight, boards that have gaps that connector hands (JT,9T, etc..) would fill. For me straights are the hardest to spot, especially if villain would have to be holding gapped connectors (T8, QT). Be wary also of cards that help your hand but may help other hands more.

Now I'm not saying you give up on your hand just because these situations occur. You would be losing too much value. You just need to be aware and use a bit more caution especially when its a multi-way pot.

6. Other things that are important

These concepts have been talked about a bunch by people smarter than me and you should be able to find good information on each of these by using the search function.

- Pot Odds Odds Chart
- Implied Odds/Reverse Implied odds
- Counting outs
- Expected Value
- Value Betting
- Bet Sizing
- Fold Equity
- Note Taking
- Bankroll Management
- Controlling tilt
- Table selection
- Bonuses and rake-back

7. Things you can do to improve your game

- Post hands, reply to hands and above all if you don't understand something ask, ldo
- Session reviews, both your own and with others
- Be open to different ideas on how to play a hand
- Read all the NL forums sticky's and FAQ's - lots of good stuff in these
- Read books but try to stick with ones people recommend a lot. There are some really bad ones out there.
- Use Pokertracker, a HUD, Pokerstove, etc...
- Play poker other than Texas Hold'em, I like Stud Hi/Lo. Makes NL seem easy.
- Play 6Max - gives you a whole new perspective on aggression.
- Play less/study more, especially if you are losing. Reinforcing bad play is bad.
- If you are winning don't make wholesale changes to your game. Just small ones and see how they work.

I think 7 is a good number to quit with. Like I said earlier this isn't an in depth study on any one topic just some things I think new players or those playing in the Nano limits might find useful. I'm hoping this spurs people on to further study the areas I have touched on. If anyone has anything to add or feels I missed the boat somewhere please feel free to chime in.