People smarter than me...

Lee Jones and David Sklansky are much smarter than me. I generally trust their advice, but I've found some passages in their work that are worth some thought.

Over the last few days, I've been skimming through Jones' "Winning Low Limit Hold 'Em" and Sklansky's "Hold 'em Poker For Advanced Players." I've read both of these books before, and they're always good to review again.

There are a couple of ideas I found interesting upon review.

When you're heads-up with a top pair and weak kicker, Jones suggests raising if the bet comes directly from your right. I agree with that. But if that gets you heads-up on the turn, and your opponent checks, Jones suggests also checking and then calling a bet on the river. Sure, that makes sense if you strongly fear you're outkicked, but it seems like there are so many hands that people will bet out on the flop without having top pair with a better kicker. If you don't bet the turn, then you're missing an opportunity here, in my opinion. I guess it depends on the situation: Betting the turn makes sense if you feel like there's a good chance you're ahead, but not if you're dominated. It has to be a judgment call.

Then I found this line in Sklansky: "The second important concept concerning fourth-street play is that you should be betting good hands on the flop, but frequently check-raising with them on the turn." He gives the example of holding AK on a flop of Axx rainbow from early position. I'll grant that this strategy would work well in this specific situation, but it's hard to pull off a check-raise in this situation with anything less than paired A with top kicker if it's a multiway pot. Additionally, you would need the flop to be otherwise ragged for this to be effective. Sklansky isn't wrong, but this advice seems misleading because it's only useful in specific situations.

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Meanwhile, play has been decent at the tables. I've been winning small, which is much better than losing. I finished the Sucky Room bonus, and now I've moved on to the Poker Stars bonus. Ultimate Bet also has a reload bonus if you use Neteller.

I played $2/$4 limit on Sucky Room so I could clear that bonus faster, and it was a successful endeavor. The play on Sucky Room is so sucky.

I'm trying to stick with no limit games for a while because it seems like a safer game than limit in that the downswings are shorter and less expensive. I don't know for a fact that no limit has less variance than limit, but that's my perception. If anyone knows of any literature that discusses the contrast between variance at no limit and the variance at limit, I would be interested to read about it.

So no limit games are fine, but I really miss playing limit poker. Limit is just more interesting to me -- it seems like a more intricate game, and you don't have to fold preflop or on the flop as much because the bet sizes are comparatively smaller. And limit is certainly better for rakeback! :)

I'll be back at limit before long, but I've set a monetary goal for no limit before I switch back. I have to fortify the good ol' bankroll first.

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Link:
Check out my friend Daniel's blog, Poker Cats, during his poker trip to New Orleans.