Online No-Limit Texas Hold'em Poker for Beginners - Part 11

BONUS: What I Have Learned from the "Super System"

Doyle Brunson's book, "Super System", is a great read that has been around, in various forms, since 1978. This is an excellent book to learn how to play ALL forms of poker. Doyle's section on No Limit Hold'em is the section I have read a few times. Here are my thoughts on Doyle's System and how it compares to what I've written above.

In "Super System", Doyle writes how much he likes small suited connectors. He says that 87s is his favorite hand for No-limit Hold'em. If you notice above, 87s is a group 7 hand. Doyle says he'll most always play this hand, and a lot of the time, he'll raise with it. Since reading this in his book, it has become one of my favorites also. Here's why.

87s is a good hand to raise with, because nobody can put you on it, and it's easy to get away from. What does a pre-flop raise mean, most-times? You have Ax, Kx, or a pair of some sort. That's what I assume of a pre-flop raiser.

So say Doyle raises 87s(spades) pre-flop, and say, he gets 2 callers. Flop comes Qc, 9s, 5s. This is a pretty broken board to the other two players. Most of them will assume Doyle has Ax, and the guy holding A Qs (hearts) has to think he has high pair- high kicker.

With a 9 and a 5 on the board, because of Doyle's raise, he has to believe those two cards are blanks except for the possible flush. In this situation, Doyle HAS to bet again. He has 17 outs.

When the 6h comes on the turn and an Ah comes on the river, I imagine the guy with AQ will be all-in. Then Doyle just takes all his money. 87s is a great hand to win a LOT of money with, or lose a little.

Same situation. Raised 87s(clubs) pre-flop. Two callers. Flop, As, Kh, 10d. With high cards in the mix, it is easy to get away from the hand. You know someone made their pair, possibly two. With no chance at a flush, this hand is pretty worthless and EASY to get away from. This goes for all small connectors, suited or not.

Besides playing the small suited connectors, Doyle teaches how to play AGGRESIVELY all the time. He shows you how betting aggressively will give you the upper hand over time.

His quote, "If you are going to call… you might as well bet." pretty much summarizes he style of play. Other players will fear you, and when they do get a hand that is better than yours, they will show you by betting aggressively. Their aggressive betting will save you money in the long run.

He also shows you the correct way to bluff.

Bluffing, Doyle's Way

In "Super System", Doyle never advocates just straight-out bluffing. That is, playing nothing hands and trying to fool everyone else with his raises. This is foolishness. What he does talk about is playing your position and the table.

Doyle has an entire section devoted to what he does, and why, with small connectors. Most of it is bluffing. I found this section shocking, as I wasn't doing ANY of it. What follows, is Doyle's situational bluffing with small suited connectors.

Mr. Brunson writes of what he does in every situation with the small suited connectors. He breaks it down into three parts. What he does when the flop:

• Completely misses his hand
• Gets a little help
• Gets a LOT of help

When he gets some help on the flop, he usually bets it quite fast. Since I am mentioning his bluffing, I'll deal with when he completely misses his hand.

Complete Miss

What Doyle decides to do when he completely misses his hand with small suited connectors is TOTALLY dependent on what happened pre-flop and what his position is.

The example in "Super System" has him holding 76s(diamonds) and the flop comes AAK with no diamonds. Before I read his book, I would just get out of the hand, regardless of position. Not Doyle. Here's how he advises how to play it.

From almost any position, if he had been the raiser pre-flop, he'd just flat-out raise again. He figures, if somebody else got a part of the flop, they would re-raise him, and he'd be out.

More often that not, he thinks, most folks will fold to the post-flop raise because Doyle had RAISED pre-flop, gotten 2 aces, and raised again.

This is bluffing, but it is also good strategy.

This situation is if Doyle RAISED pre-flop. If he had just called the big blind, most often, he'll just check, and check. If anyone bets at it, he's out. In a late position, he says he still may raise if it's checked to him twice, which would be a bluff.

In the above situation, if an opponent calls his raise, he's kind of in a pickle and needs to decide if the guy is drawing i.e. doesn't have a made hand. Most often he'll just check it out and give up the pot.

You have to figure out the REASON he called your bet post-flop. In order to keep making stabs at the pot, you have to BELIEVE that he is drawing toward something. If you believe that, then you have to SELL that you have the Ace or the King.

If, after the turn card, you still think he is still drawing toward a hand, then you HAVE to bet again. Think about it. If you actually DID have an ace, and you raised pre-flop, and raised after 2 aces came up, why would you stop raising after the turn card unless that card MAY complete a straight or a flush for the other guy.

If the 4th card is a total blank, you pretty much have to bet. If he calls again, you had better hope you put him on the correct hand before you are all-in on the river.

When you COMPLETELY miss your hand with the small suited connectors, you want to win with your bluff ON THE FLOP. You don't want to see any more cards. You want to win it right there. You want to be seen as the aggressor.

This is where putting people on hands is a big factor. If you are in an SNG with 10 people at the table, in the same situation, I would put the guy on having an Ace or King and get out after I was called on my bluff bet after the flop. Most people will call a pre-flop raise with an A or a K in their hand. The more people at the table, the more likely one or more of them have an A or K.

A quote from Doyle, "You might find it difficult to continue betting your hand when you know you don't have anything. You may think it takes a lot of courage to do that. And it does. But, all it really is, is good Poker."

Betting, and the "Super System"

Doyle Brunson is a legend in the No-Limit Hold'em arena. He's won the WSOP twice. The "Super System" has been called, "the greatest Poker book ever written." Nobody can take away any of Doyle Brunson's achievements. I highly recommend reading "Super System" if you get a chance.

That said, his book, and my book, are two totally different species. Doyle has mainly played in traveling ring games where people come and go as they please. If you are out of cash, you just hit the cash machine or pull some more out of your wallet. Or get more credit from the house.

MY book has been written for Sit-n-go games, Satellites, and tournaments. This kind of poker game has everyone pay the same buy-in and gives everyone the same amount of chips. When you are out of chips, you are out of the game.

THIS is the kind of poker you see on television. Tournament Poker, I feel, is the way to have the most fun playing poker.

ALL of Doyle's methods do transfer over to the tournament games in some way. No-Limit Hold'em is No-Limit Hold'em. In ring games, the blinds don't go up. You can sit there and bide your time and play the best hands, then really try to score when you get them. Much more so than Limit Hold'em.

But, in tournament No-Limit, the blinds are always going up. If you don't win more chips, the blinds themselves will knock you out of the tournament, or SNG. The tournament format makes you protect the chips you have, and forces you to try to double up over and over.

Doyle's betting system is GREAT for the type of game he plays, and it can be used at every level of No-Limit Hold'em. I say it "CAN" be used. There is really only ONE problem I see in tournament games with Doyle's betting system.

What Doyle calls a "reasonable" bet, is a bet the size of the pot. This may be great for his game when the funds are only limited by your pocketbook, but in a tournament game, especially early, everyone has the same amount of chips. When you lose those chips, you are done. Here's an example.

You are in a 10 person SNG at a $10+1 table at PartyPoker. Everyone starts with 800 chips and the blinds are 10/15. You are UTG, and are dealt the 76s example used above. You call the 15 chips, as you are UTG, and EVERYONE behind you calls also. Now there are 150 chips in the pot.

If you get a little help on the flop, say 7-2-3 flops, you may want to make a bet as you have high pair. Doyle's reasonable bet would be the size of the pot, or 150 chips. I can guarantee you, if you make a 150 chip bet from the 3rd spot with everyone in, you WILL get some folks out of the hand. That is a fact. Unfortunately, with 10 people in, the odds are that you will get re-raised, or called by more than one person.

With 2 callers, there are 600+ chips in the pot. If, after the turn or the river, you decide to make a "reasonable" bet, you will basically be all-in. You had better hope you have the best hand, but without more help on 4th or 5th, you are probably out of the game.

Doyle's system of betting IS very aggressive. He always wants to win BIG pots. Generally speaking though, his style of betting doesn't work for SNG's until later in the game.

Will a 150-chip bet on the flop deter some folks from seeing the turn? You BET it will. Of course, a 75-chip bet would probably do the same thing. (1/2 the pot) Or a 60-chip bet. (4x the BB) But you do want action, and you want to get the most value for your hand, every hand. You do this by betting and staying aggressive. HOW aggressive is the question.

Your 150-chip bet will label you as a maniac in many other players' minds. That's fine. You DO want them to fear you and NOT bet with you until they have something. They are easy to avoid then. But, most likely, everyone will fold that hand, and you collect the 150 chips.

Not many folks will want to risk almost 25% of their stack unless they really have something. And that's another way to bet. The % of your stack. Maybe your pair of 7's was worth 10% of your stack to gamble with. Then that would be an 80-chip bet.

By putting in 150 chips, you are pretty much saying that you DON'T want to play the hand anymore and would like to pick up the chips and move to the next hand. This size of bet, even though sanctioned by Mr. Brunson, can be seen a lot of the time as a blatant bluff. You only bet 1x the pot, but you bet 10x the BB. You may be re-raised to all-in. That is very likely.

If you are going to follow Doyle's instructions and make "reasonable" bets like this, you have to be prepared to be all-in. If you put in your 150 chips saying, "My top pair 7's is going to be good enough to win this hand." you have to be prepared to throw the rest of your chips in there to prove it. Especially at the lower buy-ins.

By betting the 150, everyone isn't going to instantly assume you've made two-pair. The guy holding A7s could see your oversize bet (due to being 10x the BB. Doyle calls this a reasonable bet) as a bluff, and raise you all-in. He has high-pair, high-kicker. Now you have a decision to make.

If you call his all-in, you are down to ONLY the 6's helping you, while an Ace does not come up. 3 cards (the three sixes) out of 45 (52-your 2-his 2-flop 3). You have two 6.67% draws at it. Not a very good percentage to stay in the tournament. Lets see your other option. Folding.

If you fold after having thrown in almost 25% of your stack post-flop, you will be seen as a bluffer. Being seen as a bluffer can definitely work in your favor because you will get action next time. You are also down to less than 650 chips. I would advise though, after backing down, the next time you are going to make a "reasonable" bet, make sure you are willing to go all-in with it if need be. After the other players see you cower, they will continuously try to put you all-in.

Have a good hand, and take their money.

The betting system Mr. Brunson uses is aggressive and IS designed to get people out of the pot after the flop. His aggressiveness allows him to pick up small pots continuously. It also makes other people play back at him when they actually have something, so Doyle can avoid costly mistakes a lot of the time. This system works VERY well in ring games.

In a ring game, if Doyle makes his move, puts it all-in, gets called and loses, he can always get more cash, put it in play, and try to win it back. Unfortunately, in a tourney, when you are all-in and lose, you are done. This is why his betting system needs to be revamped for tournament play.

So, how SHOULD one bet? Aggressively. Always be betting. By betting, you create action. Other players fear your aggression, and eventually, only play the best hands back at you. This saves you money in the long run. If you KNOW they will only bet against you with good hands, you just have to know if YOUR hand is good enough.

Pre-flop raises should be 2x-4x the big blind. After the flop, your aggressiveness, and the amount you raise, should dictate what you are trying to do. Do you want to force people out of the pot, or keep them in? Do you only want 1 or 2 callers? As Doyle says, most of the game is played after betting on the flop. That's where the money changes hands. That's where you win most pots.

As I've said before, I like to limp-in to a LOT of pots at the lower blinds. If you catch something good, trips, two-pair, flush/straight draw, it is well worth the initial investment as you may end up breaking someone.

In games with better players, I DON'T get to limp-in very many hands. There is most ALWAYS a raise pre-flop. At a 10-person SNG, there are just too many possible hands out there every deal. You WANT to raise pre-flop to eliminate all the borderline hands. You don't want to get beat because someone limped-in J7os.

But, if you raise too little, too many people will stay in the hand. Plus, they will feel they are more "pot-committed" having put in, say, 2x the big blind. With more people in the pot, it also skews the pot odds to keep more people in.

So, at the lower blinds, I would say the MINIMUM you should raise, pre-flop, is 3x the BB. So, if it's a 15 blind, you should put in 60 chips. It's actually only a 2x "raise", but it will deter more people than just raising to 30 chips. It should go without saying that you ONLY want to do this with hands you WANT to play. Good hands. Bad hands, you still want to limp-in or fold.

My Conclusions of the "Super System"

After reading Doyle Brunson's book, "Super System", my outlook on the game of No-Limit Hold'em changed. I took away three main points that were illustrated above.

1. Play Small Suited-Connectors
   • Playing small suited-connectors is Doyle Brunson's bread and butter for No-Limit Hold'em. Most of these hands don't show up on the Hand Groupings charts, but are definitely worth playing. Doyle made a career out of them.
2. Bet Aggressively
   • Nothing will make you more money in the game of No-Limit Hold'em than constantly being the aggressor. Once the other players fear your aggressiveness, they will just give you pots.
3. Bluff in Betting Situations
   • If you raise pre-flop and totally miss your hand, you don't necessarily have to give up the pot. Raise again and see what happens. If someone DOES have the hand you are representing, they will usually, and foolishly, show you they have it, and allow you out of the pot anyway.

These bits of wisdom helped change a lot of my strategy in No-Limit Hold'em, and that's why I passed them on to you. Although I disagree with the DEGREE of Brunson's betting aggressiveness, at least in early tournament and SNG games, his beliefs are easily adapted to any no-limit game.