Harrington on Cash Games: How to Win at No-Limit Hold'em Money Games, Volume 1

Table of Contents

About Dan Harrington     vii
About Bill Robertie     ix
Introduction     1
Organization of the Books     1
No-Limit Cash Games versus No-Limit Tournaments     3
A Sample Hand     5
Basic Ideas     17
Introduction     18
The Four Principles of Poker     19
Expectation and Expected Value     22
Example     23
Pot Odds     27
Example     28
Expressed Odds and Implied Odds     30
Example     30
Calculating Outs     34
The Rule of Four and The Rule of Two     37
Bet Types     39
The Value Bet     39
The Probe Bet     40
The Bluff     41
The Semi-Bluff     41
The Check     44
Controlling Pot Odds     46
Example     46
The Elements of No-Limit Hold 'em Cash Games     49
Introduction     50
Stack Sizes     51
Stack Sizes and Hand Selection     53
Sample Hand No. 1     54
Sample Hand No. 2     55
Big Hand versus Big Hand     58
Normalizing Hand Values     58
Implied Odds Justification     60
No-Limit Hold 'em and Venture Capitalists     61
Hand Distribution as a Defensive Weapon     61
Hand Selection in Tournament Play and Cash Play     62
Stack Sizes and Bet Count Tables     64
Stack Size, Pot Size, and Pot Commitment     67
Idea No. 1: Balancing the Strength of Your Hand and the Size of the Pot     67
Sample Hand No. 1     69
Sample Hand No. 2     71
Idea No. 2: Courting or Avoiding Pot Commitment     77
Sample Hand     78
Summarizing Hand Strength, Pot Size, and Pot Commitment     81
Hand Reading     85
Sample Hand     86
Defending Against Hand Reading     92
Diversifying Betting Sequences     93
Sample Hand     95
Recap: What Went Wrong?     100
Deception     104
Hand Analysis: Weighing the Evidence     105
The Metagame     107
Playing the Metagame     109
When Not to Make Metagame Plays     115
Metagame Evolution     116
Avoiding Big Mistakes     117
Hand Susceptibility      119
Dealing with Short Stacks     121
Tight-Aggressive Preflop Play     123
Introduction     124
Hand Evaluation and Stack Sizes     126
Limping, Raising, and the Deception Principle     133
Adopting Complementary Strategies     136
Factoring in Your Post-Flop Skills     140
Playing Individual Hands     141
The Big Pairs     141
Medium Pairs     143
Small Pairs     145
Small Pairs and Implied Odds     147
Ace-King     148
Ace-Queen     150
Ace-Jack through Ace-Deuce     151
The Trouble Hands     155
Suited Connectors     156
Other Playable Hands     158
Playing the Small Blind     160
Playing the Big Blind     162
Attacking Limpers     168
The Gap Concept in Deep-Stack Poker     169
The Problems     171
Tight-Aggressive Flop Play Heads-Up     217
Introduction     218
Your Goal in the Hand     223
Bet Sizing on the Flop     224
Raising the Initial Bet     226
Sample Hand     228
General Guidelines for Flop Play     230
Handling a Single Pair on the Flop     234
Betting Monsters on the Flop     239
Example: Strategy No. 1 and Stacks of 100 Big Blinds     241
An Interesting Variation: The All-In Semi-Bluff     246
Various Flops and How to Respond     248
Preflop Aggressor Out of Position     251
You Raised with K[spades suit symbol]K[clubs]     252
You Raised with A[heart suit symbol]Q[heart suit symbol]     256
You Raised with T[clubs]T[spades suit symbol]     260
Preflop Aggressor in Position     264
You Raised with A[spades suit symbol]A[clubs]     265
You Raised with A[heart suit symbol]Q[heart suit symbol]     272
You Raised with 9[spades suit symbol]9[clubs]     278
Non-Aggressor Out of Position     283
You Called His Raise with J[heart suit symbol]J[diamond suit symbol]     283
You Called His Raise with 3[clubs]3[heart suit symbol]     286
You Called His Raise with K[clubs]J[spades suit symbol]     288
You Called His Raise with 7[heart suit symbol]6[heart suit symbol]     290
Non-Aggressor in Position     292
You Called His Raise with T[heart suit symbol]T[clubs]     292
You Called His Raise with 4[spades suit symbol]4[diamond suit symbol]     295
You Called His Raise with K[spades suit symbol]Q[spades suit symbol]     297
The Problems     300
Tight-Aggressive Flop Play with Multiple Opponents     339
Introduction     340
Evaluating Hands in Multi-Way Pots     342
Playing Very Strong Hands     344
Sample Hand No. 1     346
Sample Hand No. 2     347
Sample Hand No. 3     349
Playing Overpair and Top Pair Hands     353
Sample Hand No. 1     354
Sample Hand No. 2     355
Playing Middle Pair and Low Pair Hands     357
Sample Hand No. 1     357
Sample Hand No. 2     359
Sample Hand No. 3     360
Playing Drawing Hands     364
Sample Hand     365
The Problems     370
Index     413