The second post in this series has been delayed a few days because of PokerStars’ reload bonus which needed to be cleared. Of course, it didn’t need to be cleared as soon as possible, but it’s kinda like opening presents on Christmas Eve; You wanna do it as soon as possible.

But I have had time to play a little NL, and I’ve learned a new valuable lesson. This little nugget is actually valid for limit as well, but with much less dire consequences:

Be more worried about your opponent having the goods than about being bluffed out of a small pot.

I got stacked (see? I’m even learning the lingo!) three times before I decided that I was being stupid to call all-in bets with the only possible saving grace being that my opponent was bluffing. For those of you who care about detail, he wasn’t, but you may have guessed that from the context already.

Of course, there’s an obvious reason that this applies more to no-limit than to limit: The bets are almost never as big in relation to the pot size in limit as they are in no-limit, therefore a bet in limit hold ‘em is far more “callable” in regards to pot odds than a decently sized bet is in no-limit. And if someone overbets the pot, pushing all in, I need to be very confident that I’m up against a bluff if I’m going to call.

I have a couple of ugly habits I need to break out of. The first, and this is entirely induced by my limit play, is that I shouldn’t “peel the flop” as often. For those of you who read my first post, you saw me talking about fold equity on the flop… Well, dammit, you’d think I’d be a bit smarter about calling large bets on the flop then, too, wouldn’t you?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a total fish. I don’t habitually call the flop with any two, but I have been a bit too happy about unimproved overcards. I believe I’ve broken this habit now.

The second ugly habit I’m now working on is “acting impulsively.” For instance, in limit, I’m willing to make a slightly loose call on the end to figure out a weird betting sequence. Sometimes I learn something valuable, and can use it. I don’t make these calls often, and only when I believe the odds of me being ahead is close to the pot odds, but I do make them. My problem here is simply that I tend to forget to actually check the pot odds when I play no-limit; My head tells me to go ahead and call, it’s “only a river bet.” Of course, that river bet may be the size of the pot, but my trigger-happy index finger is way too fast for my brain to scream STOP.

So, in conclusion: I will work on thinking my actions through more, I will cut out the loose flop calls, and I will fold a lot more easily when I believe I am beat.

That said, “No Limit Hold ‘Em - Theory and Practise” arrived in the mail today, so now I have some reading to do. I’ll try to keep you updated!