Diversify Your No Limit Holdem Game
I was watching CNBC a few weeks ago and I saw the legendary founder of Vanguard, Jack Bogle, telling the audience that you should diversify a percentage of your investment portfolio, equivalent to your age, into bonds.
For example, if your 50 years old then 50% of your investment portfolio should be in bonds. For whatever reason, this got me thinking of the mindset that a poker player should adopt when playing No Limit Texas Holdem. Let's examine this a little closer...
The first thing you need to do when playing Texas Holdem is profile yourself and figure out what your tolerance for risk is. Just like some people have a higher threshold for pain, the same goes for risk.
Some people invest all their money in small capitalization stocks, where there is incredible volatility, the account value fluctuating wildly and they don't lose sleep over it; while others will never invest their money in anything other than government backed savings bonds. Obviously, the latter having a much higher aversion for risk.
Where do you fall?
This is the first question you need to ask yourself before risking your hard earned dollars in No Limit games. The big mistake a lot of new players make is they watch No Limit Texas Hold'emon TV or in movies and jump right in headfirst before they know what they are doing or what kind of player they are. You see, some players are better at limit poker, others No Limit, still others real money cash games; others are best playing single table tournaments.
Starting out you need to play a little of everything and find what size and style of game seem to match your personality. For new players, much like a new investor, I would recommend starting at the low limit games, gaining experience grinding it out, learning the basic outs and odds and most importantly making mistakes that won't cost you dearly.
You will soon start to figure out what type of player you are. You may be a very tight player or you may be an aggressive player, you'll find out soon enough. Once you have played a while, identified your tendencies and the type of player you are, then you can create a diversified portfolio of Texas Holdem game structure to match your personality and skill level.
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In fact when I started, like I recommend to most, I played fixed limit hold'em for a while but moved away from it as I had an aggressive style which was better suited (excuse the pun) for No Limit. But I also realized rather quickly that I could not handle the massive swings that can come with playing No Limit cash games only. Much like I would probably be very uncomfortable investing all of my money in one stock, allowing my fortunes to ride on the back of one company.
The last aspect of diversification I apply to my game is a nice balance between online vs. casino. I play about 70% of my poker online and 30% live and that mix works great for me. When I get sick of staring at the computer I'll play in person and when I want to relax and not be bothered by others I play Texas Holdem online.
So you see, figure out what type of player you are and then diversify your game accordingly. Much like a diversified investment portfolio, the right balance of Texas Holdem games will help smooth out the short term volatility and increase your chances for longer term success. An ill advised portfolio will lead to tremendous monetary and emotional swings that most players can't handle.
Be prudent, learn from your experiences, build a profile for yourself and figure out whether or not you should invest 80% or 50% or 25% or 0% of your time and money in No Limit Texas Holdem or not?
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Good Luck!
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****Important Update: (for 2008)************
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