Learning No-Limit Hold ‘Em from scratch

Somebody posted a question on 2+2 today that really got me thinking.

"There is so much to learn for a beginner, in what order of aspects of the game would the more experienced players say it makes sense to focus on. For example, first is obviously what beats what, then perhaps betting, then pot odds, then position and so on... Of course all aspects of the game have to be considered while at the table (or as much as ur knowledge will allow)There is just so much to learn it would be good to have some kind of logical progression of what to focus on away from the table, depending on what you have already studied and got to some level of grips with.."

This is something that I have thought about before and it’s a really complex subject. I suspect that with enough time, I would like to start by teaching a student how to formulate a strategy for a much simpler game than poker. Then, as they master the fundamentals of strategy formulation, introduce more complexity in the game itself until it eventually becomes No-Limit Hold ‘Em we know it.

Game 1

Consider this very simple ‘poker’ game, contested by 10 players. The game plays exactly like NLHE, except
(1) they receive only one card each
(2) there are no community cards
(3) there is only one betting round
(4) high card wins

In this game, I have no doubt that a great poker player would manage to formulate a strategy that would generate profit. Discussing strategy with the poker novice we could introduce concepts such as
(a) position
(b) pot odds
(c) fold equity
(d) hand-reading
(e) bluffing
(f) stack-sizes

It should become clear quite quickly that a player can play more hands in late position than in early position. Also, it can be explained how raising can be more profitable than calling. We can also introduce risk/reward into the equation.

It wouldn’t take a game theory expert very long to calculate a very profitable strategy in this very simple game. However, not everybody in the game will have the ability or the inclination to work out an optimal strategy. This is where player-reading and hand reading comes into play.

Obviously there would be a lot of guesswork in such a simple game. There isn’t much information to go on when making a betting decision.

Game 2

As game 1, but with the addition of a 3-card flop, after which there is a second (and final) round of betting. The best 3-card hand wins, but there are only trips, pairs and high cards.

This complicates matters greatly, as the element of ‘catch-up’ is now introduced to the game. New concepts can be introduced as follows:
(1) implied odds
(2) outs
(3) pre-flop equity

Also, previously discussed concepts can be expanded on. For example, position becomes more important, as the cost of giving away your hand pre-flop is much greater. Hand-reading is more complicated as there is more information on which to base our decision.

Games 3,4 and beyond

The game can be expanded to eventually reflect NLHE as currently played. If additional betting rounds are added, it becomes obvious that pre-flop equity is less important, implied odds and position more important. Also, the impact of differing stack sizes can be introduced into the equation.

If we add a second hole-card, and expand to include flushes and straights it opens up a whole host of possibilities for our exploration

Conclusion

Its difficult to say which concepts are more important. We need to understand as much as possible about the game we are playing and the circumstances in which we play it.

If we are playing with a short-stack, then maybe we can focus on pre-flop hand equity and position. Otherwise, we really do need to consider all of the other variables.

Once a beginning player has some understanding of fundamentals, they need to play in a game to get some understanding of the flow of the game. They must learn to feel comfortable actually playing the game so that they can think about what is happening and why. Its useful if someone can critique their play, referring back to the fundamentals, as there must be an ongoing process of learning.

Actually, the Theory Of Poker does a great job of explaining these fundamentals. However, sometimes the best way to learn is to have somebody point you towards finding the correct answers for yourself. This probably results in greater understanding.