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THE SMALL STAKES POKER HUSTLEHow I Make $3,500+ A Month Part-Time Playing $1-2 & $1-3 No-Limit Hold'em & How You Can Too!

Direct from the publisher 

This Comb binding Edition is specifically designed for easy study and only available on eBay

 

Book Details

Format:  Comb Binding

Size:  8.5" x 11"

Pages: 84

Authors:  M. Mitch Freeland 

Publisher:  Las Vegas Book Company

Edition:  1st Comb Binding Edition, March 27, 2017

 

Have you thought about playing winning cash game poker?  How about making a living playing poker part-time or in your spare-time?  With the vast expansion of casinos across the U.S. it is now possible for anybody to play poker for a living—even part-time.

I have been playing winning Poker for over 30 years and I've decided to write a book to show others how to play and win for life.  Can you really become a winning cash game player in small stakes No-limit Hold'em? You better believe you can!  How would you like an extra $25,000, $50,000 or even $100,000 next year?  How would you like to have a nest egg of $500,000? 

 

It all starts by taking action.

 

DISCOVER THE TIPS, TRICKS, METHODS AND STRATEGIES USED TO BECOME A SOLID SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM WINNER FOR LIFE!

 

HERE ARE THE IRREFUTABLE Strategies taught to you Step-by-Step to mold you into a CASH GAME WINNER!

 

I

f you are just starting out or you have been playing low stakes No-limit Hold’em for a while and you can’t seem to beat the game or your hourly win rate is not exactly something to brag about, then this is the book you have been waiting for. The most popular game in the card room today is $1-$2 No-limit and if you master this level, you will be able to make a living almost anywhere in North America today.

I am going to show you how I play and how I win year after year. It is not luck. I will show you the ins-and-out of good play—of winning play. You do not have to be a great player to win. You just have to have a little more disciple than the other players. The winner is the one who makes the right decisions more often at the correct time.

 

In The Small Stakes Poker Hustle, you will learn:

  • How to beat the game and raise your hourly rate to a respectable level
  • How to read players with a high degree of accuracy
  • Which cards to play and when
  • How much to bet and raise for maximum effectiveness and greater profits
  • How to play hands correctly—not how they do on T.V.
  • When to cash out winner or loser
  • How to handicap a table for maximum profits
  • How to keep a journal on players so you never miss an opportunity to stack them
  • Get players to pay you off on big hands
  • How to spot tells and get the edge

 

Sampling of the Contents

 

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.. 6

Small Stakes Demystified.. 7

Introduction.. 9

Who is This Book For?. 9

What is the Aim of this Book?. 9

Online Players Transitioning to Live Games  10

Why This Book and Why Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em   10

Playing Smaller than $1-$2.. 11

Chapter 1.. 12

Background: 12

My Transformation from Limit to No-Limit and Then to Small Stakes

Chapter 2.. 15

The Structure of the Game, Bankroll, Money-Management, The Rake, Getting Organized and Other Topics. 15

The Drop / Pot Rake. 16

Number of Players at a Table. 17

Bankroll 17

How Much Bankroll Do You Need to Start?  18

Should You Segregate your Bankroll?. 18

Back to Your Log or Journal 19

Taking Notes on Players. 20

Buy-In Limits. 20

Experimenting with Different Buy-Ins. 21

Win Rate Expectation.. 21

Promotions, Comps and Jackpots. 22

A Word about Tipping. 22

A Good Player. 23

CHAPTER 3.. 24

UNDERSTANDING THE OPPOSITION   24

Why are Small Stakes Players Weak and How Not to Fall into This Trap?  26

Observations of the Opposition.. 27

Flaws with Small Stakes No-Limit Players  28

Patience. 29

Stamina. 30

Categorizing Players and Their Style of Play  30

When do You Bluff?. 32

Maniacs or Super Aggressive, Loose Players  32

How to Play against Maniacs or Super Aggressive, Loose Players  33

Loose Players. 34

How to Play against Loose Players. 34

Calling Stations. 35

How to Play Against a Calling Station.. 35

Tricky Tight Aggressive Players. 35

Tight Aggressive Players. 36

Going After the Big Stacks. 37

Changing Gears. 37

Chapter 4.. 39

A SNAPSHOT OF POKER THEORY AND ODDS   39

Pot Odds and Implied Odds. 39

How to Calculate Your Odds. 40

How to Use the Chart of Outs and Odds.   40

Poker Math.. 40

Flop to River. 40

Chapter 5.. 42

Hand Rankings and How to Play From Each Position   42

Position.. 42

Positions in a Nine Handed Game. 42

Raising. 42

Raising in Early Position When No One Has Entered  43

Raising in Middle Position When No One Has Entered  43

Raising From Late Position When No One Has Entered  43

Raising From The Button When No One Has Entered  44

Calling a Raise Before the Flop.. 44

Calling a Reraise Before the Flop.. 44

How to Play When its Three Bets Before It Gets to You  45

Calling a Raise after You Have Called.. 45

Playing from the Blinds and Raising from the Blinds  46

When you are the Blind and the Button is First to Enter with a Raise  46

Chopping the Blinds. 46

When you are the Small Blind and the Big Blind Does Not Chop  46

When you are the Big Blind and the Small Blind Does Not Chop  46

Min Raising. 47

The Standard 3x or 4x Raise.  Which is Better?  47

Raising When there are Callers Before the Flop  48

How to Raise Preflop.. 49

Raising the Straddle. 50

Defining Different Types of Straddles. 50

Standard Straddle. 50

Mississippi 50

Mississippi Action on the Small Blind.. 50

When Do I Straddle?. 50

How Do You Raise in a Straddle Pot?. 51

Preflop Re-raising:  3 and 4 Betting. 51

Moving All-In Preflop.. 52

Chapter 6.. 54

How to Bet After the Flop.. 54

Raising in the Small Blind When No One Has Entered  56

Raising When you Have Posted a Blind From Late Position and No One Has Entered  57

Deciphering the Texture of the Flop.. 57

Different Types of Bets. 57

1)    Betting for Value. 57

2)    Continuation Bet 58

3)    Blocking Bets. 58

4)    Donk Bets. 59

5)    Betting for Information. 59

6)    Bluffs. 59

Semi-Bluffs. 59

Heads Up Play. 60

Multiple Players. 60

Continuation Betting Refined in Small Stakes  60

Betting and Sizing Raises. 60

How to Play Short-Handed.. 60

How Should you Play?. 60

Seating. 61

Number of Players. 61

Betting Big and Getting Called.. 62

Getting Calls By Acting Weak. 62

When Your Opponent Bets Big When You Have the Nuts  63

Playing Nut Flush Cards. 63

Shuffle Machines and the Speed of the Game  64

Chapter 7.. 65

When You Flop a Made Hand.. 65

How to Play When you Flop Three of a Kind  65

How to Play When you Flop Two Pair. 67

How to Play When you Flop a Straight 67

How to Play When you Flop a Flush.. 68

How to Play When you Flop a Full House  68

How to Play When you Flop Four of a Kind  68

Chapter  8  Tells. 69

Removing Any Tells you Might Have.   71

SUMMARY AND.. 73

PARTING THOUGHTS

Would You Like to Know More?. 74

Books by M. Mitch Freeland. 75

 

Introduction

 

Small stakes ($1-$2 and $1-$3) no-limit Hold'em are the most widely spread games in the world. If you know how to play this game well, you will be able to win regularly and even make a living at it if you choose to make it your game of choice.

 

In Las Vegas, a recent Saturday night, there were eighty-two $1-$2 and $1-$3 games running with a maximum buy in of $200 to $300.  With nine players per table, you have 738 players seated and playing in a single evening. You have more posted on the waiting list. Now Las Vegas is a gambling destination, and today there are dozens or casinos hosting small stakes games across North America. A recent article reported that the new MGM Grand Casino in Oxen Hill, Maryland, only about ten miles from Washington D.C. sported lists of over one hundred players as a common number of people waiting for a seat to open to play the current games.

 

There are plenty of games to choose from at this level.

Who is This Book For?

This book is not for absolute beginners who are unfamiliar with the general rules of poker and no-limit. If you have not played No-limit Hold'em before or you are new to the game of poker, I recommend that you read my book How to Play No-Limit Hold'em:  A Primer for Smart New Players Who Want to Start with A Winning Edge in the World's Greatest Poker Game first. It is a prequel to this book.  When you have finished that book you can get this book.

 

Readers of this book should have a fair amount of experience playing no-limit Hold'em in cardrooms, casinos and home games where the game structure and rules are primarily uniformed with two blinds. This book is for players who play in live action cash ring games in public cardrooms or private home games. If you want to be a consistent winner at small stakes no-limit Hold’em this book was created for you—plain and simple.

What is the Aim of this Book?

This book has one objective:  To make small stakes part-time and full-time (putting in 40 hours a week) players winners in the game for life.  If you are new to no-limit the perfect place to start your education is right at the $1-$2 game. With this book you will be getting a solid start. If you apply the information in this book, and hone your new discovered skills, you will be able to hold your own in any small stakes game.  Moreover, when you master the information that I have presented in these pages, you will have the opportunity to secure a full-time income if you put in the hours. A full-time income playing $1-$2, $1-$3 and $2-$3 no-limit could be $40,000 to over $75,000 per year. Playing full time would mean at least forty hours a week.  However, if you live close to a casino or close to many casinos you might find yourself putting in fifty hours a week. Albeit, fifty hours a week might sound like a lot of time in a casino, it is, however, doable, and you could earn $80,000 to $100,000 a year playing the $1-$3 or $2-$3.  To get to this level you would need to make $40 an hour.  And $40 an hour is doable if you play $1-$3 or $2-$3.

  

Naturally, as your game improves and your cash flow increases, you will most likely move up to bigger games.  However, keep in mind, as you move up, the games will become tougher.

Online Players Transitioning to Live Games

If you have been playing on the internet and want to transition into live ring games, then this book can help you by making a winning transition.  Since you will be playing in the lower limits, you will be playing with mostly unskilled players, many on a low bankroll. Most inexperienced and small stakes players have numerous tells; therefore, I will get into the basic tells that are most easily recognized. If you are observant and serious about winning at small stakes no-limit, uncovering tells from your opponents will increase your hourly win rate significantly. All it takes is one big discovery to uncover the strength of your opponents hand.

 

Why This Book and Why Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em

We know that all forms of poker played in a public card room or private home game is beatable. With poker there is no house edge because we are not playing against the house. If you learn to play well and hold your concentration at the table, you get the edge over your opponents.

 

If you want to play poker and you want to play lots of it, the most available games, almost anywhere, are the small stakes games. No-limit Hold'em is the best choice.  You could play small limit games but how much do you think you are going to make playing $2-$4 or $3-$6 Limit Hold'em or Omaha?  Not much. You will be pressing it trying to make $10 or $12 an hour.  This may not be worth your time.  Therefore, the best option is no-limit—$1-$2 no limit.  And there are lots, and I mean lots, of unskilled players at small stakes no-limit. There is an infinite number of weak players at this level and many new players are entering small stakes games for one reason--it's where nearly all new players begin.

 

Playing low limit is not very profitable and these days you could probably make more at any minimum wage job.  So, playing low limit is not a viable option. Now, on the other hand, a good $1-$2 no-limit player can make $20 to $25 an hour and an expert can make $30-$35 an hour or more depending on game selection, the rake and casino comps. This makes the game more interesting and profitable and largely sustainable indefinitely, as long as the card rooms do not raise the pot rake substantially. 

 .  The $1-$2 game I suggest is the game with a $100 to $300 buy- in.  Any maximum buy-in less than $100 adds more gambling to the game because you do not have enough chips to play an optimum strategy. The buy-in will be covered in greater detail later in the book, but for now focus on games where you can buy-in for $200-$300—and $100 (50x the big blind) being the absolute minimum.

 

The $1-$2 game I suggest you play is the game with a $100 to $300 buy in; however, I prefer and recommend playing a $200 or $300 buy-in. The $200 buy-in will give you enough ammunition (100x the big blind) to withstand several hours of non playable hands and a few beats, and allow you to bet and raise the correct amount without having to risk a higher percentage of your stack to make it a good investment.  It will also provide you with enough chips when you have a hand that can be backed up with your entire stack.  The more chips you have, the more you can earn with your big hands, while playing an optimal game. The problem with playing a short-stacked entails more gambling and your opponents are more likely to play in a way to exploit your low chip position.  When you have a low stack, it is hard to get players off their hands, because it's easier for an unskilled player to know that he can only lose $60 as opposed to double or triple that amount.

 

If you follow my advice in this book and play the way I recommend, you will have no problem beating this game and other small stakes no-limit Hold'em games.

 

I want to reemphasize that his book is for everybody who plays small stakes no-limit hold’em cash games with blinds of $1-2, $2-2,  $1-$3 and $2-3.  These are the low stakes games where the bring-in (first raise) is usually between $6 to $15. Some players who like to play small ball will bring it in for $4 or $5, which I believe is a big mistake, and it will be covered later.

 

Much of the information I discuss can also be carried over to internet play.  If you have been playing on the internet and want to transition into live ring games, then this book can help you with making a winning transition.  Since you will be playing in the lower limits, you will be playing with mostly unskilled players on a low bankroll. Most inexperienced, recreational players have numerous tells and many are loose and offer clues to the strength of their hands; therefore, I will get into the basic tells most easily recognized in a later chapter.

Playing Smaller than $1-$2

A while back, I saw on Poker Atlas (PokerAtlas.com) that The Linq in Las Vegas had a $1-$1 no-limit game with a $100+ buy-in, but unfortunately, as I was finishing this book, the poker room closed. I have also seen a game in a St. Petersburg, Florida casino that offers a $1-$1 game.   These games might be good as well, perhaps even better, because you are dealing with players in a game that is, I believe, the lowest stakes no-limit ring game around in public card rooms, or in any casino outside of home games. I could only assume that the players are inexperienced, leaning toward no experience, and completely recreational. A good player could make $15 to $20 an hour in this game.   I am certain of this. I one thing you have to pay attention to is the pot rake. If buy-ins are very low, pots may not get high enough to justify the rake.  The rake could be well over 20% of the pot in most hands.  This could severely diminish your profit potential in the game.

 

Even in a $1-$2 game you will get players who do not know the basic rules or poker or hold'em.  I have played all over the United States and even in Las Vegas I have had players seated next to me ask, embarrassingly, "Does a straight beat a flush?"  In another game there was a new player who somehow thought that the game was a community share game, showing this whole cards to the players seated beside him. That may not sound that bad, but the players seated beside him were all in the hands he played.  The new player lost his stack in two hands.  The money went in the pot and the winners had a nice Christmas. I advised the player to not show his cards to the other players, but it was too late. He did not understand England well. Unfortunately, I did not get any of his chips.  Instead, I got my money from the retiree who kept betting into my king high flush with top pair.

 

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

 

I have been playing winning poker for more than thirty years.  My views regarding small stakes no-limit poker may be arguably different than what most experienced players may feel about the game at the lower levels. My view of the game has evolved from negative to positive. There is a significant difference playing and winning at small stakes no-limit than other games. The difference between small and medium stakes and large stakes no-limit Hold'em can be equated to the difference of managing a $500 stock portfolio to managing a $10 million portfolio. Undeniably, there are similarities to the strategies of  good money management and playing no-limit Hold'em, but when you look deeper, you will find that small stakes no-limit is in a crazy little world of its own, separated by fine lines which some players might call a form of gambling insanity.

 

The aim in playing poker is to make money (that's my aim—yours might be different, whatever it is), but the way you make it is vastly different when you play small stakes. There are different skills involved. You have to be more observant because you are playing in multi-way pots most of the time. This is not the case when you play higher stakes.

 

My perception of the game of no-limit is based exclusively on my experience of playing in dozens of cardrooms over many years. I did not start with small stakes.  I started playing no-limit at the $5-$10 and $10-$20 no-limit tables. I was a winning player at these games for years, but when the financial crisis occurred in 2008, many of the games that I played began to disappear and my business interests at the time were located in areas where card clubs and casinos were yet to be legalized.  I then began to play the game that was most available in home games, $3-$5 no-limit.  The more I traveled, the more I realized the changing scene in poker. This included the change in the size of the game.

                                                             

As mentioned, my normal game for no-limit evolved to $3-$5, from $5-$10 ($1,500-$2,000 buy-in) and $10-$20 ($2,500-$5,000 buy-in) no limit.  Friendly home games were usually spread at $3-$5 with an unlimited buy-in, most players buying in for $300 or $500.

 

When I refer to small stakes I am talking about $1-$2 and $1-$3 no-limit live, cash games with buy-ins at an absolute minimum of 50x the big blind.  A lot of negative things have been said about small stakes no-limit with unusually low maximum buy-ins—and my perception of the game was that it was not worthwhile to play with the high pot rakes and jackpot drops toping well over 10% of the pot in most hands.  It has also been said that small stakes was extremely difficult to beat in the short-term because of the volatility, wild and incredible swings.  The saying was: ‘too many bad players ruin the game.’ Sure, two or three weak players in a game is a good game, but eight super weak, idiotic, hyper-loose players—and you simply do not have a chance at winning—it becomes a free-for-all—a shove fest. The volatility in your stack size is greater because you are constantly in multi-way pots.  Nobody respects a raise even when it is over 25% of their stack—you’ll get multiple callers on a three bet before the flop. When the average eight players at a small stakes table play a range up and down the deck from any position, you will have a wild game with big swings.  This is inevitable. And this is especially true when the buy-in is a maximum of only 50x ($100 for a $1-$2 game) the big blind.  So, to play without having a breakdown that leads you with a one way ticket to the booby hatch, you have to prepare, and comprehend the precariousness of small stakes and the nature of the people playing the game. This is as far from $10-$20 no-limit as you will get. It is a whole different game, guaranteed. With a vastly different style of play involved to win—and keep sane. Small stakes no-limit has certain advantages, given that one fully understands the complexity of the game. I'll get into these advantages later in this book.

 

In preparation for this book, I played $1-$2, $1-$3, and $2-$3 no-limit for twenty-three months, part-time, booking 1,508 hours of playing time, with an hourly win rate of $33 per hour, averaging twenty-one hours per week in a normal week. I played twice as many hours in the $1-$2 than the others.

Small Stakes Demystified

I wanted to demystify the conception among many that one could not win a worthwhile amount over an extended period of time playing small stakes, with low minimum buy-ins and high pot rakes. Now a worthwhile amount is subjective, so I will use a figure of $30 win rate as per hour of play as a worthwhile number to win.  Some might feel that $15 an hour is a good number and others might feel that $50 an hour makes it worth-the-while.  You will have to make your own decision on this.  Naturally, if you live in an area with low living costs you will do all right with a $30 an hour win rate. But, if you are in a larger city, where expenses are much greater, you won't think much of a $30 an hour rate. If you want to play fulltime, you will have to play eight hours a day six days a week to pull in close to $70,000 at the end of the year.

 

While playing in the small stakes arena I learned a lot more than I set out to about playing at this limit. I was also enlightened by the regular recreational players and new players playing at these limits.  I'll share much of what I discovered in this book and another book that I am writing at this time titled How to Make $250,000 Over the Next 5 Years Playing Small Stakes Poker.  The book goes into greater detail with a structured plan of attack for a lifetime of playing small stakes No-limit cash games.  It is an extension of this book and includes subjects that this book does not cover, like small stakes online games, and maximizing profits with rakeback (what the casinos pay you to play).  The book will also cover playing in different casinos across the United States.  Poker rooms are increasing in the United States at an unprecedented level, And with this robust growth, opportunities for smart players is ripe.

 

The information in this book and the strategies I recommend are derived directly from my experiences playing small stakes, but also from thirty years of experience playing all forms of poker at many different limits and with thousands of playing personalities.

 

I want to also stress that playing poker at a very good or expert level is not a quick fix to riches per say. And I want to stress that to play winning small stakes no-limit, you do not have to be very good or an expert player.

 

If you are playing in cash games and you have played a significant number of hours (1,000-2,000 hours), you should have a realistic view of your hourly rate. You can now figure in what you can expect in the months and years to come.  If you consistently study your game and reflect on your mistakes (plugging any leaks you have) and noting your victories, and why you won a session, you will be on your way to a lifetime of wins.

 

God Bless and Good luck!

 

M. Mitch Freeland

March 25, 2017

Las Vegas, Nevada

 

 

YES, YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO BE A WINNER AT SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT TEXAS HOLD'EM

"Writer, publisher, real estate investor--flipper, poker player, gambler and businessman, 
M. Mitch Freeland has been called the modern-day polymath."
M. Mitch Freeland

Hello, I’m Mitch Freeland. I am the author of many books all published by Las Vegas Book Company. I am a person of faith, a business person, and a writer.  I have been playing winning poker for over thirty years, started at 19, playing in home games in college.

After UCLA and during the next thirty years, I played blackjack, craps, poker, and ran a number of businesses along with writing a few books

I studied Anthropology at UCLA and after 20+ years in business and gambling  I started writing at forty-four. Since then, I have written seventy books. Everything I write about (nonfiction), I have experienced and have derived income.

I have been an investor in numerous young companies and start-ups dealing in all classes of investments for over twenty-five years. I have also been a real estate investor for many years. I have been President and founder of an online bookstore, and publishing company (Las Vegas Book Company), Managing Director of private Investment Banking companies, and a hands-on operator in my real estate investing and property management companies. With my brother John, we have bought and sold, fixed and flipped hundreds of single-family and multi-family properties and I have managed over 100 units as a landlord. 

Regarding my nonfiction writing, my goal is to create intuitive, pertinent content that can be incorporated into your personal and work life to help you succeed faster and with less stress.

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