04-19-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Howard Lederers DVD - Starting Hand Card
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The first point is that you will rarely, if ever, find yourself in a game where people play by the book. And anyone who does play based on rigid hand groupings will stick out like a sore thumb. In looser low limit games the players will raise all kinds of hands; rightly so because the average starting hand strength is so weak they are correct to raise a hand like KQs. And since everyone else is raising such weak holdings, you wouldn't be correct to muck some hands that might be favorites over them (like AQ for example).
Now, when you get to the larger limits, you might think that everyone is playing much tighter -- not so. There are fewer players that see the flop, but the average hand strength that the players are raising with may actually be less than the looser game. The reason is because since everyone is a good player and capable of folding marginal hands, aggression and position become more valuable and the pros know how to leverage that with a marginal starting hand to win. And since the other guys know that the initial raiser may just be raising because of these reasons, they might often play back at them with looser hands too.
I haven't watched Howard Lederer's DVD or seen his starting hand strategy card but I can tell you what his is trying to instill in his students. There are a couple concepts. The first concept is that in no limit holdem, you need to base your hand strength not only on its denominational value (like JJ, KK, QQ, etc), but also in its relative position to players left to act. Notice that he said when someone raised to your "right." Ideally, according to the books, you don't want to call preflop in no limit holdem after someone else raised. You would like to either reraise or fold -- to flat smooth call and hope to hit a big flop is tough.
The next concept is that in no limit holdem, being the aggressor has a lot of value. By calling preflop you put yourself at a big disadvantage because you will most likely miss the flop and have to fold when the preflop raiser bets. There is a difference between a raising hand and a calling hand: The raising hand can often times be weaker than a calling hand. I think Howard is trying to steer new players away from difficult post flop decisions that arise when you play mid pocket pairs against preflop raisers.
When you teach someone how to play cards, it is easiest to give them very straightforward, conservative strategies for winning. It is hard, if not impossible, to teach someone how to read hands and be able to adjust their own play against others -- that will come with experience.
My advice for you is to try your best to understand the underlying reasons for rules, instead of just memorizing them. There are reasons why KQ, AJ, and KJ type hands don't play well against preflop raisers in no limit holdem. Does that mean you'll never do it though? No. You just need to have enough information and experience to be able to put individual hands into context.
No one can play perfectly, and the beauty is you don't have to; you just need to be right most of the time. Go buy the books, DVDs and other info and learn as much as you can from them. Then get some experience and each time you play, try to flesh out your knowledge bank more.
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