As an avid lurker and contributor to the Usenet rec.gambling.poker newsgroup I've too often stumbled upon notions and opinions that loosest Texas "no fold'em" games are nearly impossible to beat, because of loose fish playing too many hands and sucking out on good hands held by "solid" or "knowledgeable" players who subsequently bang their heads against the walls in frustration. They just do not seem to understand why their semibluffs, banks and good laydowns fail to bring the bacon home.
As I have consistently been beating no fold'em games over the past years, I suddenly felt the urge to compile some bits and pieces on this subject, usually taken from my (and other's) discussions on rgp, modified and edited for your viewing pleasure.
This work would not be possible without some people I respect. By studying their work, I was standing on solid ground while developing my own ideas about how to Play With the Fish. They are David Sklansky (author of the best poker book to date, Theory of Poker), Lee Jones, Bob Wilson (of Wilson Software, maker of the excellent Turbo Poker series) and Abdul Jalib M'hall, who was the first to successfully and correctly explain underlying mechanics and "why's" of Texas Hold'em. I feel that it's imperative for anybody playing serious hold'em to study his work at http://www.posev.com/poker!
Also, my thanks goes to the advent of online poker. Studying the hand histories of various top-notch players helped me with my game immensely. There is no better place to learn the game, if you want to try, choose the best cardroom online. In my opinion, that's Paradise Poker.
Izmet Fekali, Nov 2003.
