Toward A Basic Strategy For
Low Limit No Limit Hold Em:
Pre-Flop Middle Position

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

This is the beginning pre-flop strategy for middle position, the six, seven and eight seat at the typical $100 maximum buy in $1/2 blind no limit hold em table. Let me reiterate that this is not suppose to be the optimal strategy, but rather a beginning one to serve as a base from which to learn a more finely tuned strategy that is dependent on the types of players at the table with you.

MIDDLE POSITION - FOLDED TO YOU

If it's folded to you - meaning that the Big Blind has not been called, raise three or four times the big blind with any pair. You want to knock out as many players with higher cards as possible - though you may not succeed in winning the pot right then. The Big Blind is likely to call - since he already put in a bet and often, at this level, thinks incorrectly that he has to defend his blind. Ideally, your raise will buy you the ideal last betting position on the turn.

I'd suggest varying this basic strategy if your image is other than tight/aggressive. If that's the case - if you're seen as somewhat aggressive and wild - then don't do this unless you have at least a pair of 10s. But if you think your image is tight, and the good players seem to respect you, then go ahead and raise even with pairs as low as 2s. . I raise with Ace King, suited or unsuited, hoping to clear the rest of the field except for weaker Aces and to buy myself position if possible.

Call with the same hands you'd call with from early position - and add a few of the higher connectors. As in early position, I'll generally call with Ace suited and with anything at least as good as Q-10 suited or Q-J unsuited. I also add the non-suited hands like J-10 and Q-10. I fold Ace-medium or Ace-small unsuited. Anything worse I pitch. My theory is that I want to limit the "trap hands" on the flop that often end up making the second best hand, but because of the large implied odds (the amount of money I can potentially make on the end versus the small $2.00 for a call) I want to give myself an ample number of hands to play against bad players who'll misplay their hands after the flop. These starting standards strike that balance for me.

MIDDLE POSITION -ONE OR MORE CALLER

When there's already a caller, there's an even greater chance that players in front of me will call my raise but less of a chance that my raise will be called by players after me, fearing that my raise really means strength (since I raised after the pot was already called). This makes it slightly easier for me to "buy the button" with a raise. But the raise has to be a little larger than if there had been no call in front of me. If I've been raising three times the Big Blind to $8, I should make it $10.00 if the pot has already been called. It's also unlikely that the caller in front of me has my Ace-King beaten - since if he had a premium pair it's likely that he would raise (although some players don't play straightforwardly, nearly all do at this level). Accordingly, I will not raise my middle and lower pairs if there has already been a caller of the big blind, tending to believe that the caller will be likely to call my raise. I'll just call and hope that other players call the hand as well. I want to give myself a chance to flop trips cheaply. But I need to raise for value with my Premium Pairs to lower the chances that and Ax Ks Qx etc. will call and make a higher hand than mine after the flop.

I will raise four times the big blind or so with A-K, suited or unsuited, looking to make it expensive for random hands to play and hoping to get them to fold. I want to knock out the hands that are after me so that I'll have the positional advantage after the flop. I don't do this in early position because of the relative unlikelihood of knocking out all of the other players with a raise. But from middle position, with a call in front of me, I find that this raise with A-K makes sense.

If the pot is raised a significant amount after either my raise or my call I will fold all of my hands except for Aces and Kings. I will re-raise any raise with Aces. If my raise was itself raised I will fold my Kings and reraise all in with my Aces.

MIDDLE POSITION - RAISER IN FRONT OF ME

Since most players at this level tend to be passive and relatively timid, or wild and unpredictable, I tend to limit my exposure and respect early position raises - not trying to figure out if they're bluffing. If they are, they can win the $3.00 pot unless I have a truly strong hand. So I fold to any serious raise (three times the big blind or more) unless I have Aces or Kings (or until I've perfected my game enough to recognize the players who do this habitually with very little). With Aces or Kings I will re-raise to nine times the big blind. I do not try to trap them with a call, finding that players who raise usually call my reraise. Again, as I develop my skills and my ability to read my opponents I deviate from this strategy substantially, depending on the quality of my opponent. For for a beginner, stick to the safer strategy of folding unless you have Aces or Kings, and then reraising. If I am raised back, I will fold my Kings and reraise all in with my Aces.

You need to change this strategy somewhat if the raiser only raises by a small amount - doubling the big blind for example. This is often the case because at this level of play, many players don't understand how this game is fundamentally different from limit hold em. When the raise is relatively small I treat it much as I would treat a call. I don't fold my Premium Pairs; I raise with them. I call with my middle and lower pairs, just as if the raiser had caller. I do respect even the small raise in one respect. I only call with Ace-King, tending to believe that the raiser may well have a pair and wanting to see the flop cheaply to see if I make top pair top kicker.

MIDDLE POSITION - RAISER AND RE-RAISER

If the pot has been raised and re-raised in front of me I will fold every hand except Aces in which case I will go all-in. (Again, the attentive, good player will eventually modify this strategy to take into account his reads on the other players. But for starters, play it safe this way). I find that many players with lesser hands will call my all-in raise, which is what I want. But I'm also happy to win the pot right there, rather than see the flop with a few other callers.

NEXT: LATE-POSITION - PRE-FLOP

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