Does anyone here play strictly NLH? (1 Viewer)

Many here enjoy a very wide variety of games. My games are usually NLH only because most of my players prefer that, but I really like to play mixed from time to time. I have played a lot of ”standard” other games but not many of the really weird ones.
 
NLH was my main for my group but it get a bit boring and predictable after awhile, so we added to play PLO too and most recently decided to try out 2-7 single draw NL at our next home game
 
When we are only playing NLH, we play with some variant as well to spice up the game you can try like

BB Ante (It Add in more dead money thus encouring more action)
Button Ante / SB BONUS (where Button Will place the ante and only the SB can win the bonus if they win the hand)
Short Deck NLH
7-2 Game
6 handed poker (It reduce folding as they lesser people and shorter orbit period)
 
I am and always will be a NLH poker player, that is where my roots lie. From online poker i have been introduced to the game of Omaha high low or also known as O8- Omaha 8 or better. I play this game as often as I can because I absolutely love it. It is such a fascinating game to me. So much going on, and its not just like Omaha hi, it is a totally different beast. In this game on the river you can play a high hand and a low hand, the low is anywhere from a-8. It can be a every forgiving game if you don't happen to make your high hand and your left with a good low to play or often any low if heads up could be good. I love this game, there is so much thought in it and the overall goal is to play hands that scoop pots, scoop is to win both the high and the low. Scooping a hand can be difficult but when you do so the pot is usually huge by the river.
 
I love every game out there, except pineapple or crazy pineapple or any other version of pineapple. I don’t like pineapple.

Seriously though I love them all, HLHE, PLO, O8, SOHE, 2-7, badugi, stud, razz, dramaha, …

Every game has its own strategy and it keeps the game interesting. I love 8-game mix tournaments. My favorite format for sure.
 
Our tournaments are NLH so that it doesn't exclude your "casual" poker player who's watched it on TV. We have a wide range of players come to our events and we get 21-24 on average and sometimes up to 27 or 32. We save PLO or PLO high low and other games for when we play $1/$1 cash and we only get 6-8 of the more serious players.

So I would say a lot depends on your group and their poker knowledge.
 
I host a monthly game with usually 6 - 12 players. My group is only interested in NLHE tourneys but I keep trying to get them to try a fixed limit dealers choice night. One of these days I'll convince them.
 
cranberry said:
Granted I have not had much experience in other poker games like PLO or Stud etc, but I feel like NLH is king. Any thoughts?
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I started playing poker, NLHE and LHE in 2003. I started playing mix games in 2006. Primary game is still NLHE. If I want to make money, I'm playing NLHE. If I want to have more fun and make a little less money, I'm playing mix. Preferably limit mix.
 
No Limit Holdem is a great gateway drug to poker, but after playing it for over 20 years I find it is more enjoyable to play other games. My group is all pretty competent and so edges are slim and most big pots are coolers and both players would have played the same from either side. Unless a donk joins the game or someone is on monkey tilt, there isn’t free EV to collect.

Plus, you have to fold a lot and folding is so boring.

I guess holdem tournies are okay, because blinds force action. But pure cash….sleepy time.
 
I think most people who only play nlh do so because they either don't know other games exist or because they are relatively new to poker and that is the 1st game they were introduced to or maybe they only get a chance to play poker occasionally and don't feel like learning/trying anything different.

Before Moneymaker and the poker boom nlh was relatively unknown/not played much in card rooms. Stud and limit hold-em were the main games. Both games are excellent games. Omaha and O8 are also somewhat common games that also great games. There are others too: 2-7 triple draw, Razz, Badugi, Baduci & these games are mostly played at higher limits, but can be fun too.

If you play a lot of poker and you feel like the game has gotten stale or boring, give something other than nlh a chance. Any of these games will change things up. I would suggest limit hold-em or Omaha to start with if you are new to non nlh.
 
Highli99 said:
No Limit Holdem is a great gateway drug to poker, but after playing it for over 20 years I find it is more enjoyable to play other games. My group is all pretty competent and so edges are slim.......

Plus, you have to fold a lot and folding is so boring.

I guess holdem tournies are okay, because blinds force action. But pure cash….sleepy time.
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I think this is exactly the problem with nlh. People either lose too much and quit or they figure out that in order to survive you need to play pretty tight and folding is boring so therefore nlh becomes boring
 
Nanook said:
I think this is exactly the problem with nlh. People either lose too much and quit or they figure out that in order to survive you need to play pretty tight and folding is boring so therefore nlh becomes boring
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Playing tight is plus ev in any poker game, I play in a big PLO/Big O/NLHE mix and probably the biggest leak I see amongst my opponents is preflop hand selection. And Hold 'em has way less variance than the other two games.
 
Chippy McChiperson said:
Playing tight is plus ev in any poker game, I play in a big PLO/Big O/NLHE mix and probably the biggest leak I see amongst my opponents is preflop hand selection. And Hold 'em has way less variance than the other two games.
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I'd argue that Big O for a good player has MUCH less variance than NLHE. I also think you probably should be playing tighter in Big O than in NLHE preflop.
 
I only play NLH. I would play limit holdem if I could get people to do that again.
The topic came up during a game a while back among players who have played poker for a long time - name another game humans have invented that you can play for hours on end without getting bored? I can’t think of one

Some of my friends in high school and college (early mid 90’s) always played poker but I was never that interest because they played all kinds of goofy wild card carnival games. It just seemed like mindless gambling to me and I could never stay interested enough to keep track of all the different games.

I only got really into poker when my friends uncle invited us to his decades old 7 card stud game around 2000. That’s all they played…straight seven card stud all night. I loved it. Then a friend of mine…who in hindsight was a couple years ahead of the curve…held a small NLH tournament about two years before Chris Moneymaker. I remember having to buy a book to learn how to best play game as Rounders was my only exposure to it. Once I played holdem I immediately realized is was the perfect version of poker. The boom hit and we moved to holdem exclusively though it was limit at first.

I’ve tried other games like Omaha but nothing compares to holdem. I never ever get tired of it.
 
Old State said:
I only play NLH. I would play limit holdem if I could get people to do that again.
The topic came up during a game a while back among players who have played poker for a long time - name another game humans have invented that you can play for hours on end without getting bored? I can’t think of one

Some of my friends in high school and college (early mid 90’s) always played poker but I was never that interest because they played all kinds of goofy wild card carnival games. It just seemed like mindless gambling to me and I could never stay interested enough to keep track of all the different games.

I only got really into poker when my friends uncle invited us to his decades old 7 card stud game around 2000. That’s all they played…straight seven card stud all night. I loved it. Then a friend of mine…who in hindsight was a couple years ahead of the curve…held a small NLH tournament about two years before Chris Moneymaker. I remember having to buy a book to learn how to best play game as Rounders was my only exposure to it. Once I played holdem I immediately realized is was the perfect version of poker. The boom hit and we moved to holdem exclusively though it was limit at first.

I’ve tried other games like Omaha but nothing compares to holdem. I never ever get tired of it.
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I recommend trying NL 2-7 Single Draw at some point. Usually NLHE players love it.
 
Legend5555 said:
I recommend trying NL 2-7 Single Draw at some point. Usually NLHE players love it.
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Unfortunately I would never find anyone to play that with me but I would love to try it. Doyle Brunson mentioned it in his “Poker Wisdom of a Champion ” (great books that’s really just old stories) that 2-7 lowball draw was a big high stakes game in the Deep South during the 50s and 60s. That was the first time I was aware of it.
 
Old State said:
Unfortunately I would never find anyone to play that with me but I would love to try it. Doyle Brunson mentioned it in his “Poker Wisdom of a Champion ” (great books that’s really just old stories) that 2-7 lowball draw was a big high stakes game in the Deep South during the 50s and 60s. That was the first time I was aware of it.
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I'm planning on playing the $1500 NL 2-7 at the WSOP this year. I'll make a thread for it so people can follow along.
 
Mr Winberg said:
Some people, pros even, won't play No-Limit. They can't handle the swings. But there are others, like Doyle Brunson, who consider No-Limit the only pure game left.
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These are the people that never played PLO
 
OP, I weep for people like you that think there is only one true poker. There are so many awesome games out there that are actually fun to play. I am pretty good at NLHE, at least for the small stakes I play. I would rather take a losing or break even session of mixed games over grinding out a boring session of NLHE with a bunch of nits.

I am a card player. Give me a game with fair rules, moderate stakes, and a fighting chance and I will play.
 
grebe said:
This quote quite possibly ruined poker!
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The only part of this that is debatable is the past tense of the word "ruined".

Poker either has already been ruined or is still in the process of being ruined by this idea that nlh is the only "real" poker

grebe said:
OP, I weep for people like you that think there is only one true poker. There are so many awesome games out there that are actually fun to play. I am pretty good at NLHE, at least for the small stakes I play. I would rather take a losing or break even session of mixed games over grinding out a boring session of NLHE with a bunch of nits.

I am a card player. Give me a game with fair rules, moderate stakes, and a fighting chance and I will play.
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100% agree with everything you say and imply here.

Very few people understand this concept. To put it in terms that people like the OP might understand: Very few/(nobody) people will play a game where they have zero chance of winning. Take, for example, chess. It is a very bad game to bet on. The reason is that the Chess master will beat the amateur 100% of the time and there is no way to handicap it. As soon as the amateur realizes this he will no longer play.

No limit hold-em is much closer to chess in this regard than many other forms of poker. Unfortunately nlh has been promoted as the only true poker and over the past 15-20 yrs almost all new players have been only introduced to nlh and most quit soon after being introduced to it. They lose 3, 4, 5 or 10 times in a row and eventually after having no success just give up.

I am quite sure OP had/has no idea of this concept, but maybe now you can think outside the box a little and understand why it is good for the fish to get lucky and win every once in a while
 

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