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Main => General Discussion => Topic started by: Silver Owl on November 13, 2012, 04:54:14 PM

Title: Loose table strategy
Post by: Silver Owl on November 13, 2012, 04:54:14 PM
What strategy do I use for a table like this?
I have  hosted a small no limit hold em home game every month for the last 8 years.  For the last couple of years we probably average 7 or 8 players and typically the same players each month. I’m by far the tightest player of our group. I consider myself tight/aggressive, When I’m in a hand I try to play it aggressive.

The problem is EVERYONE else is very loose. We played last Saturday and I don’t think there was one hand that didn’t have at least 4 people seeing the flop. Anything short of an all-in bet pre flop gets 4-5 callers.

No one seems to understand or care about position. There are 2 players besides myself that will figure outs and/or pot odds. As you can tell this is not a hard core poker group ( one player is my 76 year old mother-in-law ).

The typical game for me is try to stick around until there are 2 or 3 players left and then start to play more hands but by that time I am usually so short stacked that I’m just waiting for a decent all-in hand.

I have tried changing my strategy and playing everyone elses loose game but it seems like it turns into a luckfest (which I don’t like).
I have won 22 of the 100 games we have played but in the last 12-18 months it seems that as everyone has  started playing looser and looser the wins have dried up ( 1 win in the last 18 games).

Whats a good strategy to play with a table like this? Just curious what other people thought.
Title: Re: Loose table strategy
Post by: Stuart Murray on November 14, 2012, 07:38:19 AM
I have the same issue with the pub poker league I run, players play as loose as they want, it seems to be very fashionable nowadays to play loose and fast.  I still stick to tight aggressive, I use position, outs & odds and I cash a high amount of the time, the play is not very favourable for winning, but it is for consistently cashing, and I don't think that it is possible to consistently go for a win against such loose players, given that the game is so flop dependant.

My advice would be to tighten your gap between raising and calling hands in each position, by calling more hands to raises such as KQ, KT, QJ, and suited hands such as 67, 87, 89, your now playing more flops but the range of hands you are calling raises with has increased, but not as wildly as the other players, still giving you an edge, as for your raising range I would keep it the same - small 3 betting range and your normal range for opening.

Stuart
Title: Re: Loose table strategy
Post by: Silver Owl on November 14, 2012, 04:07:01 PM
You are spot on about not being very favorable for winning. We pay the first 3 spots generally and I have cashed 9 of the 12 games this past year but only 1 win. I'm pretty competitive so its win or disappointment. I think you are right about seeing more flops but any hand I play loses value with 4 other people in the hand with me. Unless I flop the nuts and go all-in I guess.  ;D Our year end tournament is next month so I will see how that works out.
Title: Re: Loose table strategy
Post by: Rassal on February 20, 2013, 02:56:29 PM
I am running the same type of league for the past 8 years...

And i totaly understand your point... The problem here, is not that they all play loose and you play too tight... is that you are too competitive for that type of players.

And you will never find a good way to adapt yourself to those loose players. I tried all sort of things... and nothing works, because, all those players are TOTALY unpredictable... they would call your All-in preflop with pocket AA with a 6-9 off suit... because they don't calculate odds, pot odds, card outs, position... etc...

So useless to try to do something here agains't them... you have to play slow, and play better hands... and forget the aggresive type of play here, because, their feeling is that they will connect their 6-9 offsuited... and they are confident to beat you up, which mostly always happen! ;-)

Best strategy i found agains't those players... is to slow play them... most of the time, they will follow you up to the river... and if they connect, they will raise you on the river... if not, they will just call or bet the blinds and try to connect... if you have the stack to bully them, whatever you try to do, they will still pay to see the river card... so better to make it cheap up to the river... and go ballistic on the river... slow play and trapping them is the best way i found...
Title: Re: Loose table strategy
Post by: Silver Owl on February 20, 2013, 04:03:31 PM
You are right, I managed to win our year end tourny last month by using the exact strategy you mentioned. I don't think I made any raises all game until the river. I just tried to stay in the game until it got down to three people and then started to play more aggressive. The calling all-in with a 6-9 offsuit is pretty funny because I would not be surprised at all to see that at our games. You have our players pegged pretty good. :) 
Title: Re: Loose table strategy
Post by: Rassal on February 20, 2013, 04:10:51 PM
Told you...  ;D

I have the same type league for 8 years, and my god... i saw stupid calls on All-in bets for the past years... it's totally insane...

Some people are there, only because their guts tells them to keep going... and, overall, they are insanely lucky to connect like that...

You can't do anything against someone's feeling... if he's feeling he will beat you, he/she really might really beat you up...