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So I just played my first live session in about 3 months. I played some 1/2 and my state requires a max bet for poker games, $100 in this case. My table ahd a bunch of people willing to timp along with a lot of hands. I’m not confident in my ability to play post flop when i wiff the board so I prefer to only play against 1 or 2 players unless I smash the flop. I also observed my opponents limp calling with AK and even KK so I wanted to play a very tight range and raise big (usually took $15-$20) to fold out as many limpers as I could.
My question is how do you all tend to play against a limp happy table?
I take a different position on this than most people, so take it for what it’s worth.
A lot of people will say to raise big, punish the limpers, and be aggressive. While this is good advice, I don’t think it works very well in a normal 1/2. Most 1/2 players are there to have a good time and gamble a little, so you are going to get callers. Sure, if you raise to $20 people will fold at first, but people will start calling if you’re raising that often. I think you lose more by raising and missing than you win when you raise and hit. Most of these games go to the turn at with at least 4 players, so when you AK misses the flop someone is bound to hit. Even AA can have less than 50% equity when you’re 5 ways to the flop.
I think the best way to play these games is to play it like a home game – raise your premiums to a reasonable amount ($10 or so), and play the rest of your hands in a more passive fashion. Play pocket pairs, suited connectors and semi-connecters, suited aces, and broadway cards and fold the rest. See a decent amount of flops and continue only when you hit/have good draws. Rarely bluff (only good time is bluffing when a flush hits or other scare cards) and bet when you have a strong hand.
Like I said, not a lot of people will agree with this, and maybe the 1/2 games are different/have changed since I played 1/2, but I was pretty successful playing like this for years when I played 1/2. I saw a lot of guys play an aggressive style and raise often, only to raise their stack away in only a few hands. It works when you hit, but a lot of players won’t fold top pair. And when your AK misses against 4 players, someone is going to have hit and will call your c-bet.
One last piece of advice – you have to play to the level of the game. Thinking on multiple levels is great, but you can’t think on too many levels at the lowest stakes. The stuff that guys like Brad and Andrew talk about works at 2/5 and above – some of that stuff just doesn’t apply at 1/2. Most players don’t understand the difference between a UTG and a button raise, don’t understand the concept of blockers, etc. So when you construct a hand range for them using those thoughts, you’re really giving them too much credit. Sure, some players think like that, but most don’t.
Just curious, you’re in a spread limit state. Wondering where you play? I’m in Arizona, I play at Talking Stick.
I’m also in Arizona. I play very infrequently, maybe 2 times a month and I just took a 3 month break. I normally play at Wild Horse Pass, though I do occasionally go to Talking Stick. Talking stick has the better room but the 2-100 at WHP plays so much smaller than the 3-300 at TS and I prefer the smaller tournaments.
I can’t stand their cracked aces promotion. I’ve only played there twice and I’ve seen so many people limping aces hoping to get cracked because they can win more with that than they can in most pot. That also encourages the limping.
The 2/3 at TS plays bigger, but you tend to get less limping and more playability on your hands. I live in Glendale so I have to drive anyways when I want to play, so it’s talking stick every time for me.
It causes me to play extremely cautiously pre-flop (for my interpretation of cautious) and trappy post flop. I find myself bluffing less than I feel I should and C-betting less but I think I have been over doing both of those things. People are limping AA, AK even from UTG or calling a limp with AK with 80% of the table.
The Aces cracked is off on the weekends starting Friday at 6:00pm. There is also a 2/2 game with a 200 max raise and i think a 600 max buyin. I hear a number of people getting cranky when it doesn’t run. There is rarely a game bigger but I have seen it and it plays similar to the 2/3 at TS with the chance to play deeper and bigger. A number of the old timers play it but it is a more attractive game to those with slightly deeper pockets. Once saw a guy who had over 2.5k in front of him playing almost every hand and folks lining up to play against him to try and get him to lose it.
Didn’t know that. I’ve only been there twice. Once was when I was waiting on Brad and Andrews meet-up game (that was a weeknight). The other was a Saturday night I was driving back home from Tucson and stopped in and it was only 1/2 and aces cracked was running then as well. This was in January – glad they got rid of it.
I bet people get cranky when it doesn’t run, but I’d rather not play with people just there for the promotions. They just become limp fests and it’s hard to win with the rake and when you see every hand 4+ ways.
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