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Unless UTG is a real nit, there’s nothing you can do about it. With stacks that short, it’s going all in one way or another. Just jam flop and hope you don’t run into the top of his range. If you do, oh well…
Not much you can do: either they have something or they don’t. Locking up dead money is always a good thing.
You played a trapping game and it worked perfectly. Someone will always get trapped, but it isn’t always who you expect.
In a game with sticky limpers, there’s nothing wrong with calling to see a flop when you’re out of position. They’re coming along regardless, so save some money when you have to check and fold. As played, with top, top, and all those straight and flush draws out, I’d bet pot at the very least, maybe 120% pot, and hope no one hit a set. You have to charge those draws to make their chasing -EV.
Sometimes, it’s good to do something non-standard. If you have more astute, observant opponents, you have to keep ’em guessing. Are you speculating when you complete from the SB, or do you have it? Against fish who’re barely thinking about their own hands, let alone your range, then just stick to ABC: nothing fancy, and especially nothing that requires a thinking opponent as the basis of its strategy.
Whenever you’re feeling uncomfortable — for whatever reason — then it’s time to call it a night.
“In other words, I’m fine playing $300 buy-in $1/$2, but what happens when everyone at the same table (including me) now has $1200+ and certain players are now forcing more of a $2/$5 or $5/$10 game than $1/$2? Instead of a $15 preflop raise, now it’s $40”.
I like to see this myself. Deep stacks and winner’s tilt make for some excellent pay days. Just stay off winner’s tilt yourself by never forgetting how you made that big stack in the first place. One thing that may help is if you bought in for $300, then that’s all you can lose. If you get coolered for a $1200 stack, you didn’t lose $1200. You lost $300. SUX, I know, but them’s the breaks, and that’s Poker. Some yutz is going to crack your pocket aces with (Q,5-o) sometimes. If the fish didn’t win one every now and then, there’d be no fish.
“My goals for poker are not to make money (at least not main goal) but more so to become a very good player and have a solid understanding of the game and be able to put up a fair fight against the greats or at the WSOP (However far away that might be)”
If that’s your main goal, then single table for higher stakes. The problem with multi-tabling is you can’t concentrate on all the players at all the tables. You’ll see a batter class of players at 100NL than at 25NL. The former game will come with more learning opportunities. The play at 25NL is pretty horrible, and you beat these guys with straight forward, ABC Poker. You’re more likely to find players who can make you think at 100NL and up.
Given that there are two villains in there, I’d like to see the preflop 3! in the 2.20 — 2.70 range. The flop action looks suspicious: the vill’s 3! isn’t even a 2X raise, and that usually means he wants a call. His turn 1/2 pot also looks like stringing along. As for whether or not it was a good or bad fold, that depends. How does the vill play? Can he bluff or semibluff with that bet sizing? Maybe call the turn bet, see what he does on the river. If his bet sizing goes up, then definitely consider a fold.
Yes, that turn bet was way too small. No, he didn’t have enough equity to call for the immediate 5 : 1 from the pot. However, he had implied odds, and it was a good call. Given he’s a fish, you don’t need to string him along. Get it in: 75% pot, or even pot by the turn. You know he has something he likes, and if he’s the type to take an (A,5-o) all the way, he’ll still call, and now he’ll be getting bad odds.
The other thing to remember about these fish is that a river raise is almost always the nuts, or very close to it. I’d absolutely hate it, but in cases like this, I can find the fold button.
I’d try to find a way to speed up that game. When playing fish like these, take ’em to Value Town. No bluffing, nothing fancy that depends on thinking opponents, and no Hero calls. If they bet it, assume they have it. If they’re chasing gut shots and sub-nut runner-runner flushes, you’re getting EEEEEEENORMOUS implied odds on your speculative hands. If you can get in cheap, set mine and try to hit gin with medium suited connectors.
You also have to give ’em some play otherwise they may decide they don’t need you playing. Just don’t give as much as they do.
“I am not particularly good, but in these home games I usually end up winning…” You don’t need to be “good”, just better than they are.
Not really enough information to tell. There are a few possibilities:
*) Confirmation bias — We tend to remember bad outcomes and forget all the times the fish call when they don’t have the equity and you win.
*) Runbad — It happens and there’s nothing you can do about it other than play through it while satisfying yourself you’re making good decisions regardless of the outcome of that particular play. Stay off tilt. If they’re really aming bad calls without the equity to justify it, you’ll win as surely as the Roulette Wheel wins for the house.
*) The Poker Gods hate you.