Good evening all . New poster. I have been playing garage games for some time and recently started up on Pokerstars playmoney. I play basic Ed Miller and can usually end up a session with more than I bought in for. What I am struggling with are out of control bettors who bet every hand and raise almost as much. I will call just to find out what they playing and it turns out they are playing ridiculous hands like 8,3 offsuit. Is this unique to Pokerstars or does this happen in real life and how do you deal with it?

Start playing real money even if it is for penny stakes. I mean why would they fold in a play money hand if they can always see every hand to the river for $0.00?

Ya, deposit like $50 online and play the micros. Your "learning experience" at play money gets ruined by just one guy who doesn't take it seriously.

That's kinda what I thought. I'll have to take the plunge. I live in Washington state and I'm worried about the feds and state regulators.

Likewise.

Big rake

That's problematic, actually. I'm certain carbon doesn't accept players from Washington state, and I'm pretty sure Bovada doesn't either.

even though online poker is illegal according to washington law, no one has ever gotten prosecuted or in trouble for it, and i'm also not sure how the state would even find out (let alone care) that you were doing it

i'd recommend finding a site that has micro stakes limit holdem. i'd recommend bovada as your best choice.

and yes, there are bad players - relish the opportunity to play with them

in all other states - same advice

feel free to contact me for more info on all of this

dude plz i will pay u to not take the plunge or at least really really don't get ahead of urself cuz I'm telling u even in real money u will get called down with anything. these guys are licking their lips trust me, unless ur 1 of them urself just be very very very careful and don't exceed your limit. u will get called down with j high on river and lose, this is limit and these "pros" playing are very questionable, when u constantly get called down by 82 on a AKQJ2 and ur making some bluff, then u will notice how play money isn't any different. except that now you're losing REAL money.

But other than that bro enjoy the online poker experience and be very careful btw

You are spot on. A certain amount of this type of play is just bad play but a lot of it is hyper aggressive strategy. They will get clocked by a good hand that goes to the river but if you watch their bankroll they are actually taking peoples money. Welcome to the real world. I'm glad to see it in play money.

Wait, you think getting called three streets by 82 on AKQ-J-2 is a bad thing?

There's a pretty easy solution to this: bet K9 on this river and not 97.

Yah but cool story. Also im trying to actually save this guy his $ while u all try and tell him that real money is softer LOL. Steve again, what these "pros" do is very questionable. I could never dare say they cheat as i will probably be banned from the forum but lets just say their "math" skills will enable them to call u down with ATC and somehow they are right, or u will accompdate their hyper-aggressive playbut u will still get screwed on te river(apparently variance) there is 0 hope for the little guy in online poker unless u play a tournament and get very lucky. If i can save u lots of time money and stress ill be a happy camper. All the best OP

You should stop trolling the OP with this terrible advice. No one has said real money is softer. What's been said is real money is a better learning experience. And $0.10/$0.20 is affordable for most anyone; $50 is less than a day's work at a minimum wage job.

You've basically accused every online winner of cheating in this post. This is untrue and horribly offensive. I'm not even sure why I'm wasting my time right now; probably because I actually want to provide OP with actual advice and not tinfoil hat insanity. And believe me, if I wanted to cheat OP out of money, I wouldn't be doing it by playing $0.10/$0.20.

LOL.. this thread took a mega step in the troll direction.

Lol what advice have you given OP other than to play for real money. Why don't you tell OP what EXACTLY need to be done to win? Oh yeah you wont. OP says he only plays play money and look at all of u flawking to help him out and transission him into real money games. Thats so noble of you guys, but after a week or so of him getting his soul crushed in the most unreal and comedic ways; once he comes back here for help lets see how willing u guys are to help lol. Then all OP will hear from u is how its just variance and how he should just play better.

OP trust me im ruffling feathers with these guys in hopes u dont lose a lot of $. When you join a table 1-2 seconds it will be filled with "people" who may as well be robots. Its called collusion and all of these ppl that fill up ur games know eachother. U will essentially be playing against 4-5 people and when they are all raising it doesnt matter if u have AA every hand. They will eat away at ur roll if the rake doesnt do it first.

lol ^

I'm pretty much done feeding the troll btw, guys. .

Good conversation everybody. Thanks a lot. Even though I'm brand new I have good feel for when the pace of the game has gotten away from me. Time to take a step back. Be an informed consumer. Your conversation has helped more than I can say here.

were you the villain in this hand?

Merge - $15/$30 (6 max) - Holdem - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

villain (BB): 14.23 BB
hero(SB): 22.2 BB

hero posts SB 0.4 BB, villain posts BB 0.5 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 0.9 BB) hero has 9 7

hero raises to 1 BB, villain calls 0.5 BB

Flop: (2 BB, 2 players) 3 8 5
villain bets 0.5 BB, hero calls 0.5 BB

Turn: (3 BB, 2 players) K
villain bets 1 BB, hero calls 1 BB

River: (5 BB, 2 players) A
villain bets 1 BB, hero calls 1 BB

villain shows 7 4 (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 28%, Flop 13%, Turn 7%)
hero shows 9 7 (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 72%, Flop 87%, Turn 93%)
hero wins 6.97 BB

Lol vnh sir.

How dead bored are the regs here dragging out and commenting on free money poker play .. Lololololol. And who the heck plays in a garage league. What is that? U got some pic's of the garage poker set up?

Hello
I have a little experience in those kind of game (live game tho)
I play 3/6(mainly), 4/8 and 8/16 game, I do encounter those kind of ppl on regular basis (betting,betting, betting and raising)
First it is easy to put ppl, not only you, but everyone on the table on tilt.
Notice it is very important to have position on them but not immediately to his left (talk about that in a second)
Also it is good to play in ring game, because in short handed if you keep waiting for big hand the blind is a problem.
I said it is very important to have position on them but not immediately to his left, this is important pre-flop, because when he raise preflop, you want to know if other ppl is going to call or not, if most ppl call then you have okayish pot odd.
you read ED MILLER's book, it is important to avoid cold calling (you need to wait in full ring game for those good hand)
On the flop, you just follow ED's book, go with the pot odd.
Also observe the bettor, you have to notice his raise pattern, do he raise every flop or he only put one bet in every flop? you can adjust accordingly

Also, is my table on tilt???
if they are on tilt, they will call with non-premium holding which you can take advantage of...

Personally I avoid play kill pot with those ppl, because it is easy to put you on tilt if you are given a bad beat.

remember if you play tight（follow the book） and do not get on tilt then you can make a lot of money playing with them

OK, I gave one real example, I make 200$ in two hour from one guy who keep betting.
A month ago, I was in a 4/8 game and doing well (I run$100 to $200 in 5 hour, so 2.5BB/hour), my table get broke, And floor man tell me there is a 8/16 limit and a 1/2 no limit open. I decide to try that 8/16 game, the limit is little out of my comfort zone but I decided to give it a try anyway.
So I was in for $200.
And I can tell right away, one guy is raising 80% preflop (20%fold, never call) and bet/raise 80% on the flop (10% call the flop bet, 10%fold), the table is on tilt (except maybe one guy). Most of the table is cold calling, call the pre-flop raise. the showdown is always 2nd pair against A high. the bettor always win and he have 1400$ in front him
Anyway, cause the limit is little high for me, I play pretty tight, and the table knows that.
I have position on the bettor, so everytime it is 2small bet for me pre-flop.
I do not defend small blind and I almost do not defend my big blind.

When I decide to play, I choose when I have a reasonable hand and when I know my tablemates are going to call for 2small bet.
the flop I decide to play usually have more than 8small bet (4 or more ppl se the flop with 2 small bet each),
the key is table image, When I hit the flop, I will not announce myself, call for 1-2 small bet on the turn. because the table is on tilt, usually there are 3 or more ppl on turn, and I always try to raise here (table mate other than the bettor will bet in order to muscle the bettor out).
So, after 4 round, I only play 2 hand after flop, all showdown, with a raise on the turn, and win both. The bettor suddenly become anxious, start to complaining random thing about me (like why i check raise the turn when one of the player is all in...), I do not talk to him at all. When he question me if i can i check raise the turn when one of the player is all in (the player who is allin actually all in for 8 so it is a half-bet, so it re-open the action for a raise) I am not explain anything, I just call the floor, and I communicate with the dealer and the floor rather than the bettor.
After all these, next time when I raise on the turn, the bettor just frustrated (lots of F-bomb and other 4 letters bomb...) and give up. I win hand maybe 3 more time with him without a showdown. because the bettor help to build the pot so big (all player is non-believer to the bettor and believer to my hand)( players always give up after the flop or turn) the blind and some cold-calling that I put is not hurting me so much.
So, after I was up 200$+ in 2 hour, I felt the game is too crazy so I left.

I hope this help

Heck: u one bad azz dude; please stay out of Foxwoods. Tks and keep up the good work