Any good player with a bankroll is never open limping any hands in the first four positions. The rake is too high and playing oop sucks. Most are good players are very aware of position. I raise way more then I limp. I'm given an estimation but the ratio for me limping is probably about 5-1. 5 raises to 1 limp and that limp range is snug, Small Axs and small pairs, that's it. "Raise/fold calling is a leak".

Thanks.

I limp q9s+, q10, qj, k10+, a10, aj and suited connectors 50% of time, other 50% of time I just fold.

So what I have above is a leak? Fold that **** then and wait wait to punish in position?

I have been watching ivey in plo. He plays a loose pasive game. He limps oop if the right person raises(loose. Aggressive player) he calls or l/c and leads flop when he hits 2pair/set/flush/straight. He also leads as a bluff on connected boards. A loose passive game can be a winner. I know plenty of loose passive's, calling stations and tight passive's who are winners.

Any style can be a winner. The rake is too high in my game to open limp. You just have to mix up your game and be aware of what your strategy is.

You don't 3bet AK to balance, you 3bet it for value. And a low stakes games you will get called by worse, not just pairs.

Raising 97o from UTG is terrible. Doing that is not balancing at any stakes, it is donating.

In EP, almost all of these hands will lose you money except maybe QJ and AJ. I don't take sides on whether limping is profitable or not, but I personally don't open limp unless there are special circumstances.

In EP my range is generally KQo+, 99+, and MAYBE TJs+ depending on the table (and this is only something I'm reintroducing based on a recent post that suggests JTs may be profitable in EP- I'm not convinced, but I'm willing to give it a shot).

I raise quite liberally from the button and cutoff, basically as OP has described his game.

My example was from a hand Galfond played UTG oop. Who is an amazing player and teacher. Another example of balance from durrrr raising J5s UTG.

I don't play in uncapped deep games but if I did. I would use balance all over the place.

To your comment on 3betting AK for value. You can say that about of a lot of hands. Some edges are not meant to be pushed and for good reason getting value postflop from weaker opponents.

Were these 9 handed games? (I know who Galfond and durrrr are).

Saying an edge is not meant to be pushed is not the same thing as saying it's not a hand to balance with, which was your implication. I agree there are spots to not 3bet AK, but again when I do 3bet AK is isn't for balance.

Edit: btw, I'm pretty sure durrrr does -ev stuff sometimes just because it's fun to gamble it up. I certainly wouldn't try to emulate all of his moves unless you've heard his explanation as to why he did it. Remember, this is the guy who made that crazy chess bet against a player it was pretty obvious would just crush him. Part of why he plays so well is that he just doesn't mind losing money in crazy spots.

+1

Unless they are weak tight fit/fold

Isoing with ATC with no SDV vs stations gonna hurt

unless OP is wizard which he might be (:

He isn't isolating with ATC, he's doing it with decent hands. He limping behind or folding the truly trashy stuff.

78s isn't trashy, though, and rising a hand like that over a bunch of limpers will show a profit because either

A) you get most of them to fold and you get to play a HU or 3 way pot with position and a hand that sometimes hits big, but often won't need to hit at all to win the pot

Or

B) you get called by a bunch of people and now have a hand that plays well multi way in position for a big pot.

That's a strawman.

Just because I raise with a wide range doesn't mean I don't know how to pot control or play my big hands passively in some spots to extract more value.

There is no best strategy, there is a counter-strategy to all strategies.

Against lags:
(Variance color coded from green to red )

-3 bet a polarized range from the blinds
-c/r dry boards with overcards and or backdoor outs especially on single high 2 low card boards
--c/r low or middling wet boards or coordinated but non-connected boards that an isolator cannot take 3 streets of pressure on especially if his is not super tricky/trappy/smart and will often 3-bet the top of his range on these textures to 'protect' it's precious
-on Hu turns c/c flop, donk turns and rivers on blanks
-c/rai turn or river completed draws vs gaybets depending on SPR ratios
-donk a lot of flops 3 handed or less with any equity on flops that you can rep as a cold caller

What does it mean when you say you are in a deep game or ring deep?

Usually that everyone has at least 250bb in front of them, so like $500 at 1-2 is the smallest stack.

oh well the games i am in are def not like that, i usually play with locals, some even buy in with just $100. so im guessing LAG style of play will not work with this kind of stacks at the table?

I've decided that I am just going to crush from the button, cutoff, hijack, and mp3. From all other positions I am going to take a breather and play like a Nit. I'll limp suited broadways, axs, and pocket pairs from early. I self admit I am still working on my post flop play so might as well make sure I'm in position.

When I move back to 2/5 I will employ the same strategy but will be more of a nit in mp3 and hijack.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

P.S- I will make sure to remember if the table is already loose to revert back to TAG/ABC style.

I know you should never go into a game and think I have to play this certain one way all the time.

I know it was hashed over a bit, but I can't disagree more with only flatting with AK. Because AX hands are hands fish never fold is exactly why you 3bet AK when a fish raises. Fish don't fold. You trap the hell out of AT+ and they pay you off. Sure, they may fold A4, but who cares? Fish will pay off 2-3 streets of valuebets with A-mid+ and maybe 1-2 streets with A-low. Fold your A-low, I want bigger value from your A-mid.

I have been looking for a player that can fold to a 3bet for the past 6 sessions. You know how many I've found? 1. And, he did it a couple of times. So, he doesn't even really count. I am 3betting AK for value vs my player pool almost 100% of the time because the fish are rarely folding anything they've raised.

Flatting AK may be fun to try once in awhile to underrep your hand. But, vs 95% of the players I find at 1/2, it's leaving money on the table long term.

I'm not saying you are wrong in your area. I'm saying people reading this thread should think about which kind of player pool they fish and flat/3bet their AK according to what maximizes their profits in their area.

Yeah...chopper, not really interested in playing vs you, bro. Stay out of Detroit. LOLZZZ

You need to be under the assumption that you are likely calling it off and not ruining the value. I don't think vs the average players range that continuing to a 4 bet is possible so you have to factor in the spoilage factor against KK we lose and potentially against overplayed QQ that will force to fold pre when likely at such stack depths we are not looking to get it in with AK.

We can 3bet smaller like 2.15x or something vs fish to keep in more dominated aces but bloat the pot enough to get stacks in on the river.

I doubt we can continue vs a 4bet ever. But, how often do we see a 4bet? I'm not worried about it because a 4bet, in my experience, happens about as often as a fold to a 3bet. I'm taking the value from those that can't fold A8s or QJ.

If we get 4bet, we can pretty much guarantee we are up against 3 holdings. Two have us crushed and we flip against the other. And, the latter is a pretty loose 4bet at 1/2 games here.

I would think way more. I play £1/£1 live and am currently averaging around £70-80 an hour.

Where I play it is uncapped on most tables but even £1/£1 has a £500 max buy in and players can be really deep.

Sounds like a great game. Where is it?

Casino in London, it's called the Vic

Ha, there's still a lot of tough players but lots of people seem to come in for a quick game or drunk at weekends.

Saying that, I cant even make $10 an hour online!

I have been running $50 per hour live at 2-5 for 6 months, and getting beat by $0.25-$0.50 online at merge. Amazing.

So why are you playing online?

Disclaimer: I am a live donk