Should I be playing these the same way as I would a 100bb non straddled pot?

Eg non straddled eff stacks $300
Straddled eff stacks $60

Or do I have to be more cautious of protecting my stack because the monetary value is bigger?

Not asking about low variance routes just optimal play

What???

Straddle is another BB. So when someone straddles the new BB is what it is.

so if you are playing 1/3 and you have $300 you have 100bb
if you are playing 1/3/(6 straddle) and you have $300 you have 50bb

Yes, so 1/3 $6 straddle OTB am I playing $600 eff stacks the same way I would when it's 1/3 no straddle $300 eff? Or is there a bit more caution to getting stacks in?

What makes it tricky is that many villains won't adjust at all. So the ranges you are up against will change

In theory, yes you should be playing your 200bb stack like 100bb stack with the $6 straddle, and your opens should double as well. In a live low stakes game though , the majority of the player pool doesn't adjust to the straddle properly. Most will look at the straddle more like a $6 blind raise instead of doubling the stakes of the game, and they'll continue to play about the same as they would normally. This is where I'd caution not to be too willing to GII much wider than normal due to effective stacks being halved, because most players won't be altering their ranges that much and it can leave you in a spot where you're crushed against their GII range.

+1

The straddle only cuts effective stacks in half if everyone else thinks that way.....and they dont. If a guy normally opens to $15 in a 1/3 game with no straddle and he still opens to $15 with the straddle on, The hand is going to play pretty much exactly the same way it would with no straddle, other than the straddler is more likely to call and add 1 more player seeing the flop.

Yeah this is actually a tough question. In my game, a straddle doesn't necessarily cut effective stack sizes because a lot of people don't adjust their opening size much. What the straddle does do is greatly increase the number of pots that get limped around, so often straddled pots are very multi-way.

Thank you very much guys! In theory I thought they would both play the same, but I had a feeling there were going to be some variables. I'd probably caution against GII with AK AIPF against certain people with $600

In my games the opens change but people's perception of the chips don't. $200 is still $200 no matter how many be it is.

In theory, I think it should change change the game a bit - simply because there are now 3 blinds instead of 2. (Assuming UTG straddle). There's slightly more incentive to steal the blinds (1.7 straddles instead of 1.4BBs in a 2/5 game), but also more chance that someone will want to defend. Overall, I think there should be more big pots - in relation to the blind or straddle - with more marginal hands than without the straddle.

But as many above note, a lot of people do play and make bet sizes without taking these things into consideration.

Also adds another dynamic that 90% of the straddles are OTB at my tables. Means stealing is a bit worse as some BTN straddlers with defend 100% of their buttons to a RFI of $18/ raise of $24 over 1 limper

This is how straddling goes in the main room I play in too. Occasionally there are UTG straddles but most come from the button (which makes sense of course) . I usually need to see a player straddle a few times and determine how aggressively they defend before I start attempting to steal. If they show that they'll fold to raises frequently, then it's open season on their money every time they straddle.

Given what many of us have mentioned about how players view straddles in these games, I think it's one of the best spots to pick up dead money PF, as long as the straddler doesn't defend too vigorously. A lot of players will limp/fold the straddle just as they would an unstraddled pot, and it can be a great opportunity to pick up decent chucks of money with little to no resistance. If a player straddles frequently, this is why I like to position myself on the opposite side of the table from that player so that there's usually a decent amount of dead money in the pot when I go for the steal.

It effectively cuts the stacks in half, play accordingly, i.e. stack wider and open tighter. A lot of straddlers defend 100 percent so know that they will have some strange hands post.

I think the amount of $$$ definitely makes a difference in how most people play their stacks, and that's what counts (not the bbs).

At 1/3 with a straddle, $300 stacks simply enables you to more easily setup a small SPR with TP type hands by raising to $30 - $35 preflop and still getting action (at least at the tables I play at). And $300 stacks ain't huge, so it's not as if when we get called and get it in postflop HU with our overpair with an SPR 4 pot that we're beat (we won't be often enough to easily be profitable), although we won't be ahead nearly as much as if we were with a $150 stack in a non-straddled pot.

However, as soon as stacks become like $600, things change, as most typical players ain't getting these stacks in easily. $300 in a non-straddled pot is absolutely not equivalent to $600 in a straddled pot with regards to how lightly people will be willing to play for stacks postflop (even though they are equivalent in terms of bbs), imo.

GcluelessstraddlingnoobG

Most players simply don't get in $300 stacks remotely as easily as $600 stacks, so whether the hand is straddled or not is irrelevant. So yes, proceed *a lot* more cautiously against most opponents when stacks sizes increase in terms of $$$ (even though they remain the same in terms of bbs), imo.

GcluelessNLnoobG

This exactly why I've argued here several times that a straddled pot absolutely does NOT cut effective stacks in half.

Yeah, I know in my 1/3 game, it's all about the $$$ and not about the bbs.

$150 stacks going in? TP is the nuts.

$300 stacks going in? Two pair should probably be the big two pair.

$600 stacks going in? We'd better have the nuts.

Whether these stacks are in a non-straddled, straddled, or straddle + blind raise in terms of bbs? Totally irrelevant.

GcluelesseffectivestacknoobG

Tyy <3