My home game (social, no rake) has some truly awful players...having said that, it is sometimes very hard to make any reads on anyone because their play is so erratic and bizarre. FWIW, I have fairly tight reputation (for our game).

For example, two hands from last night...blinds are 1/2, stack sizes at this point in the 100 range.

1. NLHE...I have J9 in SB. Table limps...fairly common.

Flop: 679, two hearts. I bet 5, superdonk makes it 10, another short stack (tricky)goes all in for 22, one very loose caller calls...back to me for 17 more. Do I call, raise or fold? Frankly, all three seem to have merit.

2. PL08...straddled pot, 7 callers preflop. I have 224x on button.

Flop: A23, 23 spades. Checked around. Turn: 6spades. Checked to me. I decide to bet 20...someone would most likely bet if they had wheel or flush. SB, who is insane, makes it 70...BB, maniac and idiot, goes all in for 85. Fold to me. Do I call with second nut low, bottom set?

Thanks.

I fold here. All you have is top pair with a decent kicker vs possible sets, straights, straight draws, flush draws, and straight flush draws. Live to fight another day.

I call here. Here you have a strong high with outs if you are behind and you are most likely to win a portion of the (if not the whole) low. Also, the all-in did not re-open the action so SB can only call or fold.

Math is always your friend. Basic rule for me in games like these is "get enough money in preflop with better hands that the rest of the game is a free roll"

Hand one, fold. Hero has profound RIO problems, top pair good kicker isn't going to look so good by the time the river gets here. Hero's first bet might be OK, but by the time it gets back around hero's hand is toast.

Hand two seems like a call depending on stack sizing. One problem is the low hand Hero fears also beats Hero's high, so the risks are systemic. Still, Hero looks to have good equity in a three way pot.

Thanks guys:

First hand...I folded, other player called.

Turn was 4...check/check. At this point, I was fairly certain my hand would have been good. River 4. Check/check. Raiser shows 73, other player had Q8 (open ended straight draw)...short stack shover had 8J, and missed as well.

So 73 wins a nice 100 pot with middle pair!

Second hand I folded too. Turned out SB had 52xx for third best low/pair of twos for high. BB had 34, and thought it was the NUT low! River was a 7, and I would have chopped low/scooped high.

SB says to me that he thought I was trying to buy the pot when I bet 20! People in our game don't understand board texture at all, which is good in long run, but can drive you crazy sometimes!

You should love being at this game! Unless of course you really are not any better than they are , and don't know it , but it is likely you do have some real edge here. These kind of tables are not as common as they used to be , so don't waste it trying to teach folks "How to play correctly"! Good luck to you.

Aside from these hands, what are your goals?

If you want to win money, you want players to play badly. It's a common mistake to want players to play better, thinking it will give you a better edge. I've heard people say "I want them to respect my raises," or "I never know what cards they could possibly have." Sure, it makes the game less predictable, but you should come out way ahead in the long run if you are a better player.

On the other hand, if the money doesn't matter and you want to improve your game, then you want to play against good players, even better players.

At first I wouldn't call with J9 on that flop, but once I see how these guys are monkeys, I probably never let go of a TPMK hand ever again.

Great starting hands I'm raising pre as big as they'll let me, which is probably pretty big considering the description

I know nothing about O8, so no idea

I also encourage you to scrub the word "donkey" from your mind. Such words should never, ever pass your lips at the table or in discussions elsewhere. Take care that even your non-verbal is friendly rather than contemptuous.

These guys/gals are playing to have fun, gamble it up. Great! Your job is to have a good time yourself, give the other players the action they want while getting as much +EV as you can. In basic terms the business proposition is you are selling fun and excitement for cash.

Yes, there are going to be nights when the river runs bad, the weak players actually do have hands worthy of their bets and your draws fail. You will lose badly. Be gracious and entertaining on those nights - no crying, card slamming, no poor imitation of Phil Hellmuth. You want the players to remember nights they win fondly. Why? Because you are going to win 70% of the sessions and win more on good nights than you lose on bad ones.

Don't believe you aren't learning how to be a better poker player in this type of game. Trust me, you are learning important skills. Maybe not ones that will let you play in a semi-pro $5/$10 casino game, but still you have a lot to learn about playing in the more typical home games. The meta game is perhaps the most important skill to work on in wild social games. Master it and you will prosper.

DrStrange

Years ago a friend told me he could no longer play in my room. The problem he said was the other players were so bad he couldn't beat them. I have things like this from others as well....

I don't think this is a valid statement.

If you consistently beat them you are a better player than they are. So how come if they consistently beat you it's not because they are a better player than you?

Well said and very true.

Except that OP never said they consistently beat him.

Maybe psandman meant "if they consistently beat one."