I've been playing too many hands recently, so I thought I would post this. I recorded my preflop actions for hands on the button in a session. Assume $1000 stack with a couple of players at $500 and everyone else close to my stack or deeper, loose passive players in the blinds who only raise premiums, and straddle to 10 allowed UTG only. The straddlers usually don't raise light. Game is generally passive preflop and there isn't a lot of limp-reraising unless it is s a short stack with aces. I didn't record position of any raisers, but there is generally no out-of-line preflop raising with this lineup (unfortunately). Most of the money comes from loose-passive players who call too many bets with hands like middle set and non-nut combo draws and don't bluff enough.

12 out of 32 pots that I played on the button were raised before it got to me. Most games I play in are more aggressive, but I do find myself sitting in games where it is like this.

Which hands would you call? Which would you raise? I VPIP'ed a few too many hands. I'll probably reveal which ones after a few days.

1. QJ76 - Open to 15, 4 callers
2. KQT5r - 2 limpers, raise to 15, 1 caller
3. J752r - 1 limper
4. AQT4 - 1 limper, raise to 25
5. AJT2 - 2 limpers

6. 6533 - 2 limpers, raise to 30
7. K762r - 2 limpers
8. K843 - Straddle, 3 callers
9. 8542 - 3 limpers
10. J433 - Straddle, 3 callers

11. A653, Straddle, 2 callers
12. T984 - 2 limpers
13. JJ87 - 1 limper, raise to 20, 2 calls
14. Q975 Straddle, 1 caller
15. KJJT Straddle, 2 callers

16. KQ52 - 3 limpers
17. K842 - 3 limpers
18. AJ65 2 limpers, raise to 25
19. 4322 1 limper, raise to 20, 2 callers
20. AK94 3 limpers, raise to 15

21. Q963 - 1 caller, raise to 25
22. 8432 - 5 limpers
23. AA76 - Straddle, 4 callers
24. T774 2 limpers, raise to 25
25. JT86 - 4 limpers

26. QT73 - 5 limpers, raise to 45
27. KT82 - 4 limpers
28. A642 4 limpers
29. J874r - 2 limpers
30. QJ72 - 5 limpers

31. KJ85 - 4 limpers
32. T985r - Straddle, raise to 30

fold

edit: OK, raise number 15, limp 23, limp 25, limp 28. The rest I'd fold.

Looking through pretty quick doesn't really look like I would play much more than 5, if that. Most of them were trash. Just because you are the btn doesn't mean you should play inferior hands.

A lot to think about, but running through quickly, I would raise 15 and 23 and would limp/call 5 (maybe), 12 (maybe), 13, and 25.

If it`s folded to you i don`t mind raising majority of this hands. Exceptions are j752r,2348,248kss,k762r,q963ss,kq52ss,qj72 which are clear folds imo.

My principle is you can raise any 3 semi connected cards with at least 1 suit,any double pair hand or pair plus conector.I know it`s extremely rare that it`s folded to you on btn

in live games but it`s important not to feel obligated to limp with trash like qj72ss or to isolate limpers with marginal hand like aj56ss.As you know limpers never fold,so isolation with this kind of hand doesn`t make sense.

I’m playing 11-15, 23, 25, and 28

Only raising 15

More specific:

4- playable
11 - speculative, playable
12 - barely playable
13 - speculative, *can be tricky to play postflop
15 - must-play
18&20 - playable, this exact type of hand is worthy of in-depth discussion but suited ace & broadway potential can often play for 1 raise even with poor connectedness
23 - we have aces, obviously we are playing
25 - speculative
28 - highly speculative, even with a suited ace and bonus points for straight flush potential

Don't fold ne 1 u have pos

I call 1 (prob a leak), 4, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25, 28 and raise 23.

Edit - I raise 15 in a limped pot.

No love for #12 during this holiday season?

In a limp pot on the button I'll take a flyer on the T984 once suited. It has some big play free-roll potential.

I'll add #4 to my original list as a playable hand.

And this is why live games are so good.

#12 is junk. The dangler robs it of most of its value and it makes a lot of second nut straights. I may play it but pretty sure it's a leak and should be folded.

lol

me specifically for paying $5 to see T984 on the button? Like you said, live games are good you don't think you could play well enough to profit from that? Don't shortchange yourself, bro

Think #13 needs some more love too, that can make top set on the button. Op says most of the money comes from players who call with hands like middle set.

It's a half dangler, Mr. Cloutier, it's sooted...

? But there is only one straight that the T9 does not make, the AKQJT.

But I'm working under the assumption that we play better then our opponents and we will have them topped.

Here are the hands I played. All were calls, no raises. 11 out of 32 hands. I think I played a few more marginal hands than normal because I was so card dead and was trying not to look super nitty. I'm okay with appearing to be regular nitty because I get people to fold hands where they have 30-40% equity, but maybe I shouldn't mind so much being seen as even tighter.

4. AQT4 - 1 limper, raise to 25

I'm more willing to play a hand with a dangler in LP, but I wasn't enthusiastic about this one because the 4 was a heart. I fold this often but not always if I have it UTG.

5. AJT2 - 2 limpers

I knew I was making a mistake, but at this point, I'd played maybe three hands, so it was a bit of a tilty call. I think I actually hit a flush.

11. A653, Straddle, 2 callers


I probably play this sort of hand too often against a raise. I think it is reasonable if no one has raised.

12. T984 - 2 limpers

This is the sort of hand which is playable in LP but probably gets played too much in EP.

13. JJ87 - 1 limper, raise to 20, 2 calls

I fold this hand if I detect a decent chance of a raise behind me and I feel like I am above average at detecting that.

15. KJJT Straddle, 2 callers

I don't feel good about raising hands like this. I even prefer to open-limp in MP rather than open-raise. I see a significant difference between this and something like KQQT, but a lot of players see that as a similar hand and would raise with both.

18. AJ65 2 limpers, raise to 25

This feels very borderline to me. I'd fold AT43 with a suited ace. I think a huge leak in PLO is players calling a raise with any hand containing a suited ace.

20. AK94 3 limpers, raise to 15

Same problem as #4. No ability to flop a wrap, but cheaper to get in. I would have folded to a larger raise and it was probably a mistake to call even 15.

23. AA76 - Straddle, 4 callers

I almost never raise with AAxx hands that don't have a suited ace or wrap potential.

25. JT86 - 4 limpers

Very standard hand. I sometimes consider raising with a hand like this to be a bit more unpredictable.

28. A642 4 limpers

I think this is fine vs limpers. I kind of hate it against a raise.

I still count a card as a dangler if it's suited, so long as it's a single suited hand (unless suited to an ace). I.e. I don't value Ts4s98 any more than Ts9s84. The 4 makes both hands hard to play and cuts down on the boards we smash.

Just like life, we can only play the hands we are dealt. Can't always have the AT98 suited to ace or T987.

Here we are on the button and can get in for a limp against players who sometimes make very bad decisions postflop. Was kind of joking about "giving #12 some love", I know it's not premium. But with the top cards with no gap and the flush draw, I'd be shocked if it was not profitable and if it's not it is probably due to post flop leaks.

When I play live, I'm always by far the tightest guy at the table preflop. I probably look like a plant that needs to be watered. Can't imagine what my image would be if I played less hands.

Where’s amok? Is he busy scouring the country looking for juicy live PLO games where TAGs limp on the button with a dangler?

On what specifically you require my input on?

Nothing, just wondering what you were up to

Now that I'm here let me just say that especially hand 13 is massively overvalued by many players. Raising hand 23 also seems very counter-intuitive. Many players also seem not to tighten up vs a raise at all compared to it being limped to you.

I am assuming that the game is raked like a normal live game (say 5%, $10 cap). Without rake it's much different of course.

According to OP (and my own experience) a lot of money is made by players overvaluing lower sets. And in general top set is typically best hand and best draw. So with #13 we have an opportunity to have top set on button. So iyo it is overvalued, so you are folding that?

I pay time wherever I play

I generally think my leak is playing too many hands (even from the BTN) rather than too few, so I'm always looking for hands I can fold. I'm self-aware enough to realize that I probably overestimate the number of hands I can play profitably, and so if I'm on the fence on a hand it's probably a fold. I don't know about you, but think most PLO players would be better off folding more pre. Letting go of single suited connected hands with a dangler have helped me reduce the number of hands I play pre. Online, as I was typing this, I just folded 9862 with 3 hearts on the button, for instance. If the 2 were an A, or a 5 through a J, I probably play that hand.

Yeah, I've seen games where people play any pair and try to hit a set and happily go broke with bottom sets. I agree that this hand goes up in value if this game is like that. I agree that the side cards don't matter that much if you have a top set. When you don't have a top set with this hand (JJ87) in a multi-way pot, those side cards are much less useful than many people think (well, maybe not you or anyone ITT, just something that I've observed). I certainly won't play any JJxx against a limp, a raise and two calls. I accept the possibility that this exact hand in this exact spot is worth playing.

Ah yes, forgot about that possibility. So I guess that's basically the same as "no rake" when deciding on whether to play a hand or not. I think this is a very important point and makes some hands playable that I considered unplayable.

In the game I am talking about, you're probably not stacking them with set over set. They might call pot-sized bets on the flop and turn before giving up on the river when I think they should have just check-folded the flop with their non-nut set.