Hi all,
So I recently moved to Montana which has a state law where no pots can be over $300. So the most you can have invested ever is $150 in a heads up pot.

I've been playing in this $2/$5 game, buying in for $100 at a time. I want to hear some opinions on playing small pairs and suited connectors in a game like this. From what I have learned it seems that you cannot profitably raise in early/middle position with pocket 2s-7s, and even 8's -10's can be very difficult to play.

In late position can I profitably call a raise of $15 for set value or even with suited connectors? It seems to me like I almost always have to fold small to medium pocket pairs/SC's following any raise over $10. I would appreciate any advice people may have for a small stack cash game such as this. I appreciate you're advice!

-Steve

sounds like the worst poker game, in the HISTORY of the world. stop playing it, it cant be beat

OMG anything that plays well multi-way is worthless because of the pot-cap. Big pairs and big cards seems like the preflop range to play.

I've never really thought about this before. How are these situations resolved:

Hero covers the table and raises from EP from $20. 3 callers, pot is $80 to the flop. Hero cbets $50.

(a) 2 folds, BU shoves for $250 total, Hero calls.
(b) 2 calls, BU shoves for $250 total, Hero calls, 2 calls.
(c) 2 calls, BU shoves for $250 total, Hero calls, 1 call, 1 fold ()

I'm assuming (a) is BU and Hero put in $110 each and run out the board, but I want to check.

Wait, this law makes no sense. In multiway pots a call can be illegal.

E.g. $30 pot on the flop, 3 people are in. Hero bets $135 (I'm assuming he's not allowed to bet more? If he can bet more, then villains can't legally call). If Villain 1 wants to call, then Villain 2 can't call because the pot becomes more than $300.

Does this mean Hero is only allowed to bet $90 on the flop? I'm so confused.

Wow, I never thought a state would top Florida when it comes to stupid poker laws but it looks like Montana did just that.

This was similar to Florida's law when it was a $10 max pot, if you were on the button and the pot was $10 already you just bet and everyone would get there bet back and they would run it out, so it was a free roll if the pot was already $10, that was the worse poker ever everyone was into the river ,.25 bets. Same thing here, if the pot is already $300 just bet and it gets returned to you and you get to see the next cards for free. This is not poker, they will soon find out that if they have no clue about the game they shouldn't make laws on how to play it.

1. SCs and Small PPs go down increasingly in value. Pretty much fold them in EP and only play them in late position to a multi-way limped pot or raise with them if it's just folded to you in CO or BTN. Set-mining and implied-value doesn't apply to this game - in a raised pot.

2. Hands like KJ and AJ go up in value (basically top pair hands) - always come in for a raise with them (not in EP).

3. You should just not play in early positions without premium hands.

4. Raise size should only be 2x - 2.5x imo (maybe 3x if it's too multiway).

5. 3-betting should only be to shove generally. Like re-shoving in tournaments.

6. I know this is a bit aggressive, but with I'm shoving over raises from any decent or aggressive player from late position with 99+, AJs, AQ+. The more opponent opens, the more I'm shoving.

This game is probably extremely exploitable due to the ******edness of the law involved, I wouldn`t be surprised if you could have an extremely high win rate if you mastered the intricies of the $300 max pot. Still 100% ******ed, yeah for government ****ing up yet another thing cause they know best.

I like this strategy. I think this sounds really good! I'll give it a go. I bet it will pay off with how loose/aggressive these game can be. Thanks for your input!

As I understand it, MT has had poker rooms with a $300 cap for many years. (It may have been less of an issue before the NL explosion.) Much like California, it sounds like they have a system in place that allows fish to shove money in and gamble without getting cleaned out. So unless Gambit2300 has equal experience keeping NL games running on a limited player pool, that quote is probably unwarranted.

2+2 author Ray Zee could probably give more info on the history of MT poker.

Simple strategy, same as any 10 to 15x bb effective stacks: play very tight, play hands that are better than your opponent's ranges, only play small pairs for really cheap (OK to call $15 in a 7-way pot, but you'd better be close to closing the action or you could be really sorry), don't screw around with SCs.

The exception would be once your opponents catch on and stop giving action, if ever. This might be more of an issue in a MT town with stable player pool. Then open more hands in position, steal a lot, exploit your new image. Don't try to get fancy OOP unless they show signs of being positionally aware (unlikely).

Why? We have a huge equity advantage against our opponents. Why not let them overvalue their dominated hands now and pay off instead of waiting for them to miss a flop?

If we're trying to have fun by "playing poker" postflop well fine, but if our goal is to maximize win, why would we not raise the max we can and still get called by worse?

I feel 2 - 3 bb (I guess you can't do in between probably) is good due to the fact that we will be opening most hands in late position. Decent opponents will realize that you are stealing and shove over you/3-bet frequently (just like a tournament). The small raise will decrease the incentive to re-steal your steal position raise (due to less money) and you will lose less when you get shoved over. It's tough to continue without a good hand probably. Also, it gives some post-flop play - where good player's edge increases tremendously. It allows for a decent SPR post-flop so that you can play past flops a bit. Shallow stacks minimize the edge over the fish. Lastly, it might give people incentive to play OOP post-flop in the SB and BB with a wider range. This is super-profitable to be playing post-flop in position.

This is pretty standard for 30bb games (on FTP) and tournaments. In these games/tournaments (30bb face) - it is fairly unprofitable to raise more than the minimum or 2.5x respectively.

But I agree that in a pre-flop crazy all-in fest (which this game might be) - if your only opening premium hands in all positions - then by all means - open for bigger.

Also, the 2 - 3 bb raise is just an open raise (when it's folded to you). I assume that people understand that you have to adjust your bet sizing with limpers.

Source?

I thought the smaller standard open-raise in tournaments was due to the variable chip valuation (cEV vs $EV), basically the chips you risk are worth more than the chips you win. So if you start generating FE and isolation with 2.5bb you should not be using more of the high-value chips (the ones in your stack) to win the lower-value chips than is necessary.

In a cash game all the chips are worth the same, since they have a cash value.

I've had decent success pounding away big PFRs with premium hands in short-to-mid stacked games both online and live. But I have to admit I've never sat down and done any maths on it.

You are right about the variable chip valuation. I think my statement about "unprofitable" is not true (ninja edit). But I still believe that a smaller open can be more profitable in the steal positions. As for EP and most MP opens, I think playing tighter but opening for your standard 3.5 - 4bb open is good since we will have mostly premium hands and will connect with flops more often/stack off more often with these hands. It's also easier to play with smaller SPRs with our premium hands.

But these premium hands are a small % of our steal position raises. This is due to a few reasons. We lose less when our opponents re-steal/3-bet (where we are folding the majority of times - unlike our range in EP/MP). There is less incentive for a re-steal due to less dead money/possibility of post-flop play (due to potential lower SPR) from blinds. Post-flop maneuverability - including cheaper c-bets/less commitment threshold/turn/river play (where we can exploit less skilled players in position).
Plus - I doubt that the calling range for SB/BB is that much greater for a smaller raise as opposed to a bigger raise. If it is, I don't see that as a bad thing since we have position, they will miss most of the time, and possibly dominated.

As for source, I have gained knowledge of 30bb strategy (though I still think I'm probably not that good at it - and need to do the math as well) from talking with good MTT and CAP game pros. CR has some good vids on it, too. There is also a good strat post in the Medium Stakes Full Ring Games about the 20-50bb games on stars.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/11...13/index2.html

I was coached by one of the CAP game pros (for 6-max NL) and watched them play. It's really interesting. They always open for a min-raise and 3-bets are always shoves. The 3-bet/opening ranges are really mathematically-based and they have tons of data/stats to back it up. They are big winners and I assume that they are using a winning strategy. I should email or call them to talk about the 30 bb CAP games. I've only learned 100bb strat from them, but I never got to learn the full extent of their 30bb strategy/thinking.

Didn't mean to sound harsh in my response to an earlier post. Kurt and AKQ... are right about premium hands. I would say optimal strategy is to raise bigger with a tighter range in EP/MP, raise smaller with a wider range in LP and blinds.

I was interested in reading more about the ******ed-ness of MT's laws so I looked it up. Apparently you can get a license for $150 for one table? Just open a cardroom!

Seriously? Wow! The 30bb cap is stupid, but the licensing law is not. $150 can easily be made up in 2 hours of rake. Card room owners must make a killing. Maybe this is a business opportunity...

I'm from eastern MT Steve, what part of MT are you playing poker at?

I made this post awhile back about the $300 pot limit, Ray Zee even said a few words in it:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/27...-limit-175122/