Hi,

I'm playing live tomorrow after work, again. It's at a sick spot in nyc that I"ve been going to for roughly a year now. They have a smoke room, two tables, a waitress, and free drinks. Also big screen tvs everywhere. Blinds are 1/2, but they have an auto straddle called the "rock" that bumps the min bet to 5. So it's really a 1/5 game lol.

I've already identified several regs, and usually the majority of the table is comprised of them. What are some things, if any, you can do, to unbalance the field. I always go in for 40x bb because I'm a believer in the old adage that you can bounce back with just one chip.

That is assuming a table of all equally good players have no edge against each other.. Reason why I'm asking isbecause like, last week when I went, I played for 3 hours, and I cashed out $170. SO that's about $30/hr, since I cashed out the winnings, which granted, is double what I make at work. But the thing is like...how can I win more than that? Especially on Fridays, the place gets packed, I remember when I was ready to leave bc I wasn't getting cards or spots, there wre like 9 people waiting behind me. Also many of these guys rebuy hundreds of dollars as if its nothing. I want that money.

A table full of equally good players (including us) that have no edge against each other is unbeatable due to rake.

Gno?G

Move up to 5/T?

How many times have you gone? How many total hours have you played?

buying in for 40 bb doesn't sound like the best strategy. If your title is what your asking, then ^ is correct. Money is just eventually going to go to the rake.

By buying in for more than 40 BB

5/10 not available at this particular room. I only have like 800 and change in cash that I use as my "live bankroll."

I've gone a bunch of times, maybe like 50 times at least. I mean most of the time you miss terribly anyway, it just takes one double up to 160, and another to pass 300.

Haha, damn, yeah didn't think of that. Well I did, but I'm more confident in my game now. How many would you suggest? I guess 100 right?

I don't understand the question.

You're basically saying that you've been playing poker with people for a year and you can't tell them apart.

I'll have to admit I don't have a strategy to unbalance them -- whatever that means.

I think you'd have more luck with a more specific question.

This is true wherever you play. The key is to always have a waiting list.

My local casino avg 5/6 tables during the week, yet it still manages to take in ~4k a day for the BBJ. Since the max rake is $6, imagine what the house is taking in. Plus, there is hardly ever a waiting list to get in a 1/2 game.

If I run a house game 2x a week for 7 hrs a day @ 25 hands pr hr, with a max rake of $3.00 & never play, I'm raking $54,600 annually before expenses.

Yeah I just came back on cuz I realized theres no specific question. Well for starters, opening strategy. I imagine I'm going to see two players who I'm unsure of how to play against. They both have a lot of money, come to the table with a lot of money, and have a pretty wide range, one more so than the other.

Personally, I have a wide range as well as I fell in love with the game because of the ability to make 100% hands with money on the line (Straights, flushes.) I played them pretty much every time I got one when I started, and lost thousands over the course of 2-3 years because of that. Now though I'll usually open for a raise to try and gain control preflop among other things.

These two, one is Asian the other black. The Asian always comes in with at least 300, and the black 4. The black eliminated me last Saturday when I returned with my double up as a buy in, with a flopped set of deuces. He raised all the limpers from the CO with 22 to like $30, and got there. What's the correct play, fold I guess yeah? I had a4ss there, knew I should've folded but didn't because I was tilted from an earlier hand where I raised a straddle w QQ and got called and outflopped by the Asian who held J2 on a board of A 2 2 5 J

Buy in to cover the deepest stack that you feel you have an edge against. 100 BB's is a nice round number that gives you some flexibility to maneuver around, apply pressure to people with one-pair hands and semi-bluff shove a nut draw without putting too many chips at risk.

If you only have $800, I know you probably don't want to read this or won't listen, but I'd suggest saving up another $1200 so you have a $2000 (10 BI at 100 BB's) bankroll and in the interim continue reading the forums and maybe a book or two and get your fundamentals rock solid.

When I'm playing with good players who hand read well, one trick I use is to not look at my cards.

They can't read me if I don't know what I have. Here's an example.

Full ring game of good players, I'm in HJ. 2 limps to me.

I now pretend to look at my cards... but I don't.

I raise it up 7BB (5BB + 2BB for the limpers). First limper folds, second one stares at me intensely. You can see the frustration building as the seconds go by and he can't get a read. And how could he! He eventually tosses out a call, and we see a flop. Flop comes down K74r.

It's a great flop for my perceived range. He checks, I c-bet, and he calls.

I wanted a fold, but we're still doing great - I still have two enormous advantages:
1) I have position;
2) I don't know my cards.

Not knowing your cards is like going to the woods at night and closing your eyes. Your other senses become so much more attuned to what's happening around you. It's the same here - I pick up the most nuanced tells when I'm not focused on information like what cards I have. When V called the flop, he ever so slightly shook his head to the left... it was a shake that told me "no no, please don't bet again!" What a read.

Turn is an offsuit 2 completing the rainbow. Total blank. V checks again. I bet half pot again. Villain tanks, hems, haws, looks at his cards... goes to fold... and calls!

I'm putting him on a lot of Ax and some really sticky pocket pairs like 33.

River pairs the board with the 2, and villain checks to me again. I have him where I want him. He had to play the entire hand out of position and cannot get any reads off me. I know the pot is mine, but I hollywood for a bit - playing it cool, you see.

Then I shove all in. I can't say for sure if it's for value or a bluff, but I know it's +EV.

By the way, I got VERY unlucky in this hand. Villain snapped me off with 77 for a rivered boat, and I didn't have the KK or 22 to beat him. In fact, I had 95o, but that's just variance.

OP, if you read this, obviously I'm kidding. You need to post more specific questions. The best thing you can probably do is post some hands - one per thread - and get comments.

you've been playing regularly at a place for a year and you don't have any specific reads on everyone, they're "all equally good"? sorry to tell you this, but you're probably the spot in the game. i find it highly unlikely that you're playing in a 1/2/5 game where everyone is "good" in general. at low limits, many players are terrible. granted, if they are all terrible, then technically they are all equally good i guess, but that's semantics...

what can you do to get more money out of the game?

first is to get a better idea of each player. when you sit down, all you should be doing is concentrating on the play and devising strategies to beat each individual player so when you get HU you can beat them. who are the nits? who are the TAGs? who are the LAGs? how loose/tight will they call raises? how much are they betting with good hands? bad hands? it appears you spent a year not paying attention to anything like this.

second is if you want to play a short stack game, learn to play it better, but more likely you will have higher winrates if you buy in deeper. but this implies that you have the skill to play deeper.

third is that results shouldnt matter. you made 170 in 1 session. if you make 1k in a session, it shouldnt matter. what matters is that you played your hands well. once you learn to play hands optimally, you will win in the long run.

You realize that results based on 3 hour session mean absolutely nothing, right?

You said you've booked at least 50 sessions there. Do you track results? How many total hours have you played and what is your winrate? Heck, even 50 sessions of 3 hours each is only 150 hours, which is also basically meaningless, but at least it *might* hint at *possibly* how you are faring.

Your hand histories *suggest* (it's obviously hard to tell on just a few anecdotes) that you *might* not even be a winner in a soft game, let alone a tough one.

Ggoodluck!G

^^^Was wondering whatever happened to JoyOfPoker...

Sounds like one of the rooms I play in when I'm in NYC. Love those games! They are pretty easy money if you pay attention.

Dude nah you got the wrong idea. I recognize a few of them, a handful, but most players there are random and new. The regs are usually there during the week, but on the weekend its random, and that's when I go. But nah the first point...basically I have emotional problems and impulse problems which is bad because you can end up playing too many hands too fast and lose all. So I developed a system where I play every Nth hand per hand class. While it may be delusional to think it puts me closer to winning at showdown, at the very least spaces out the frequency of hands played. At a live game, the amount of time/space between spots is exponentially higher than online, and it's during this time I pay attention to EVERY move, every action. Not just the things you mentioned, but like every little detail possible to better my decisions when involved in a hand.

regarding second point, I agree with you completely.

regarding third point, I also agree. I wasn't trying to use that as an example of my over all play, I still suck and am still in the hole. but I want to get better because once I start making the right decisions, that money will come back quick

Okay how about this one:

How do you exploit a loose-aggressive player with a lot of money, who will call many preflop raises higher than 3x?

How do you exploit tight-rock players?

Ha, not me, but yes, this was very much in that spirit.

Emotional problems + impulse problems + strategies revolving playing every nth hand per hand class?

Might be difficult to overcome these to become a winning poker player?

Gnotbeingmean,justsayin';goodluckG

Haha yeah...the system works well though. You combine it with the player reads and table observation you've been doing the whole time. It makes for a deadly combo....when you hit trips against KK on a board of 5 J 5 as an example.

I have some Hh actually, ill post

If money is important to you, which judging by your comments on your BR it is, stop playing poker. You'll never be a winning player long term with 'emotional/impulse problems.

With regards to your two questions, against LAG's tighten your range and take him to value town whenever you're at the top of your range. Fwiw, a 3x raise is unlikely to thin the herd in any LLSNL game, consider raising more and see how what amount gives you the desired outcome(over a decent sample size). Against tight players open up your range, play more hands and value bet wider, just be careful, if they raise, they likely have it.


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But what about all the times you have T2o and the board comes down J55 and you have to fold? Start playing hands based on their value/your position, not because it's been 16 hands since you last played offsuit connectors, you'll see your w/r increase like your after.

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Yo WJ what's good? Thanks for those tips. You can save trying to convince me to stop, cuz it aint happening. Im gonna win soon.

Regarding 5 J 5, I don't play T2o so is unapplicable. Regarding the system, well, I can definitely play hand strength + position, but those spots take FOREVER. But if you say folding until those times will increase win rate, I guess I could throw away the counting tomorrow and play pure position/pot odds and see what happens.

I'm not sure if you're serious... IMO when I hear you say you're playing based on a "System" I don't equate that with solid poker. I strongly suggest you do some work off the tables. The Mental Game of Poker might be a good start so you can work on your emotional control. Despite the fact that it makes for interesting TV, an emotionally unstable player is at a huge disadvantage.

Either way, good luck.

Your version of "solid poker" is also based on a system whether you like it or not. And the emotional thing was an issue when I started playing, it's not an issue anymore. I don't get mad when I lose as a heavy favorite anymore.

It is a problem, it's caused you to implement a strategy that's going to make playing winning poker much more difficult. The T2o hand was just an example, the logic behind it still applies.

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