Sorry if these are standard I tried to find some info

Playing live first time in a loooong time. Couple questions?

Raises in the game I played were 4 or 5x how do we adjust 3b strategy for the large open sizes? playing 2/5 and villains are raising 4x and 5x pre are we still 3b 3x in position etc and 4-5 x op?

Should i adjust my opening sizes during live play? Should I raise to bigger size because of wider calling ranges and very recreationals call any size?

So much limping are we raising 77 vs 3 limps if we are on the button for example. TT in the bb vs 6 limps and you are sure no one is folding to a raise?

Appreciate it.

Raises in the game I played were 4 or 5x how do we adjust 3b strategy for the large open sizes? playing 2/5 and villains are raising 4x and 5x pre are we still 3b 3x in position etc and 4-5 x op?


its gonna vary a little depending on situation and your style. but yes those are some fine guiding principles. i might have those as my baseline. generally if you are coming from online stacks are gonna be 200bb deep or more as games go on. so its not just a 100bb game online where most sizing is just "Standard". in game though its fine to adjust. is some fishy LAG just opening to 30 everytime and getting callers? maybe size up AA bigger here cause they always gonna call and aren't gonna realize your sizing tell. this is where theory and exploit deviate in game and generally in live in where the biggest wins come from at the lower levels.



Should i adjust my opening sizes during live play? Should I raise to bigger size because of wider calling ranges and very recreationals call any size?

i have a standard opening size i stick with. generally 3x except in CO, Button where i'll open to 20 to discourage blinds from calling. the general pool is usually 15/20 opening. i think the big thing here is to just stick to your plan. And yes raise more if there are limpers. generally for every limper i add a big blind.



So much limping are we raising 77 vs 3 limps if we are on the button for example. TT in the bb vs 6 limps and you are sure no one is folding to a raise?


I'm probably raising 77 against three limps. too much value here with postion postflop regardless. now if i have 22-66 type hands i might considering overcalling but again probably not on the button. as far as TT i think thats too strong to just call. again we can easily naviagte post flop against the limp call players and i'm fine raising 1010 and then just check folding multiway.

I would figure out what their raise range vs limp range is - how wide are they raising as a 4-5x raise can be highly exploitable if they're wide enough. Ideally you want them raising big with weaker holdings - if the standard raise was 10x that would be even better. My guess is you'll see people limping a wide range - of course you want to raise hands that will dominate limping ranges so you can print money on Axx/Kxx/Qxx/etc boards. The more comfortable you are postflop in your skills the wider you want to raise - really the whole point of raising is to play higher stakes when you have a better hand, or at least that's what you're telling your competition. Either way this game sounds highly exploitable which is 99.9% of 2/5 live games so you should be able to make a decent hourly.

I can be a bit of an iso3bzombie in live games so take my advise with a grain. If I am traveling to play I want to have some drinks and get in there and play some cards baby! I'm much tighter and formulaic playing online.

My answer is yes yes and yes.

My raising isolating and 3b formula is to move my range up a seat and double the pot.

So for example you're in the HJ in a 9 handed straddle game. Utg1 limps, utg2 limps, lj folds and you're in the hj. The pot is 1.5 + 2bb straddle + 4bb for two limpers = 7.5bb when it gets to you and you have A2s K5s/K6s Q9s JTs 77/66 AT KJ QJ + (my LJ opening range) , I would simply make it 15bb to go.

There's an EP limp in the same straddle game and the button makes it 6bb and you're in the SB with a 3b raising range of A4s/A5s A9s, TXs AJ/KJ+ 77+ that I would ordinarily use as a sb 3b range vs the co/hj were opening there fr the sb. The pot when it gets to you is 1.5+2+6=9.5×2=19bb to go! (In a 2/5 I'd just toss in a black 100 chip).

This is why it is so important to buy in as deep as possible.

Take your time like you have a decision... I've seen people show AQ JJ as they're folding "saying your kings are good, as if they're like Phil Helmuth lol.

Edit: post flop be careful... treat tpgk boards and big draws with Rev implied odds more like ace high because folks fold less in big pots and versus mwp you are gonna face 2p and set a lot so be very cautious in those situations. Try to get to show down or give them a chance to spazz if you're oop (because they hear so often on tv that you "have to fight for those pots!"). Be aware and study the spots where you have the range advantage and you can profitably go after capped ranges.

This is some of the most suicidal range construction / bet sizing advice I have ever seen in my life. In my experience people who play like this don't last.

That's a call. Not sure why you would do that if the plan was to raise.

The range is too wide or the sizing is too big? Or both? The limpers in my game can be super wide and sporadic. I feel pretty confident in my post flop game so I am ok widening it up pre. And also what I said that when I play live I like to come out and play... if you're grinding the hourly it's probably not the greatest advice.

way too wide

I mean, you do say "play deep" but is everyone like 200bb+ deep? If not it doesn't really matter how much you have in front of you....

At almost all 1/2-5/5 tables, opening to 15bb over two limps in a straddled pot with all suited Ax, K5s+ and Q9s+ is far too wide and a bit much $. You're going to be piling money in pre very often vs a l/c range that crushes you. Sure you pick up the limps and blinds often enough, but there are 6 ppl behind you left to act in your scenario. (lojack w/ ugt straddle). When the money goes in so easily post due to reduced SPR, you are really going to feel how weak that range is.

Thanks for the advice. I know I should probably just post a hand but I think these are almost too basic.


I'm utg+1 with 66, UTG limps, I know for a fact if I iso I'm getting at least 4 callers behind. People calling A5o, T8o (Felt like limit). Should I just limp along here. Feels so bad but going 5 ways with a pretty small pocket pair in a bloated pot doesn't sound like a good idea?


I pretty much play 3b or fold out of small blind due to rake etc online. Is this a call when most everyone is full stacked in live. People were calling 65o in small blind for 4x etc..

Thanks again

Stack depths? Probability of getting 3b? At 100BB I'm just mucking it unless I can take a flop very often for 1bb and people play bad post. Deeper I'm reluctantly isoing on a soft table, it's fine to iso 4-5bb and take a flop mw in a bloated pot, unless I'm getting 3b frequently. In that case I also fold.

first, i like the way you are thinking. you are correct when you open 66 there you will often get called. I think lots has to do with gameflow and table dynamics.

is there anyone behind us that is decent and has a 3bet range ??
are there any real short stacks looking to just shove their $100 cause they are busto.
is an action player at the table deep and always calling?
am i just sitting down at the table and have no real reads?
whats my image at the table?

all these factor into my decision in the spot you talk about. We should know theory but we should also know that theory only goes so far in the live setting. I'll answer my own questions.


is there anyone behind us that is decent and has a 3bet range or will iso themselves ??

I'm not looking to start having a decent player iso my small pairs here. then i'll just be letting someone else drive the action and we are losing so much EV just limp calling. horrible players limp call.

are there any real short stacks looking to just shove their $100 cause they are busto.

Probably not wanting to limp here and have to fold so i want to be aware of the stacks and tendancies (again these change in game) of the short stack. I'm fine raising but we might have to be ready to call it off if we build pots so maybe i'm just folding this hand pre

is an action player at the table deep and always calling?

we want to building pots for our big hands. yes 66 is huge when we flop a set and we can start piling against the guy who can't fold his top pair and has no real idea our ranges in these spots.


am i just sitting down at the table and have no real reads?

66 is debatable but i might just be that friendly poker guy who is now going along with the low stakes flow. ofcourse i'm here to limp in with everyone! sure -ev in a vaccumm but again you are just like everyone else at the table. someone people can never fold two pair here or the random idiot who limp AA can never fold. again we are set mining here. but beware and be ready based on the board texture to realize when your set isn't a hand you want to be piling with. you will be suprised how many non-suited two gappers show up and hit a striaght in this seven way limps fests.

whats my image at the table?

are you building a stack? showing down good winning hands? players will not want to be playing as much with you and will now give you tons of credit pre and post flop. sure you might go multiway but you can leverage your range advantage and reads to get tons of folds.

I should have known you all would take me out back after I paradrop in here and say "iso to 20bb with K5s or QJ!" ok ... sorry to bother - carry on

Check out a couple of threads in the Best Of collection. Hardest adjustment between online and live for me is how much I widen my call/overcall range with speculative hands (and how hard it is to get back to mostly raise or fold when I go back to online).

The thing is that in live low stakes games so many people will make just awful passive mistakes post-flop a LOT. Missing out on the chance to draw to 8+ outs cheap and then get a call of your big bets when you hit is far more lost value than that of the price of you overlimp with 67s pre is. And set mining can be silly profitable.

Sure, they are making exploitable mistakes pre too, but they are much harder to punish, because the open sizes are so large, and isolation really doesn't work much. Instead you should think of isolation as "pot bloating" and usually save it for when you're holding a and that really wants to play a bloated pot.

This makes your PF play very unbalanced, and a good V will be able to exploit it. But good Vs are few and far between on live low-stakes tables. I find it far more profitable to assume that everyone is meh at best until proven otherwise.

Note that this advice is not universal. Texas games, for example, have a reputation of being hyper aggro both pre and post, which makes speculative hands go way down in value. But having played over much of the US, I find that games are mostly loose/passive and sticky. They are not as "no-fold 'em" as they used to be, but they are still way looser and more passive than OL games.

It doesn't matter what others are using as an opening size. When you raise 3x, are you getting 6 calls? Then you need to increase it. Now what about 4x? It's more a matter of what others are folding to.

Otherwise, people raising to overly large sizes is something you can exploit.

"I'm utg+1 with 66, UTG limps, I know for a fact if I iso I'm getting at least 4 callers behind. People calling A5o, T8o (Felt like limit). Should I just limp along here. Feels so bad but going 5 ways with a pretty small pocket pair in a bloated pot doesn't sound like a good idea?"

If everyone is calling you, then raise more. Though with a pair of 6's, raising and getting called by 4 others isn't horrible especially if you can discount the bigger pairs because nobody re-raised.

In term so the 6's, just realize that set mining isn't profitable when everyone is low stacked. Getting to a flop 5 ways with them can be great though especially if you can discount anyone having QQ, KK, AA.