i was playing at commerce and with $40 buy in, won a good hand and was upto $100 in chips which got whittled down slowly in time to around $30.

i had JJ UTG, and went all in with $30 thinking that i had to make my move. the table had in my estimate a loose aggressive style. i got called by 2 ppl, he showed AJ suited, and i think the other person threw it cards away after he saw the cards and all the community cards.

i was winning up to the turn but got beat on the river by his AJ making his flush

do you guys think this was a correct move though regardless of the outcome?
or should i have at least saw what the flop was before making a move like this?

Sit with the max.

Don't play a game with 20bb max buy in

1st buy in is $40, then $60 thereafter. i think all los angeles CA area casinos are like this? hawaiian gardens, commerce, bicycle, huster...

i agree, if i could buy in for more than 20 BB or 30 BB i would

Um i think thats the minimum buy in...
Or you mean you are only rolled for that amount?

Also ppl love giving action to short stack. Has nothing to do with your image but their cards

This.

As I understand Commerce low stakes games are structured really weirdly forcing people to shortstack. Anyone confirm this? And why do they do that?

As for the actual play, you HAVE to shove JJ with 15 big blinds. The guy with AJ gave you a bad beat.

But yeah, your main mistake is playing at a place that forces people to shortstack.

P.S. WTF is wrong with Commerce?

This is tournament thinking. You are never under pressure to play in cash.

[ ] "Made a move" with 15bb and the 4th best hand in unlimited bet hold them

There is a number of things in this post that really need to be addressed here in order to help you to be come a better poker player:

First: Why are you buying in so short? Is this the MAX that you can buy in for at in the room, or the MIN that you buy in for in the room? If this isn't the max is there is a reason that you are buying in so short?

Second: You say that you were up to $100, but you got your self down to $30. All of the hands that happened in that nebulous in between time are almost guaranteed to be more important as they are likely spots where you are losing money by making calls that you shouldn't, or not betting hands that you should.

Third: Do you have more money in your pocket? Is there a reason that when you have $30, you did not add on for $30, $50, $100 more so you have a good stack of money to play with?

Fourth: The cards that everyone showed should tell you exactly what you want to know. You got called by AJ. A hand that is clearly inferior to yours, and something else. (Likely a worse hand too.) So the play in and of it self was fine. The real thing you want to focus on is HOW you got your self to this point, why you let your self be in this sticky spot, and how to change, adapt so that you are not in this spot again.

EDIT: sorry, villain had AK suited NOT AJ.

I would suggest that you never play in this game again. There is no way you can make money. If you're just doing it for ****s and gigs, I'm never folding JJ in this game. Ever. Wp sir. Sorry bout that river

$40 is the only way to buy in for the first time playing. after you lose your stack you can still either buy in again at $40, or have option to buy in at $60
probably a few pre flop bets trying to steal the blinds which didn't work; and calling a few pre flop bets when i had a decent card like AJ and higher then hitting nothing on the flop.
i dont know the rules for commerce on this, but i know you can add money when you reach a certain limit; how much money and what the limit is i don't know, but ill find out next time.
at around the $100 mark, i still feel i was playing tight so i dunno.

This ^