So I have been playing poker off and on for 10 years now and have always had the full time kind of job that would only allow it on weekends or vacations. I have always done pretty good at live low stakes. My employment is now changing so that I basically will work a week then have a week off. I am considering using my weeks off from work and grinding. I have about 1,500 dollars to start. The good thing is that with a job I am not worried about going hungry or anything.

It has been a while since I have been at the tables live and just throwing out the question that does ABC poker still bring in some pretty good results these days? It did 5 years ago when I played a lot but I know times have changed.

I am not really a naturally LAG type gambling player. Sometimes I think I played like a pussy as nitty as I was lol. With that said I was usually leaving up money so I did not let it bother me too much. Not sure about these days though. Will I be eaten up or are the players still pretty fishy and loose at the small stakes?

im sure it varies from casino to casino but I think an ABC strategy is definetly profitable in 95% of cardrooms in america.

How profitable?

No idea.

I think that is how I will approach it to begin with. My goal is some extra side income so if I keep that in mind I will stay disciplined.

In the past when I would try to get fancy or open up my game I usually would only pay dearly. Some people have a better sense or "feeling" of the game. I don't think I am that guy. I do better when I am playing more of a math/odds poker game.

Mind if I ask what line of work you are in? I'm looking for something where I can play a lot of poker too.

To answer your question, yes ABC gets the money in my opinion. Don't waste your money advertising because at LSNL nobody is paying attention

ABC style may win you small amounts of money, sometimes. ABC means you're playing like everybody else. Is everybody else winning?

This is extremely player pool dependent. If the games are soft yes it's profitable. ABC play is likely the best way to start out but you should just pay attention to who you are playing against and make adjustments. Can make the difference of being a break even player and someone who crushes.

Not sure what definition you are using for ABC poker, but almost nobody at Foxwoods plays ABC poker the way most LLSNL posters would define it.

As for the OP, nobody knows if you can win or not. I haven't ready your posts to see if you know what you're doing or not. I'll leave this thread open a bit, but it is doubtful anything meaningful is going to come out of it.

With regard to live poker I couldn't agree with this less.

I'm an EMS pilot. The standard work structure is generally week on week off.

Well maybe nothing meaningful to you but I might get something out of it. I will also post some progress as well once I get going.

Last I played most people at small stakes were not playing ABC. They were just bad lol. I know a lot has changed as the reason I made the thread. Just seeing how the games are these days. Guess I will find out.

Foxwoods has the most diverse cast of characters I've seen anywhere. So when you start phrases with the words "almost nobody at Foxwoods...." you've immediately proven that you haven't spent enough time there to know what you're talking about.

I'm not sure what you're getting at. But since you're stalking me, you should already know that I'm splitting my time between foxwoods and the charity games in New Hampshire. No Limit has only been legal for two months and it's literally like taking a time machine back to 2005.

The two player pools are universes apart, and I really don't see much difference in what I consider an ABC style between the two. Play tight. Play in position. Bet strong. Fold to uncommon aggression. And bluff very rarely. Plenty of fish in both seas

ABC is definitely the way to start off. I would expect ABC to be profitable in 1/2 and 1/3 games across the country.

Enlighten me then gentlemen...what do you consider ABC poker? While you're thinking, let me enlighten you....

I gave some detail earlier on what I consider ABC poker, but I could shorten it to say that it means "playing your own hand". Or "level 0" play, if you're familiar with that term. Do you know a lot of level 0 winners?

If we assume an equally diverse player pool, then you couldn't possibly recommend any strategy as being superior. Calling stations exploit bluffers. Bluffers exploit nits. And nits exploit calling stations. In a perfectly diluted player pool, no one style should prevail more than any other. In other words, everybody is just there to pay the rake.

If you're going to claim that one particular style is superior, then you must assume that the player pool is not perfectly diluted. It's imbalanced toward one particular type of player that's susceptible to and exploitable by the style you are advocating. So tell me, what style of play are you exploiting when you play ABC?

If you're playing ABC as a generic default, so that you are able to attack and defend equally against all types of villains......then you aren't really exploiting anyone. You're just there to pay rake.

ABC poker simply means playing solid fundamental poker and playing your hands pretty face up..ie betting when you have the best hand, checking/folding when you don't. Very little creativity or bluffing. This type of poker is profitable vs weak players.

How does this exploit weak players? It just sounds like conforming to the weak play. In other words, just paying the rake.

Specifically, tell me how playing your hand face up will profit vs a weak player. What weak-player tendencies are you exploiting with your lack of creativity?

Where does the money come from?

Weak players do not have decent/good fundamentals. They play too many hands and often do so passively with no regard to position. They also don't fold when they should and they bluff in spots where they shouldn't bluff.

If everyone was playing ABC poker then you are pretty much right that we would all just be paying the rake. However, that is not the case at the 1/2 level. Also, some players are simply better players (ie they know when to go for value and when to fold better than others) and there is also this little thing called tilt which is where much of the profit comes from when all players are otherwise equal.

I think the money would come from making less mistakes than your opponents. Playing solid starting hands with good showdown value and getting as much value as possible while folding speculative hands. Playing tight in early positions and opening up a bit in later positions. Playing aggressively of course. I think this is the ABC I am thinking of and it probably profitable against players that play too many pots. Just my thoughts.

If you want to do this, then I suggest you start a thread in the Poker Goals and Challenges forum. That's the place for giving updates on your game. As for the rest, the thread is already going downhill so I'm going to lock it now.