Hello this is my first post here after following a lot of threads on this forum.
I finally decided to subscribe as I feel is time for me to take poker more seriously (I'd like to make living out of it, but i'm getting discouraged about the general rake conditions we generally have here in Europe).
Unfortunately i don't have a lot of hands in live poker cash games to figure out a BB/h winrate in the long run as I live far away from casinos, anyway i almost ended all my sessions in profit and I'm trying to guess if certain rake conditions are beatable considering the level of players which is oftenly pretty bad.

What I want to share with you today is the experience I had few days ago in a local poker club which runs a 1-2€ game once per week.
The rake is terrible, 5% capped at 30€ but same goes for the level of players, some of them are the most absurd whales I've ever seen.

They're all crazy gamblers calling draws completely out of odds.
In the beginning of the session one guy called a 170€ allin OTF after betting 20€ and preflop may have been like 30€ and he said he had to call with OESD on flop with 2 cards to go.

So after starting with 100BB and dropped down to 80BB in the first half an hour I decided to add another 100BB stack cause I felt that playing tight and waiting a big hand preflop could payoff a lot.

The guys are just crazy if they lose a stack they rebuy 200 or 250BB (there is no limit) and standard open raise is like x7 - x10 or even more, even though is very rare to see a flop with less than 4 players, so it plays like 3-6.
They do straddles very often and sometimes they put second and third straddle (16€)

After some time got KK and decided to limp from UTG because raising 12 or 16 would have make all the table calling.
UTG+1 raises 20€ gets 3 calls, I reraise to 80€ he reraises to 200€ and i go allin for 320, I was ready to see Aces, but nope, he didn't gave me any credit even if I was playing quite tight and I doubled up against his pocket JJ.

Some time later I get JJ from the SB, UTG opens x16 (32€), UTG+1 calls, all players fold and I decide to just call hoping to finally catch a set.
BB also calls for 32.

FLOP: (128€)
J89

UTG checks, UTG+1 goes allin with 800€ and I call with 520€.
all players fold and player shows AJ...
He didn't even realize how bad that move was, despite some players started saying he was a complete donk and donate me 500€.......

I'll be back next week because rake is crazy but players are the worst ever.... only a couple of guys on that table seemed to know how to play, and sometimes over think and fold big hands vs crazy and stupid kind of value-bluffs raises post flop. (one guy folded AK on KTTx after betting 120 and got c/raised to 500€ with KJ... the reason the guy made this bet was that i believed he was blank, so a ridicoulous mix between a value and a bluff raise....complete nonsense....

Have to say that i'm normally an aggressive player which prefers a LAG style but in this scenario I adapted myself to play as a nit, studying the players and not bluffing at all, next time I'll probably start cbetting a bit more as some of them noticed I was 3 betting and not leading with hands like AK on dry boards, I was actually just waiting the big hands after people that doesn't fold.
I don't feel to confortable playing there as I can't play my poker or maybe is better to say that's not poker at all, anyways it feels like there is a huge edge on that guys.

I ended the session +220 BB in the end, even folding the best hand in certain spots vs some of their bluffs.
What's your opinion/tips vs this kind of players?
Do you think this is beatable even giving the horrible rake capped at 30€?

Thanks,
Alessandro

Sounds like great games. In the US, the rake is 10%, although it is capped at anywhere from $5-$8. You should be profitable once you learn how to adjust to the conditions and have a large bankroll to ride the variance.

They are actually but as you say they need much bigger bankroll compared to a bit more standard 1-2 game...
How much do you think that rake weights in BB/h assuming a pretty solid TAG style?

That is pretty savage rake but if people are going to auto stack off 200bb OTF with decent one pair hands then it should be profitable.

The percentage isn't bad, but that cap is wild. Most affected will be implied odds situations, especially set mining preflop.

For example, playing on a 300 Euro stack, if you go HU to a flop against someone that covers you, the amount you win when you stack them is only 270 (after 30 rake), but your risk is still your preflop investment. A stack of 300 or less and HU to the flop is the most severe situation, but it's important to know your potential reward, as to then calculate the amount of risk you'd like to take.

Rake in Australia is even worse (cap at 50 or no cap per some older threads?) but there are a few who still state that they can stay ahead of it.

Playing very few hands and using your image to your benefit will help. I assume they don't rake uncalled bets, so if you can play super tight and avoid some Showdowns you can pick up pots uncontested in some 'reasonable' bluffing spots. Obv it's a flat rate and 'more is more' if you're the winner AND if they 'never' fold then bluffing is out of question.

Attempt some pot control with your 1-pair hands and/or messy/wet Boards to protect your stack. GL