So i am at a loss about how to combat this. 3/6 live limit 8 handed game. For about 30 minutes 6/8 of these guys were playing absolute trash hands (k2o,72o, etc) i even had hands like QQ,KK,KQs,AQS and every one of those got beat by the hand types listed prior. I don't know how much tighter I can play, but i just got up and left to another table. Is that about the only way to defeat play like this is to leave the table? Or would moving up to higher limits see a reduction in this type of play? Thanks.

Most of us would be happy to receive four premium hands in the space of a 10-15 hand period, stop complaining

Why don't you start playing like them? If you can't defeat a strategy doesn't that mean it's an effective one?

Def move up...its the only real solution

Flop.... low level fixed limit is full of speculators who can play ATC. They experience variance (just like you have described). Mostly likely, they lose more over time than a smart, tight and aggressive player.

I've played many many hands live 3/6 and 4/8 limit. I am a winner long-term..... but never would I consider myself a lock to win any session. My advice to to keep playing tight-aggressive.... with positional spots to open up your starting range. Family pots are FULL of landmines.

Moving up is almost always going to be a mistake if you are struggling to win against a weaker field.

Nobody is able to make significant money from a 3/6 limit game because rake is way too high.

If you play a stake where everyone is there to have fun, expect them to play hands instead of sitting around to fold. Most players don’t think folding is a lot of fun.

If you want to play with people who are willing to fold, play stakes where at least some of the players are there to make money. For limit that’s probably 8/16+?

Not complaining just asking a question.

FLOPPY_SPADES, be glad you’re getting the condensed version of all the stuff I was originally planning to ramble on about here!

What you need to do is start thinking long term. Sure, your AK might lose to 72o. That’s the short term, and nothing to really get upset about. For the long term you should be thinking, I’m GLAD my opponents are playing crappy hands like that, because I know that over time AK will win a lot more often than 72o will.

This. Plus remember that your AK hands are drawing hands in a limit game. With the multi-way pots, you’ll rarely win unimproved. Raise PF, but don’t be surprised if it’s still multi-way. Bluff c bets into multiple opponents offering 19-1 pot odds are rarely going to work— just play ABC post flop.

if the donkeys make you crazy, you're one of them

I actually wanted an answer to my question. OP's mindset is so, so common and I don't understand it. If you can't beat 'em why aren't you joining them?

"Good plays" are the ones that make money. "Donkey plays" are the ones that lose money. It makes no sense at all to think that you can't beat someone because they play like a donkey. I'm not saying you actually should play like them, just to look at your thought process and try to understand why it's flawed.

"God why do they keep playing badly?!? I wish my opponents were playing well!"

-- This is such a common mindset in poker and it makes no sense. Don't you want them to be making mistakes?

OP, poker is profitable for good players because bad players can play a hand idiotically and still win.

That seems to be your problem

This 100%.

Also, I don't see that anyone's said "Read Small Stakes Hold'Em by Miller, Sklansky and Malmuth" yet, so I'm saying it.

I haven't Googled Pokerstove or other similar tools in a long time, but it would also be useful to plug some of the hands you're seeing into a computer and seeing how far ahead of them you are.

If you make a bet that gives you a 24% chance to quintuple up, you made a good bet. Make a hundred such bets and (ignoring rake for a moment) you will almost assuredly come out ahead. 76% of the time you're going to lose, but the amount you win when you do win more than makes up for it.

Hope that helped.

Donk is not wrong here. The rake makes these games nearly unbeatable no matter how well you play. Remember, if you bet $25 with a pair of aces and the other guy calls with a pair of kings, you don't win $25 - you probably only win about $20. The casino takes $1 out of the pot for the bad beat jackpot, you're expected to tip $1 and the rake is probably $3.

Now suppose they deal 25 hands an hour. That's $125 an hour that's coming off the table. Now suppose the 8 players all sat down with $150 each for a total of $1200. In less than 10 hours every single chip that everybody sat down with is GONE - the casino wins it ALL.

Let's scare you a little bit more even: The $125 per hour is about 21 big bets per 25 hands, or 84 big bets per 100 hands, so about 10 big bets per 100 hands. Even the best players in the world struggle to beat that game for 10 big bets per 100 hands.

Hope that helped.

Limit is rough as far as variance goes.

In no limit you can make weaker holdings pay when you have premium and get a strong hand throughout.

Don't overplay 1 pair hands I find is important.