Play in a home game, social/non-raked, 1/2, 100 initial buy in (up to 300 after losing first stack,though most people continue at 100, maybe 200)...huge wins are 2000 on occasion, a couple spew monkeys will drop four figures. We alternate between NLHE/PLO8. Often a $4 straddle.

Yesterday, with a fairly short stack (100ish), I was dealt AK in SB/BB a number of times. Our game is so odd, there will be 5-6 limpers (9 handed) preflop.

If I make it 12, I'll get many callers. But playing AK multiway OOP is not a winning formula I've found.

If I make it 25, I'll get 1-2 callers...most of the time, I'll miss the flop, and if I cbet someone invariably calls with a piece of the board or something like a small pocket pair. People don't like folding, so my aggression on multiple streets will just backfire...I learned early not to bluff bad players.

So I've been shoving for my stack...everyone folds...I've gotten people to lay down small pocket pairs, as they fear I have a bigger one and don't want to gamble. I usually pick up 12-20 uncontested. I do get some abuse from the others...none of whom will play this way.

Comments on how to play these types of hands from early position?

The idea of a preflop raise with a hand that is likely not the best is to have some fold equity.
If you have no fold equity because you're guaranteed to get multiple callers then don't raise but just limp along and see how the hand develops postflop.

if we have no fold equity for a cbet, sounds like we start by checking and try and hit turns/rivers

worth bearing in mind that AK hi is a value bet on some boards

also, consider whether maximising $EV is your sole goal in a social home game

Do they fold when an Ace or King do hit the Board? If so, then you may be playing a tad too tight and should be 'speculating' a bit with other holdings and playing them as if they were AK when that hits the Flop (30% of the time!).

Poker is all about adjustments. What happens when you check a 'missed' Flop? Do they automatically bet or do they wait for you to also check the Turn ... and then you just fold?

There's a saying about over-shoving a 'short' stack ... It works every time, except the last. Not that I don't do this myself! I will short stack for a time after a cooler or if I don't think I'm playing well that day.

From a poker standpoint there's nothing wrong with taking down a 20% increase in your stack PF. Tournament Players do it all the time. But do consider the social aspects of this 'strategy' as indicated. Make sure to follow up the comment with "Takes the thinking out of it for me against you sharks" or something similar. GL

I have been having similar problems with the home game that I play in. I think the main thing that people are missing here is that the table is only passive pre-flop. post-flop they are c-betting and calling with draws, second pairs, checking strong hands to induce, and occasionally floating to bluff.

The two main theories so far seem to be to play many hands, pushing the action and "outplaying" villains after the flop, and nitting up and limping with strong hands until you flop the nuts. Honestly both seem reasonable, because I have tried both, but each has its drawbacks.

The problem with the first is that you are playing a weaker range of hands than you should be. The calling range of the table as a whole is still weak, but when you play against 4 to 6 other players in a hand, you are still getting the worst of it, because it is VERY hard to outflop that many callers. You end up facing the nuts or very strong hands that aren't obvious. The best players know that, and will float to bluff or check with way best, it is very trappy. If you keep increasing your opening bet size, two things happen. First you push out the worst hands and are competing against a stronger calling range than your opening range. The table also notices the smaller and smaller spr's, and they see the pot as "big enough", and start 3'betting and raising all in. Now you are in many bloated, small spr pots against a better range than yours. When everyone folds, you have gained very little in relation to what you risked, and when they call, you are up against a stronger range.

The problem with the second is that it reduces your game to just what the other guys are doing, but just less of it, with better hands and position. I think this strategy seems right, but when put into practice it also has drawbacks. If you limp or even raise a standard amount, you tend to get 4-6 callers, and it is difficult to play against that many people. Many of our standardly raised pots get 6 or 7 callers. Hard to play real poker ie: bluffing, c-betting, floating to bluff, etc., because with that many people in the pot, you can't put anyone on a range, much less a hand. I will be honest, it is also very boring to wait on a strong range of hands and have to fold on the flop because you missed and one of the other five players is very likely to have hit something, so you play fit or fold.

I am sorry to have such a long first post, but I think this is a very common problem for many low limit live players, and I wanted to get further input into how to address the problems I have laid out above.

For the sake of clarity, my game is a no rake, $1/$1 NLHE, about half of the pots are straddled for $2. Typical opening raise is from $8 to $16, but there are very many limped pots, and often any typical opening raise will get called 4-6 times. Buy-in is a max of $200. many people buy in several times, so while there will be bigger stacks, there are always smaller stacks, keeping effective spr small as a rule.

Any sound insight will be greatly appreciated.

Trig