I am not exactly a beginner but have not played online for 5 years. I recently returned to the tables playing a freeroll and running my account from 0 to around $200 and have been bouncing around between $150 and $200 for a week.

What I am having a hard time understanding is the way others are playing. Almost every table I play on has at least 3 players with a VPIP over 50 and usually it is well over. It is not only happening on 2NL but all the way up to at least 25NL.

For example, the table I am playing on right now (25NL), each player has at least 200 hands, a couple with 1000 hands. VPIP/PFR stats are 81/25 (1200 hands), 61/28 (500 hands), 69/20 (650 hands), 57/10 (200 hands) and 74/0 (150 hands).

Is this some new way to play? It becomes very frustrating to play. How would you suggest approaching these tables? Tighten up? Sorry for the semi rant but I am not sure I want to do play seriously again if these is going to be typical.

Someone moaning about having to play with whales.

What is life? Seriously.

Want so switch places and play against 90% nits and bad regs instead?

I don't mean to be moaning its just radically different and I am just trying to understand if I need to toss out every poker book I have.

I really do not know how to play a full table of these "whales".

I imagine the vast majority of old poker books are based on incredibly simple ways to win some money against bad players.

I don't it. What is your experience with poker? Where have you played before, what time frame did you play?

Tightening up is such a bad adjustment to make against these types of players though. This falls back into the old "simple ways to make some money" comment from my last post.

But this is what is confusing me, a basic tight strategy prints money against these types of players (just nowhere near as much as optimal strats). What simple basic strategies that have been employed over the years don't work?

Tighten up...but realize you may have oodles of implied odds if you can get in cheaply PF.

Isolate with your premium hands.

Rinse and repeat often.

Variance will be higher but if you are good, the rewards will be there.

Egads, a table full of whales! In NJ? really?

Yes, it seems like it is almost every table I play on. The other type are tight players that raise nothing except AA which can also be frustrating and is not like anything I have seen online before. Tightening up works as long as I can control my tilting which has been the hardest part.

Seems like all you have to do is get a handle on opponent ranges. You've got whales and NITs..... an AWESOME table.

Thanks and that is true. I was able to go from $.45 cents to around $200 in a month which was something I was not able to do when I played daily 10 years ago. Just when you watch a training video and they describe loose players as having a VPIP around 40% and then I go to my tables and 40 is a tight player it just confuses me but I have not played in so long, I thought maybe this was the new normal.

I'm pretty sure LAG has been the predominant style in the mid to high stakes cash games since the poker boom. LAG is the hardest style to play and I'd hazard a guess that the guys you'v cited at 25nl are bad loose players splashing around as opposed to implementing a style they'v worked on. I'm sure there is some good LAG players at 25nl but it's unusual.
Live tournament poker seems to have become less aggressive over the last 5 - 7 years with a lot of players employing a small ball style. So many hands in EPTs are an an open with multiple callers whereas years ago there was invariably a 3/4bet. Negreneu was even joking recently that the guys who were making those light 3bets must all have day jobs now.