I currently play in a game where no one really knows how to play no-limit. They sort of know how to play poker, but not really at all.

The blinds are $1-$2, but the stacks are only $100 and under, and the bad players sometimes have short stacks.

So you dont see alot of pot building, you just see alot of trapping and overbetting.

For example, three people limp for $2, one player raises for $17, the next is all-in for $50. The limpers fold, the $17 either calls or folds. The hand is essentially over.

I've even seen this: 8 players limp for $2. The flop is whatever. Someone bets $15. Someone raises to $45. The original player re-raises all-in. The second player calls off $55 more. The first player has flopped a straight, whereas the second player has a pair of nines with a king kicker.

In other words, crazy overbetting/committment with very marginal hands combined with crazy trapping.

I've also seen this: three limpers, a raise to $8, and then an all-in for $100 (with AA of course)

I've also seen this: Many players limp for $2. Flop is 522. Player A says I'm all in. Everyone folds. He shows 55. No technically that's not a bad all-in because you can expect a call from anyone with a deuce, but his comment was something like "I didnt want to see another deuce on the board and run into quads".

Why do people think that betting larger amounts will somehow keep bad cards from falling? It doesnt work that way.

Observations:

1) Deep down, players are very scared about getting involved in pots for much more than $2 because it involves committment. Once they get pot-stuck, they have to make difficult decisions which they are not capable of making and are not good enough to make. Getting all-in relieves this anxiety, as does folding.

2) Their basic game plan revolves around various trying to hit the nuts, but then their plan backfires when they feel they might get rivered and kill their own action by going all-in.

3) Big bets are scary to them.

4) All-ins get called because they have a hand and they cant fold.

I dont want to make a mega-post, but I'm having better results against these types of players playing a different game. I am no-longer trapping.
I am making small value-raises and building pots a little at a time and go from there. It's like spoon-feedings babies, they can only take a little at a time, but in the long run you end up winning more that way.

-KF

here we go again

At least he won't have to write a poohbah post when he gets to that point since he can just bump this gem. This baby's gettin stickyed no doubt.