Is playing Big O with 10% rake, cap at $25 at $2/$5 beatable?

I played it the other night at a private game. Average buy-in is $300. First three hands were all-ins with chops and quarters. $75 off the table.

I ended up even on the night which seemed like a struggle. I looked at the slot for rake in the dealer’s tray and it was in the hundreds.

Yeah, free food, drink and massage, but at a cost.

Even against bad players, is it foolish to play? I usually play online with 10% cap at $5.

Probably not easy to beat that game, but if they let you wait for a good hand and still give you plenty of action, then why not. You need to be tight pre, don't limp, don't call raises to see the flop...

Well I played in cap 25$ rake plo4, the pool was loaded w/aggro fishes.

I was making a decent profit but very small sample size.

There were even whales giving free money from time to time. My profits are from whales/fishes and the time I run good.

But this was 2/2(5bring in) stacks were ranging from 200~1000. I buyin for 400 and I'm usually the shortstack.

I tried going to the casino to emulate my success. Parx has 2/2 but no bring in 200~700 buyin(this is a smaller game). It's loaded with regs. Literally no whales, occasionally 1~2 fishes. I made super small profit compared to the high rake room I was playing. (very small sample size again)

The 5/5/10 I tried I saw had some whales but it was too big for me and my roll.

Now all of this are for normal plo4.
For Big O I'd assume you're chopping alot of the time. Imho, you'd also need lots of whales in the game to beat it.

This is just my random thoughts.

Chopping doesn't mean there is more rake (unless players pot every one-way nuts, when the game is beatable by waiting). Online my paid rake is ~15% lower on plo8 vs plo, just because pots tend to be smaller and you are supposed to VPIP less.

You are correct that there is no way to know if the game is soft enough for it to be beatable with perfect play.

The problem isn’t just the rake per hand. The amount of chips available to win is constantly dwindling. You will win more scooping a hand in the beginning of the game.

It seemed very difficult when hundreds of dollars per hour were being swept off the table. Far more than a casino.

If you find lots of whales just sending money left and right, high rake doesn't matter too much to you.
However if you find yourself sending the money left and right and playing lots of trash preflop then you'll be raked to death along with your losses.

The way I see it is nit it up and stay in the game. See if you have an edge. Calculate your winrates as time progresses. If you break even or for a profit, stay in the game. If you find yourself outplayed by regs, making nonstop mistakes, either get better at the game before playing or find a better game.