Playing occasional home No Limit games

[beginner]

Guys, I make my money playing online limit poker and only get to play No Limit at home games. We play tournament style, no re-buys, doubling blinds after each player gets eliminated. I thought I was an ok player at No Limit, until I sat in with a new group of people last night (7 handed). Now I am re-evaluating whether my no limit strategy is correct.

The game I am talking about is 7 handed, with about 50% seeing the flop. 2 of the players are loose-agressive and see the flop about 85-90% of the time (interestingly enough, they are considered the best players in their crew by the others). Buy-in was $20 each, winner takes all Initial blinds are .25/.50.

My strategy at first was to play very tight pre-flop until I came up with some reads. When I noticed one loose-agressive that tried to steal every pot and almost always succeeded, I decided to isolate him when there is a decent size pot on the table and make my move. The hands dealt to me were horrific the whole night, barely any face cards (which usually came with an unsuited 2 or 3 kicker) never connected or suited cards. Just a bad drought. So waiting for a good hand was not an option.

Now, at this point (after 1.5 hours of playing), I only showed down 1 hand, which was the nut straight and eliminated one of the 7 players. I thought my tight image is good to steal a big pot with a decent raise. I am SB with 97 offsuit (best hand in a while). There is a raise and a few callers around and I complete.

Flop is 543 rainbow. My stash is about $28, LA has about $35-$40, but def has me covered. I check, its checked around to him, and as usual he bets $3 or so into an $8 pot. I re-raise $3 more to make sure that everyone else folds, and they do. LA calls.

Turn card is an A, we both check.

River is a 2, putting a straight on the board.

I push in $20 of my chips into the $20 pot. LA thinks for a while... and then calls... I figured my tight image and my betting pattern will represent someone holding 66 or 67 and make him fold. If he doesn't fold, we will split the pot anyway.

LA flipped over A6 and said that he thought I was holding 67. (If I would not have bet $20 on the river, he would possibly bet on the river and I would either hate myself for folding and letting him steal the pot or hate myself for calling and losing).

I lost most of my chips on this hand, and the rest were eaten by the blinds after a few more people dropped out. Based on all the info I have given here, is there any advice that the regular no limit players can give me. Was my bluff a very bad play, or just bad luck? What should my strategy be in those cases where I'm sort of forced to bluff to avoid being eaten by the blinds? What should I look for when playing loose-agressive players (betting patterns that indicate they actually have a hand vs. just stealing the pot)? Is it better to play looser pre-flop against loose-agressives and wait until a decent hand post-flop to penalize them? Or is it better to play tight against them and use the "tight player" image to collect extra pots with a good bluff? I know that playing looser in limit holdem would not be profitable, but it may be ok to see more hands in no limit at this kind of game.

Sorry for rambling, but I just feel I played horribly last night and want to get an idea of what my strategy should be for the next time I play them.

[amoeba]

you can't bluff lag calling stations.

you have to make money off made hands.

If you don't get the cards, you probably won't win.

Against new players with very shallow stacks, its really a game of luck instead of skill.

[Percival GooseEye]

I think you picked a bad spot to make a move here. If you want to try something like this, you should do it with position. You definitely do not want to try it in a raised pot from the small blind. Once you decided you were going to bluff at the pot, you need to make a stronger raise on the flop. He's not folding any hand that he bet here for a minimum raise. Also, the river push looks desparately like you do not want a call.

In games like this, I think you need to remain patient and wait for better spots to get your money in with. If you want to run a move, I think you'll have better success doing it with position. But again, these are loose players, the guy told you he thought you had the nuts and he still called your allin bet. What does that tell you? These moves are not likely to work in these kinds of games.

GooseEye

[Brothernod]

At my college most of the players are pretty loose aggessive, with a $2 bet being the standard preflop raise on a $20 buy in .25/.50 NL.

Anyway, point is I play with them a lot. I think the most important thing is position when playing against a LAG. If they're gonna take a stab at a pot like your guy kept doing, you really need to know that before you act. Cause if you had position on him when that ace came out you could have made a bet. Instead you were forced to check and when he checked back you gained no real info.

I agree with what Percival said about it seeming like you didn't want a caller. You bet more than the pot, which was 75% of your stack, but you didn't go all in. That's an odd move.

I've also made great efforts to figure out just what hands people raise with and who will fold TPTK to a strong player or will chase that 4 flush to the river for their entire stack. You noticed the guy was trying to steal pots so you're on your way there. But this is the information that really helps you, especially when you aren't getting cards. If you can put a tight player on TPTK and bully him off with nothing you can keep yourself ahead of the blinds. Personally I like to show my strong hands when i'm not called so they respect my bets more.

Just becareful about the people who aren't good enough to respect your tight play. Simple play for simple players. Play those implied odds hands anytime you sense you can limp or you have position. Let weak hands go when there is a raise even if you have position, cause it will sap your stack.

Be careful about strong preflop raises without position. For example if you've got AJ in MP and make it $2 to go, there is still a chance you'll get called by Ax and they'll hit 2 pair on the flop..... in which case you're gonna lose a good chunk of your stack.

POSITION POSITION POSITION.... LAGs are dangerous but pay with their whole stack. It's really a game of patience. And always commend their play, let them stay bad. Don't teach them that AT is not a good hand, or that TPTK is not worth their entire stack.

When i flop a monster i'll generally check the flop to see who wants to run the hand. If no one steps up I take charge on the turn. Bigger bets with more people of course since you're more likely to get a caller.

And be careful of slowplaying, bad players LOVE to slowplay. Atleast in my games.

I know some of the stuff i mentioned is pretty generic NL, but it's the stuff that works in my game and came to mind so I figured I'd mention it.

[BobboFitos]

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When i flop a monster i'll generally check the flop to see who wants to run the hand.

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And be careful of slowplaying, bad players LOVE to slowplay. Atleast in my games.



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[Ben]

Nitpicky.

He's saying don't slowplay much, but with monsters it's more okay. I agree with this pretty much.

I think it's a good post overall.

[Brothernod]

Thanks. Been reading the boards for a couple months, decided it's time to try to contribute.