A Stupid Hypothetical

[YoureToast]

There's a reason why I'm asking this question, but I won't reveal it right now because I want to see the answers first. This question is posed to all winning middle limit and high limit players.

If you moved down to 3/6 or below, and cold called every hand preflop and played as optimally as possible postflop, what do you think your results would be?

I am actually thinking about doing this as an experiment (don't ask when cuz I don't want to see ANY of you there).

[surfdoc]

I seriously doubt anyone could win under these circumstances and most would lose a lot.

[ggbman]

It would not be possible for anyone to win doing this. Just how much you would lose is anyones guess. No one can cold call 3 with 47 off nad have it show profit over any stretch of time.

[TStoneMBD]

youll get annhiliated. id guess -6BB/100.

[Tommy Angelo]

"If you moved down to 3/6 or below, and cold called every hand preflop and played as optimally as possible postflop, what do you think your results would be?"

-1.5 big bets per hour (not counting the rake)

[motorholdem]

Folding crappy hands post flop would be an obvious problem. But, you would be less likely to take down too many beig pots as players would fold to you unless you started getting reckless post-flop.

Big problem with the strategy is that you would have to play loose(understatement) passive. And you won't make many big pots -after watching you fold and fold and fold, players would head for the hills when you do you bet. If you got aggressive, however, you'd get called down too much and would lose money too. Your screwed either way.

[CardSharpCook]

Interesting. It is like being the BB every single hand, only sometimes you have good position. Don't worry about others' fears about not getting action on your made hands, you will. This is still 3/6, players play their cards, not yours. I have a really hard time seeing anything but a large loss of money. One of the keys to successful low limit play is folding hands like 67o. What do you think is gonna happen when you are playing 39o?

Ok, so what would you need to make this work? An ante situation. If you could garuntee at LEAST 7 players to every flop AND that 75% of all PF flop action involves no raising.... I think you could do it. But that just isn't the case. Also take into consideration that you are winning maybe 2.5X as many pots as normal, and that the rake WILL affect you much more.

A more interesting proposition is, how long can you make $100 last at a .5/1 table calling all PF action. And this way you won't lose so much money.

CSC

[YoureToast]

I disagree with the poster who said you couldn't win many big pots. I think the opposite is true if you played it right. You could win some monster pots because you will be calling down to the river with weak hands (due to the odds you'll be getting) enough times that when you do hit a monster, it is highly probable that you'll get paid off. I don't think this is so much the problem as simply the slow loss of funds lost by calling with hands you'll ultimately fold on the flop and the extra rake you'll have to pay because your winning percentage will be higher.

I am going to do this and I may take your advice and play as long as possible until I lose $100. My guess is that I will not lose more than 1.5 BB/100. I will post my results when I am done.

I am actually a little surprised that no one is willing to admit that they could beat a low limit game playing this way. I think its possible as long as the game chosen is not very aggressive.

[t_petrosian]

You're going to get killed, and I think more than -1.5BB per... Think about it - you're going to be calling three bets with a hand like 93o. You're going to limp in with hands like 52o and get raised, reraised, etc... and have to call.

I think a better test would be to play all unopened pots, or even raise all unopened pots. Or play all non-raised hands in late position...etc...

There are more meaningful things to do on this front - you may win some monster pots, indeed, but you're going to be going up against one, two, three quality hands sometimes with a hand like 83off, calling two, three and four bets cold sometimes.

Enjoy! and keep us in the loop, however.

[YoureToast]

[ QUOTE ]
Think about it - you're going to be calling three bets with a hand like 93o. You're going to limp in with hands like 52o and get raised, reraised, etc... and have to call.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are giving these low limit players way too much credit. My former experience tells me that 3-bets preflop is rare. My former experience tells me that those acting behind me will not know what I'm doing and will not raise and reraise me. We will see. The concept of raising every hand preflop has come to mind as well, but that sounds like an even bigger recipe for disaster.

[t_petrosian]

Even $3/6 players will eventually notice after you've shown down J2 catching your miracle two pair....

[YoureToast]

Oh boy!!! J2o. I can't wait to do this to someone. It will be a blast to see what their reaction will be when I coldcall 4 bets with 52o and take it down on the river when I hit my straight. For those who care, I'm doing this for fun and to learn something about those 80-90% vpiper I see occasionally at 1530 (I want to get into their mindset).

[JoshuaD]

[ QUOTE ]
Even $3/6 players will eventually notice after you've shown down J2 catching your miracle two pair....

[/ QUOTE ]

I play 2/4 and I'd pick up on this really quickly. There are alot of TAG's kicking around at even 2/4 who would pounce on this.