Very Loose No-Limit Hi-Lo Home Game

[DaleC76]

In my home game, everyone loves to play no limit omaha hi-lo. There's usually 7 or 8 players (all beginners), with low blinds ($1/$2 with $500 or sometimes $1000 beginning stacks). Most of the players are loose-passive and there is one maniac. Everyone sees every flop. I play fairly conservatively (I have to admit that I'm a tight-passive player) - I only play premium cards and wait until I have a nut hand and double up off someone (usually the maniac). I also take a lot of ribbing because I'm the only guy that ever folds before the flop. Of course, I never point out that at the end of the night, I usually have a big stack.

My question is this - in such a loose game, with a no-limit structure, should I loosen up and see more flops? Am I passing up chances to maximize my profit by not playing more hands?

[Buzz]

Dale - It's not exactly clear to me what you consider "premium cards."

And I don't know exactly what you mean by "double up off someone."

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My question is this - in such a loose game, with a no-limit structure, should I loosen up and see more flops?

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If you have a winning game and you're happy with it, maybe you should stick to your current strategy.

Having written that, depending on what you think a premium hand is and depending on what it costs you to see the flop, you might possibly be able to play a bit looser. But, in my humble opinion, you don't want to over-do it.

You might try experimenting with a few hands you consider very good, but not quite "premium," especially when you have position. You still want to play starting hands that have a good chance of scooping and a good chance of making the nuts. If you stick to these types of starting hands, you avoid some complications that might otherwise arise in later betting rounds. But once you see the flop, the quality of your starting hand is not as important as your fit with the flop. (eg. AhAc2h3c stinks in a full, loose game when the flop is 9sTsJs, but Ac5cQsKs, a hand I would consider a "good" but certainly not "premium" starting hand, looks very strong).

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Am I passing up chances to maximize my profit by not playing more hands?

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Depending on what your current standards are for starting hands, and depending on how your opponents are currently reacting to you when you do play a hand, very possibly.

In a game such as you are describing, I think you do well to play so as to take advantage of mistakes of certain individuals who are involved. To take advantage of their mistakes on a hand, you obviously have to involved in the hand with them rather than watching after having folded before the flop.

Just my opinion.

Buzz

[FBMike]

In addition to what Buzz said, I would want to know how often you raise on a draw. If you're passive, I assume never. This is wrong.

In a loose O/8 game, you will pick up lots of hangers-on until the river. By looking at opportunities on the flop to thin the field -- when that seems best -- or not making a raise to hope for a re-raise -- when that seems best -- you will make even more money than you do now.

For example, let's say you have various draws to nut hands on the flop with 12 outs. Almost half the time you will make one of those nut draws by the river. Instead of passively waiting for your draw to come in, try concentrating on how you can extract the most money. Often the best way is to raise and get some people that have you beat high or low to fold, increasing your chances to scoop or get 3/4. Other times you'll want to just call and hope for a raise you can re-raise that almost everybody can call, even when all you have is a draw.

The point is you are too readable if you keep waiting for the nuts to bet. That's why I used 12 outs instead of monster draws, which give you even more opportunities to exploit your opponents.

Another upshot of you coming out of your shell and betting with some draws is that you'll fold sometimes on the river, instead of always turning over the nuts. This creates a different image for you than tight-passive. People start calling your bets and increasing your profits.

Once you know they will call bets, but maybe not re-raises, you can manipulate the betting to your maximum advantage.

You can also check and get away with it more, when you really are drawing thin. Non-current-nut hands might be afraid of you check-raising.

So, between Buzz's advice and mine, if you take them to heart and really try to improve, you'll be thrown out of your profitable home game. /images/graemlins/frown.gif I'm kidding. Most home games of bad players, like you are now beating, can take a 10-20% improved flow to you without causing problems. Because you create situations that make big pots, you will often end with 2nd-best stack. That's great, as it looks like the winner just had a lucky night. They never notice you as a regular winner, just not the winner.

Often you can talk about how you sucked out aganst Sean (as a big favorite you don't have to explain), and tell them other examples of how you got lucky, when you are #1.