limping against fish?

[hansdebelge]

i play in a 20$ buy in home game with some friends. usually there are about 8 or 9 people who play and 1st/2nd/3rd get money. i am definitely the best one there, i got them into poker and taught them the basic strategies.

since it is a friendly game, there is not a lot of very aggressive moves and its always fun. lots of times, everyone will limp in all the way around to me. i play basic conservative style against them and it always works, especially against the one loose cannon at the game.

my question is: if everyone limps in to me, as often happens, and it is 25 cents or what ever to me, is it smart to just limp and see what happens with average hands like K-5 of Q-9 or something. in more serious games i would never play those, but with these guys i can be 85% sure there wont be raises behind me. everyone likes to see a cheap flop then get out if they miss. should i stay tight or should i start seeing cheap flops with big potential pots. whats the EV on that?

-thanks, hansdebelge

[JimGil]

With 8 people limping ahead of you, you need to have really really bad cards to justify a fold - the pot will be paying you 8x your bet - pretty good.

I'm sure someone here can run exact numbers, but I'd call with almost anything....

[hansdebelge]

yeah thats what i was thinking. but when im utg or 2nd position? usually it wont be raised unless i raise or if the loose cannon is on the button. still call?

[ZenMusician]

If you play significantly better than your opponents after the flop,
(i.e. you can let the K5 go on a K-T-8 flop against real action), than
almost any 2 become profitable...just avoid calling legitimate raises
with easily dominated hands -- I know we're really just talking about
limps in front but, for completeness' sake!

-ZEN

[ QUOTE ]
i play basic conservative style against them and it always works

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you answered your own question.

[nuclear500]

Sounds like you've introduced the extreme basics of the game...but not the real 'art' of Hold 'Em ... which is raising and bluffing (among other things)

Its also possible that by playing the way you are, you'll get everyone to stick around...if you start playing "real" poker rather then bingo, people will start realizing that they can't "hang" and start declining invitations.

[sully4321]

depends on your post-flop abilities. if you are as good as you say you are, you should be able to read these bad players and make laydowns when necessary. if this is the case, i say play pretty much anything and see if you catch a flop.

play very loose-aggressive but if you find yourself being outkicked often, or being involved in big pots with hands like 1 or 2 pair, start to tighten up.