What should I want?

[cianosheehan]

I have a question. Is it better, purely in terms of making $, to play at a table where people are decent players, or a table where there are maniacs? Now, to some this may seem like a stupid question, but I still think the question is valid. At loose, bad calling tables, the risk of being outdrawn is much higher. And without a large bankroll, it is quite easy to get yourself into trouble, after your great starting hand gets destroyed by a bad caller. But on tables where players arent so happy to call, it is hard to get alot out of good hands. What does everyone think about the differences? And what is anyones approach to finding a balance?

[jdl22]

Most money in poker is made when people make mathematical mistakes against you. When they are calling you are earning money whether they suck out on you or not.

If you play against good tight players such as many of those of the forum you can't expect to make much money if any at all. Welcome the calling stations.

You are correct however that these callers increase your variance so you need a bigger roll.

[cianosheehan]

Yeah, I guess I do need a bigger roll. If I want to play NL$25, what kind of roll would be best? $200 or so?
Another question ; in terms of playing by pot odds etc., should I try and keep raises/calls within a strict boundary. I dont know alot about this yet so I need to learn. And thus my question will probably appear messy, but anyways ; if, say I want to get someone off the pot I should I make a raise, that gives me a + outcome, wether they call or not. But is there a boundary which this should ideally be kept within? As in, if I raised a $10 pot to $20, for a 5-1 outcome for them, giving them 3-1 odds, is it more in my interests to make that raise represent 4-1 odds for them? So by them calling, I dont risk too much but still gain? I bet this comes across as a silly question but I hope someone gets where Im coming from!!

[jdl22]

These are fine questions and should be posted in the No Limit - Pot limit forum under Poker forums. There people that are much more expert than me will be happy to answer your questions about NL.

It is normal if you have a good hand to bet the pot. This normally cuts down their odds to call with drawing hands to the point where they are making a mathematical mistake in calling. There are exceptions of course, such as when both of you have big stacks (lots of money relative to the bets being made). In general if they are not getting the odds you want them to call. These calls are HUGE mistakes compared to the same kind in limit. This is the reason that bad players tend to lose their money quickly in NL ring games.

On the bankroll issue there are a couple of posts in the NL forum about this topic. One can be found here: NL bankroll thread (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=581552&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1)

see you in the NL forum