1/2 or 2/2

[bmedwar]

Florida law changed recently to allow micro-limit poker at dog tracks. The law states that no bet can be larger than $2. My closest poker room offers $1/$2 Holdem w/ a single blind, and $2/$2 holdem w/ double blinds. My question is which game should I play? (1) to make the most money, and (2) to increase my skill to prepare me for higher-limit Internet games. The players are terrible. Typical 1/2 table has 2-3 decent players, with the rest loose-passive; 20% of the time you run into a maniac. I've player about 17 hours at $1/$2 and have made about $170 (5 BB/hr.). I played (well folded) about 10 hands at a $2/$2 table, and it seemed like 50% of the players were maniacs. I've heard that these tables are absolutely crazy from muliple players and dealers (up to $160 pots!).

The three reasons that I have focused on $1/$2 is (1.) that it is more inline with the books/articles I read (I don't know of any strategy writings on $2/$2 holdem), (2.) it is preparing me more for games at other places, and (3.) I feel it leads to more opponent mistakes on the turn.

Do you think #3 we lead to more profit for me on 1/2 than 2/2? How does the single-blind on 1/2 change the correct strategy (maybe a little more tight from EP?)? Do the larger bets and dense population of maniacs make $2/$2 the better choice of games? I'd imagine that I'd only play Group 1 and 2 hands at such crazy tables, then get out if the flop doesn't hit hard.

[MortalNuts]

Hi --

This is somewhat similar to the situation in CO, which I described in a very recent post (a thread called "Everybody's doing it: QQ in a $2-5 spread game" or something like that). Here it's $2-5 or $5/5, with a single $2 blind in the former case and two $5 blinds in the latter.

In the $5/5 structure (and in your 2/2 game as well), there's quite a bit of money in the pot after the blinds, so naturally the game is fairly loose and aggressive. The CO 5/5 game gets pretty maniacal sometimes -- pots capped 5-way on every street, etc, etc.

Personally I dislike the 5/5 game -- your variance is out of this world in a game like that, and the only way to combat that is to play fewer hands. But a) that's really boring, and b) you're having to pay 2 BB a round in blinds, so it's not like you can tighten up all that much. Blech.

The $2-5 game isn't quite like your 1/2 structure, since here the bet can more than double. But some of the same strategy adjustments should hold. Basically, in my game I think pairs and big cards go up in value, suited hands go down -- someone can make you pay a bit much on the flop (relative to the amount of money in the pot) to draw to a hand, and you don't have the promise of doubled bets on 4th & 5th street if you do hit. Search the archives for stuff on the Colorado game (there was a nice thread in SS maybe six months ago) if you're interested.

good luck.

cheers,

mn

[bmedwar]

[ QUOTE ]
This is somewhat similar to the situation in CO

[/ QUOTE ]

Which position is the CO again? Ah, I remember, directly to the right of Nevada. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[elitegimp]

Just a link to the thread you mentioned: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...mp;sb=5&o=

Personally, I prefer Mountain High [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]