How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

Hey guys,

I found this game b&m, but the b&m guys told me to toss it out to you...

So anyways, this weekend I went into the city to play some b&m. I found this really juicy 4-8 game (actually the casino only spreads 4-8, and all of them are pretty weak). but the blinds are only 1-2, initial raise is up to 6 with a cap at 14.

So with the blinds at 1-2 in a 4-8 game, are there any strategic adjustments I should make/consider when getting into the hand for a quarter of a bet? After the flop everything else proceeds as normal, $4 flop bets and $8 turn/river bets.

What came to mind initially is that pre-flop my implied odds go up, as I am investing only a quarter of a bet to win half and full bets. Also, my odds on the flop are cut down, as the pot only contains quarter bets and I have to call half bets to draw. I do not know, however if this should alter any "normal play", and i thought I would throw it out and see if you guys had any suggestions.


Here is a link to some similar discussion:
link

I thought you guys might have some thoughts/suggestions to add.


Thanks,

GS

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

Hi.

The opposite of what seems intuitive is true.
Small antes/blinds in relation to the stakes
require tighter play not looser. Your opponents
will be anxious to play "so cheaply" and limp
with utter trash and raise with easily dominated
hands.

The way to counteract this is to play the
hands that dominate them, play them aggressively
and try to isolate weak players. An irony of super
LAGs is that you seem to get implied odds to play
the trash they are playing, but you will pay them
off when they have a hand.

Watch for their flop and post-flop play, they may be goofy
pf but play well post flop and you will have a hard time putting
them on a hand. Limiting yourself to premium starters
avoids tricky situations, as they will have to catch very
lucky while you also catch.

Good Luck

-ZEN

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

I believe you should be playing very tight preflop.

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I believe you should be playing very tight preflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ummm....well said

-ZEN

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I believe you should be playing very tight preflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh? what the? Tight? If the Ante is small comparitive to the pot then you should play looser not tighter. If everyone is limping in for the $2 I suggest limping in with all the standard hands + suited connecters T9s-43s, T8s-53s, T7s-85s. In multiway pots, with such a low come in charge, this is a must!

If you don't understand this logic read TOP

JT [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

If you can get in cheap preflop, go ahead and loosen up your normal standards.

Mid to high pocket pairs in early position, need to be raised to drive people out. Refer back to previous comment about it being $6 to call after a raise.

Post flop, remember to adjust to the larger bet size when calculating your pot odds.

Value bet often. There will be a lot of weak kickers staying in to the very end because they got in cheap preflop.

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I believe you should be playing very tight preflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh? what the? Tight? If the Ante is small comparitive to the pot then you should play looser not tighter. If everyone is limping in for the $2 I suggest limping in with all the standard hands + suited connecters T9s-43s, T8s-53s, T7s-85s. In multiway pots, with such a low come in charge, this is a must!

If you don't understand this logic read TOP

JT [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, check this out. You're button with T9s, 3 people limp, you call, sb calls, bb checks (pot size is 12$). The flop comes out giving you an open-ended straight draw, but it is rainbow, and not of your suit, so you only have 8 outs. The sb bets, everyone folds to you. Your pot odds are only 4:1 and you initially had 6 people in the pot. You still think you should play a whole slew of drawing hands?

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

The answer is straight out of TOP. If the amount to invest to see cards is small compared to the final pot size, you play loose preflop. That's the case here. A very cheap initial betting round. You're effectively getting to play multi-way hands for 1/4BB instead of 1/2BB as in normal holdem.

People here are saying "play tight" because TOP says play tight if the blinds are small relative to the pot. That's only true though if the bet size is normal size. For example, $2 big blind, but $4 to call to see the flop would require tight play.

TOP even mentions this exact exception to the small ante rule.

Play loose with multiway hands, but unlike normal holdem, be prepared to dump them due to poor pot odds when they only partially hit. However, your implied odds when they do hit are enormous.

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

hahahahaha.

[ QUOTE ]


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I believe you should be playing very tight preflop.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Huh? what the? Tight? If the Ante is small comparitive to the pot then you should play looser not tighter. If everyone is limping in for the $2 I suggest limping in with all the standard hands + suited connecters T9s-43s, T8s-53s, T7s-85s. In multiway pots, with such a low come in charge, this is a must!

If you don't understand this logic read TOP

JT


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Dude, check this out. You're button with T9s, 3 people limp, you call, sb calls, bb checks (pot size is 12$). The flop comes out giving you an open-ended straight draw, but it is rainbow, and not of your suit, so you only have 8 outs. The sb bets, everyone folds to you. Your pot odds are only 4:1 and you initially had 6 people in the pot. You still think you should play a whole slew of drawing hands?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well everything seems worse in 'the worst case scenario' If you have yet to realise the value of drawing hands in their perfect situation, you have much to learn.

Once again read TOP, but evn without this book, this theory surely seems obvious? Surely I'm not alone in this idea?

JT [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

You need to reread TOP
 

You are presenting the opposite of what TOP suggests.

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

I don't have TOP in front of me, but I thought TOP related the blinds to the size of later bets not the pot.

The concept being that if the blinds are large compared to later bets, your winning hands will not adequatly cover your blind loses if you play to tight. This won't be the case with small blinds v's larger bets later in the hand.

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

I believe that ckessel has the right of it. The thing to notice is that that while the blinds are 1/2, it only takes 2 to see the flop. This means loose play is correct. However, if the blinds were 1/2 and it still took 4 to see the flop, then tighter play is correct.

psw

Re: How can I best take advantage of this oddly-structured 4/8 game?
 

I am quite sure you ought to play quite tight preflop except for your pocket pairs, you should also raise more with your higher (JT, Q9, etc.) sooted connectors. I would play all pp's from all positions even cold calling with them sometimes. The reson for this is clearly because of the implied odds idea and the fact that your opponents will more frequently hit hands like 2 pair because they are often seeing the flop "cheeply". And you have the possibility of getting paid off huge while many opponents continue to draw while not thining about pot size. With hands like JT sooted in position and in the blinds you should be raising because of the likelyhood of opponents cold calling more than a normal 4/8 game. You are not only pushing your equity but making the pot a reasonable size so that you can draw. Note, you should only be raising / playing this hand when you know how many people are already committed - this hand is almost surely -EV if you raise upfront and pushout the field (playing it against few opponents is not wise). Raising PF is especially true with hands like A9 and AT sooted and ATo from any position. You gain more in extra chips with your superior hand than sloplaying it and people will cold call you with less. Plus there is an added bonus with this structure. You allow your opponents to EASILY make another mistake on the flop by drawing weakly when you protect your hand.