Advice on playing VERY LAGgy table
 

I was at a cardhouse in Seattle the other day playing $3-$6 and I complete idiot (in the "profitable for us" way, not the "I don't like him" way, just to make myself clear) sat down 2 seats to my right. Aside from the fact that he played every hand (calls with any holding), he had a betting pattern of basically always 3-betting any preflop raise, regardless of his holding.

He was so obvious about it that others at the table picked up on it (and the table was not full of sharks, believe me), which had the effect that any time anyone raised the pot would be capped preflopped (and thus I quickly abandoned any ideas of isolating him HU, which isn't a very good option in these games anyway; the whole reason I'm playing these games is because so many players will call raises preflop). Of course, even the more observant players at the table were not smart enough to adjust their play accordingly, and for about an hour or two (until a couple of players went broke), it was 4-5 players capped on every street of every pot.

During this time I wasn't getting any cards. I was just watching and folding hands like J [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I did enter one pot with 5 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] from the BB, but I wasn't even sure if that was correct since if I do not flop a set I have to get out fast, I assume.

Eventually I left this table in search of easier pickings. I have no doubt that this is an extremely profitable table, and the type that a lot of you players look for, and hence this post. I'm not exactly sure if I'm capable of playing that kind of table profitably.

From what I understand, at these kinds of tables, you want to tighten up considerably, and only play hands like AA-QQ, AKs, AJs and AQs. However, I'm not sure how to play optimally post-flop. My inclination is with overpairs to always wait for the turn to raise (even the small chance that someone folds to your raise on the turn in such a huge pot is worth the risk of not raising the flop). However, with hands like AKs, how far do you want to go if you don't hit the flop (is is worth drawing to 6-out overs?).

Lastly, am I wrong with that assumption? Should I be playing hands like T9s trying to flop a monster? My gut instinct is that it isn't worth paying 2 BB (cap is three raises) to see a flop with those hands, but given all the action on every street, maybe it is.

Advice from someone who plays in these games a lot would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Re: Advice on playing VERY LAGgy table
 

You should play fewer hands. Bluffing is useless. Your big draws should be played strong as they will show much of your profit getting multi-way action.

Once you are in the blind with a hand like 55 you should go ahead and call. Yes, you need to flop a set as 4-5 people are going deep into the hand and 55 will probably not be any good even if it is good on the flop.

Big Suited cards play well in these game. Of course you are still playing AK, AQ, KQ suited or not. With 4+ players seeing every flop you can usually play your medium pairs profitably and big pairs always show a profit in the long run even though they will get beat over half the time in these kinds of games.

These kinds of games are easy to beat in the long run. These game attract the worst players in poker who repeatedly make the worst kind of mistakes. You need patience and the ability to stand the swings.

Re: Advice on playing VERY LAGgy table
 

In general, when your opponents are playing loosely, you should loosen up. Many people advocate the opposite. They are wrong. While you could profit by playing tightly, you are missing out on a lot if you keep folding hands that are a clear favorite over the junk they are raising.

Why do you normally fold hands like AJo when there is an early position raise? An early position raise normally represents a stronger hand than AJ. Even with the advantage of position, it's not worth getting involved. In your game, an early position raise means someone has a face card, or has two to a straight-flush. AJ is still a decent hand in that game after a raise, reraise, and cap. There is nothing wrong with putting in 2 or 4 bets preflop with AJ when your opponents' raises are meaningless.

Postflop, in a normal game, you might release middle pair when you see a bet and a raise in front of you. Here, the pot is huge and the bettor could have undercards and the raiser could have a gutshot.

Don't focus on knocking people out. Value bet and pump your big draws. Keep in mind that you don't need to win the pot 50% of the time to bet or raise for value. You only need to win more than your fair share.

Re: Advice on playing VERY LAGgy table
 

Since everyone else is betting and raising, any betting and raising you do is pretty much meaningless. Therefore, your profit in this sort of game comes from two places: calling where other people would fold and folding where other people would call. You can loosen up and play hands that others would not preflop, but at the same time, you need to be more willing to dump marginal hands after the flop.

In a wild game where it is automatically capped on every street, playing on any street is pretty much committing yourself to a single large bet on each street. It makes your implied odds calculations relatively easy. You know you are going to get paid off big if you hit your hand. If you've ever played pot limit omaha, sometimes it is a matter of seeing a lot of flops and folding a lot on the flop, but sometimes having a hand that you can go to the river with on just a few hands makes for a profitable session. This is somewhat similar. You just need to take down a monster pot or three and you will probably be positive for the evening.

Slowplaying is probably bad at this table. On the flop, there is already a huge amount of money. You're happy to see anyone fold if they have a weak draw to beat you, while at the same time, you are happy to get called because they are probably calling you with weak holdings. Since you don't care whether you are called or not, you might as well bet and raise just in case they all of a sudden smarten up and check/call. Deception is wasted on stupid players. Of course, if they are capping every street, it probably makes no difference if you try to slowplay.

Generally, to play speculative hands such as suited connectors and pairs hoping to flop a set, you want five or more people seeing the flop. If you can get in for two bets and people are playing very badly after the flop, then you might be able to play with only four people on the flop. There are a great many hands which are slightly profitable, but the more of them that you play, the higher your variance is going to be. If you sat eight hours in this game and played any hand that is even marginally +EV, it would not be unusual to be up 1000 or down 500 at the end of the night, I would think. Which hands you should play depend on how well your opponents play, how readable they are so you can save bets when your fair hands are beat, and how large of a swing you can stomach.

Re: Advice on playing VERY LAGgy table
 

Play suited connectors, Ax suited, pairs. If you haven't gor 4 to the draw on the flop for the first two (or two pair/trips), or trips/two pair where your hole pair are higher for the pair, fold straight away.