Re: Good vs Bad In Multi Way Pots (Starting Hands)
This is not an easy question, it has a lot to do with the table. At a tight table, open-limping sucks if you can just pick up the blinds, and at an aggressive table it sucks too, because you're gonna get pushed out of pots. Loose-passive are my favorite table (aside from the open-pushing crazy games that come along once in a great while.) Most of my multi-way hands come from limping behind, calling mini-raises, and calling normal raises if a bunch of people called already (3). Here's my range of hands i want multiway.
22-77
Axs
Kxs
SC's 56s-KQs
OSC's J10o-KQo
Suited One Gapper's 810s-JKs
Unsuited One Gapper's Q10o, JKo
I want multiway with all those hands, middle pairs are a whole conundrum in themselves. QQ-AA I'll raise limpers and reraise after raises and calls, and I will usually do the same with JJ (75% of the time), so my real issue is with 88-1010. It comes down to reads there, whether or not to raise and try to take the pot right there, knowing i have value of hitting a set/overpair. Obviously, I'll be more willing to make the raise with 1010, than 88.
The other hands that I haven't mentioned yet are AKs, AKo, AQs and AQo. These are hands that I don't really want multi-way, especially not the offsuit ones. I'll take two different lines with them, one being a passive one to just play for two pair or better, and if I make top pair, only bet when action tells me I'm probably good. Or take the aggressive route and stick in a big bet preflop and a pot-sized continuation. If I'm still playing after that aggression, I'm shutting down unless I made something. To know which route to take you need to find out which of these is more likely -
1. My aggression wins the pot.
2. I stack someones AJ when the flop comes AQx, AKx
If you're more likely to have a worse hand look you up because of your pf call, then go passive. If you're going to take it down most of the time with your raise and flop bet, then go aggro. Remember that stacking someone is worth a lot more than picking up $6-10 pf pot, but flopping a hand good enough to warrant putting all your chips in is quite rare.
These same ideas used for AK-AQ can be applied to the 88-1010 hands.
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