Calling raises from the BB with trash

[Malachii]

I play 3/6 Hold'em regularly at Commerce, where the game is really loose. Players will frequently cold call raises and play very poorly after the flop.

When players raise my big blind, I will call with practically anything. My rationale is that I can get big paydays if I hit a big flop, I'm getting a discounted price into a big pot, and I can easily fold after the flop if I don't flop anything.

What sort of pot odds should I be getting to call raises with trash like J6o or 47o. Should I even call (and then proceed to draw for two pair/trips if I hit a four or something) or should I just muck total trash preflop?

[ipp147]

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When players raise my big blind, I will call with practically anything. My rationale is that I can get big paydays if I hit a big flop, I'm getting a discounted price into a big pot, and I can easily fold after the flop if I don't flop anything.

What sort of pot odds should I be getting to call raises with trash like J6o or 47o. Should I even call (and then proceed to draw for two pair/trips if I hit a four or something) or should I just muck total trash preflop?

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Hi Malachii,

When you talk about raising your big blind you need to define whether it is a steal or not.

I define a steal as an open raise from the CO or button when I am in the BB. I suspect that at 3/6 live it is very rarely folded to the CO or button.

You need to look at two things, if it is going to be multiway then I would want hands that play well mulitway - suited connectors, small pairs and Axs or Kxs (you are are obviously reraising big hands big Axs).

I would not be playing hands such as 47o and J6o.

If the pot looks like it will be shorthanded 4 or less then I would call with a lot less and much would depend on the raiser. I would not call with KJo against a complete rock that opened UTG but would if the opener was in later position and was a LAG.

[AaronBrown]

The standard advice is to play tight in loose games and loose in tight ones. If people are playing lots of hands, you should be able to print money by waiting for good hands. After you do this for a while and they start folding every time you bet, you can start bluffing (which is not the same as playing marginal hands). If you play this game right, you can always stay one step ahead of the table.

However, you also said players are passive and play badly after the flop. In that case, I can see the temptation to mix it up. Even if you go in with no better cards than the competition, smart aggressive play may give you the edge.

That makes some sense, but I'm suspicious of it. If you can make money easily by being tight, is it really the greater profit opportunity or the excitment you're chasing by playing loose? If you're sure it's the first, go for it. You'll either make money or learn a valuable lesson. If it's the second, I don't recommend it.

[damaniac]

I wouldn't call with "anything", but if the pot is going to be multiway, I'd call with anything suited and connected (including 63s, 74s, 24s, etc), and maybe some of the higher unconnected crap (Kxs, maybe Qxs, depends on how many are in and how bad they suck postflop). If you're referring to heads up steal raises, then i'd dump the lower suited stuff but call with more offsuit high cards (like most Kings, a lot of queens, any ace, etc). However, these type of hands should be avoided in a multiway pot.

[vexvelour]

dude BB is a cost of doing business in my eyes. If you've got trash, it needs to be thrown away. What you've got is called a leak, and it's costing you lots of money over time. I'd only call a raise on BB with suited connectors and smaller pairs if you wanna play loose, mostly because of position issues.

[Malachii]

It may be a leak. What I'm referring to is situations where I'm in the big blind, and there is either a raise and several cold callers or a bunch of loose limpers and a late position raiser. In this situations I am frequently getting 12-1 or better (since I have a discounted price into a raised pot.) In addition, since these small stakes limit players will frequently chase with just about anything, I have very good implied odds if I hit a lucky two pair or trips.

That said, it could very well be a leak, which is why I'm posting. I believe just calling with suited connectors and small pairs would be playing WAY too tightly... I'd be sacrificing too much value.