Playing for half the pot in loose H/L games

[NYCNative]

I'm a SNG/MTT NLHE player who plays in cash games to get bonuses. I have been playing around in 7 Stud 8/b and Omaha 8/b because it's a nice twist from HE and NL (and there are more raked hands).

I read that basic strategy is not to bet when you only feel that you will win the low (or the high in games where there is probably a low) and that the objective to being a WINNING player is getting into situations where you scoop the pot.

However, at the very small stakes where the whole table is in it for a long time, the half of the pot is usually more than what you put in, sometimes considerably so. Even if just two people are in the showdown with you, you beat the rake getting half the pot, I believe.

So my question: In loose games, it not only correct to play for half the pot but it's a good idea to raise to juice the pot. True or false?

[AaronBrown]

I'm not sure where you saw that advice, it may have been based on specific situations.

A lock on half the pot is a no-lose, high potential profit situation. No one should fold that.

The trouble comes in three-way pots. Suppose you and another player are going for high, and someone has a lock on low. Both high players can have big negative expectations in this situation. You think hard well in advance to avoid that situation.

In loose games with lots of high and low competitors, and some not sure which way they're going, by all means go for half the pot; and when you have a good one-way hand, get the pot as big as you can.

[benfranklin]

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So my question: In loose games, it not only correct to play for half the pot but it's a good idea to raise to juice the pot. True or false?

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It depends [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I don't play much Stud/8, so my comments apply to O/8. The goal in hi-lo is to scoop. That said, I find that winning split pots generally keeps me about even, and scoops are the profit in O/8. So you have to win your share of split pots.

An important and usually profitable situation is to have the nuts one way, giving you a free roll at the other half of the pot. For example, if I am heads up on the river with the nut low and not much for high, I bet anyway. My opponent may be a calling station with a 2nd nut low and no high, a busted high draw, etc. Worst case, I win half the pot. Better cases, he folds, or makes a crying call with a bad low, hoping I'm going high. Also, on a ragged board, I have the nut low and we could split the high. A 3/4 scoop is also a joy.

If there are 3 players left at the end, you have to read your opponents. Usually one will be going high and the other two low, unless the board has some big cards. If you have the nut high here, odds are your opponents are both going low, and may even split the low. This is where you want to really jam the pot. You will often find a newbie here with the nut low who will reraise you. Love them.

If I have the nut low against 2-3 others, with little chance of a high, I will call to the end, but not raise. Too much chance of getting quartered. That is not the end of the world, but it is worse if there are raises.