Is pushing the right move?

[syka16]

These two senarios come up often in the lower buyins against loose players.

1. You've got a bottom 50% hand with 4BB or less in the BB with one loose limper you're going to get a call if you push preflop so is the best play to check and push on any flop? I guess I'm trying to find the lesser of two evils here.

2. You've got 9BB or so in the SB and you've got a low range playable hand and prefer a fold. Is it better to bet 2/3 than push. Is it just me or does it seem like bad players are more willing to call a push and force an early coin flip.

[Michael C.]

When I was playing in the lower limits in a push situation, I often saved a small % of chips for the next bet. A lot of the players in those games don't understand pot odds, so even though you're pot committed, they may not be. Quite a few times I'd bet $800/100 early, and get the better to fold rather than risk the other 200 (or however many chips I have left). This obviously only applies to low limit games with lousy players.