Coping with Losing...

[benkath1]

Hi guys, Thanks for this post. I know you guys are playing at a much higher limit that I am. My location tells all. I also know I should be looking at bb's and sb's instead of $ ammount. My question is, If the money doesn't matter to the other players, do value bets and sophisticated plays have any place in the lowest of limits? I am having the same problem as the other posters in this post, but obviously for less money.

Great post btw! Thanks!
Ben

[Blarg]

Sophisticated plays are overrated even in higher limits. Sometimes people play like they won't be satisfied until they've completely outsmarted themselves, whether or not they make a dime doing it. At lower levels, just playing good poker is usually more sensible and almost always good enough.

When people do not care about their money is exactly the time to value bet. If they call with anything, chase with anything, and pay off with anything, you want to take advantage of that. Since they'll suck out on you so much by playing any two cards, you must take advantage of that to maintain your profitability. They'll often call with almost any two cards, too. Bottom pairs, middle pairs, sometimes even a non-paired hand will call you on the end.

Getting maximum value on the end in loose games or against poor players will often mean betting into several players while holding only the top pair, or, as long as you're careful, betting and raising when there are three to a flush or straight on board. Not every player you face will be a bad one or making terrible decisions, but in general people in low limit games will be chasing with backdoor draws and bottom pairs and inside straights every chance they get, and often even raising on them, even heads-up with the bottom end of an inside straight. If you think these guys will call you without beating you, bet or raise. If you are dead sure that they were only on draws and wouldn't call you if they missed the draw, but would raise you if they hit, then you can think about checking because a bet would do you no good. But that takes a very specific and accurate read. And you still wouldn't necessarily fold to a bet.

You always have to be cautious, but you can never let up on your aggression. The least you deserve is to get your share of big bets when you successfully stick it out to the end and probably have the best hand, so value bet it unless you have a clear and reasonable idea why you're not doing it. Missing out on just a bet or two per hour on the end is enough to turn a session from a winner into a loser.