What I've learned as a LAG (6max)

[RickyG]

I've played about 8k hands of 6max PLO $50. I know this isnt the highest of buy in games and the opposition is weak, but I still hope this is useful. My win rate is currently doing pretty well (in the 20bb/100 range) and I am having a blast. I am playing a very loose agressive style, which is different from what I play full ring, where I am usually nut peddling.

1) Players are very timid. They constantly see monsters under their beds and this is easy to take advantage of.

2) When you are playing crazy, players who are otherwise good, have a tendency to play stupid. Most people don't know what to do against the LAG.
3) You get dealt more bad beats when people dont believe your bets. Many people will raise/call with weak hands/draws and therefore hit bullshit draws more often (I know the percentages are the same, but when people are calling you with 4 outers 40% of the time instead of 10% of the time, you get drawn out of more times per 100 hands). Also, your hands are often weaker and easier to get drawn out on.
4) Being LAggy is FUN! 1 or 2 tables of LAG play are 10 times more fun than 8 tables of nut peddling.
5) Swings are CRAZY. Being LAG can seriously affect your psyche. Where before a 4 buyin swing in one day was rare, now I come to expect it. It can make you doubt yourself alot more when you are 6 buyins in the hole wondering if you are just another lucky [censored]. Poker Tracker helps with this.
6) You learn ALOT more about your opponents if you are involved in 70% of the pots with them. This style forces you to pay attention to what others are doing, because so much of it depends on taking advantage of their weaknesses. Also, if you know your opponents very well, the cards you hold dont matter as much. For me it is easier to know what an opponent is holding when I play LAG than when I dont.
7) You get paid off MUCH Bigger on your big hands, but lose a bit more on your weak hands. Opponenets dont seem to realize that you may bet and even call a raise, but you don't reraise without something good, or a good read.
8) You will get called an idiot alot more often. LAG is rarely the way to make friends (unless you are on a downswing). People dont like you, and often you feel like everyone at the table is out to screw you over specifically. This can however work in your favor if you recognize it and change gears.
9) You get the chance to Check behind on a weak draw more often. Like the flop semibluff in limit holdem, being a LAGgy player trains your opponents into believing you are going to bet every time, which allows you to get more of your fair share of free cards when in position.
10) Inducing bluffs when out of position is alot easier and very profitable.
11) You are constantly in dificult situations (see #4). LAG Play is like trial by fire. If you are paying attention to your opponents (see #6) you should be able to get out of these situations. Knowledge of Math and probabilities is imperative. (Science of Poker is a great book for this).


Overall, these are the main things I've noticed about being LAG. Please feel free to make comments, corrections, etc. I know I barely have 8k hands and this is hardly a big enough sample to know that this is more than just a good run of cards, but I feel pretty confident. It is also for 6max, where more aggressive strategy is a must. But anyway, I hope someone enjoys this post. If you did, please let me know.

[abscr]

Can I get your username and where you play so I know where to avoid?

Thanks for the read. Well done.

[RickyG]

haha, look through my old posts. You'll find one of them.

[krypto]

Ok I'm a dope... What's a LAG?

Thanks
K

[Quicksilvre]

Loose and Agressive, if I'm not mistaken.

[RickyG]

you're not.

[beset7]

nicepost.

[joewatch]

Don't know about you, but if I wanted to play LAG, I would go back to NLHE. I experimented with LAG play and won big - sometimes as much as 100 bb/hr. But after a while I couldn't stomach the variance. You will pick up many more medium size pots when you are always raising small-suited connectors, KTo, etc because it's much harder for players to hit the flop than in Omaha. You can put yourself all-in a lot more often. Also, you can put a lot more pressure on people to fold when you have garbage since you can overbet the pot preflop.

I do not think the best PLO players in the world, like Rafi Amit, are LAG players, but I do believe that many of the top NLHE players such as Gus Hansen, Doyle Brunson when he was in his prime, Greg Raymer, Phil Ivey are all LAG players.

Here's an example of a NLHE LAG play I put on a lot:

Raise w/ 43s, called by 1 player in late position.

Flop comes 445. I bet, villain raises, I reraise all-in, villain calls.

Result: Hero wins w/ trip 4's, villain has AA

But once in a while, hero has trip 4's, villain has 55 for 5's full.

Or (of course) villain has KK, spikes K on the river.

By raising preflop and isolating heads-up in NLHE, you are going to win the pot 75% of the time when you make your continuation bet because 75% of the time, the flop villain's hand.

They say that PLO full ring game has a lot more variance than NLHE. I can imagine the PLO 6-max must have even MORE variance. If that's your idea of fun ... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

For me, I'm happy to keep plugging away at the full ring games and being a consistent winner.

[beset7]

I've found the best mix at most tables (and I think your post should really be ammended to include table selection issues. Playing LAG is pointless against 5 other LAGS. Just sit back and wait to get paid) is LAG preflop and TAG postflop. Especially in position. But even then I play like a tightwad nut puddler in the blinds and UTG unless a pfr will buy me position.

[Lafortezza]

Have you any numbers from your (more nut peddling) full ring games to compare to the six max tables? I nut peddle generally to make profit, any time I've tried 6max tables I've been pretty break even.