Advise on playing in a very very loose game

[melnik]

I live in Sydney Australia and the casino opened a poker room recently. It
is the first time ever live poker has been played legally in Sydney and
because of the TV coverage the placed is packed every night with people
wanting to try the game out. I checked out the 5/10 and 10/20 holdem games
and it is disgusting how bad the players are.

* 7-8 players see the flop (not an axageration, most pots are family pots
really)
* Blinds will never fold and will call any raises to see the flop
*Noone understands position and raises UTG with a3o and j9o are standard
procedure
*Players hitting any piece of the flop or any draw whatsoever (even if it is
a runner runner) will stay in for any raise
*Bluffing or buying a pot are impossible as you will be called down with any
pair (even 6th)


I could go on but i think you get the picture. So here i am, a consitent
winning player at 3/6 on several sites. I play solid poker, nothing fancy. I
fold ajo and kqo in early pos and i wont make a call on a draw unless i have
the odds. I make few mistakes and am patient.

Here is the problem. I can't seem to make any money in this game which on
the surface seems to be paradise. I play premium hands and i find myself
being sucked out on most of the time. I hammer them when i have a monster
hand though and that makes up for the suckouts so i do not lose, but i am
not making any money. I know why, but i cant figure out how to beat the
game. Mabye my thinking is flawed. I think i the reason is because when you
have a good hand and you have 5 or 6 ppl all drawing, there are so many
cards in the deck that will beat you. You have 1 guy drawing to a flush, one
guy drawing to the low straight, one to the high straight, one guy calling
you with a pp waiting to hit trips and 2 guys calling with with 2nd or 3rd
pair waiting for their 2 pair. Someone is going to hit. How do i beat this
kind of game with so many peopkle calling all the way to the river? I could
just not play the game which is definatly running through my mind but it
seems like a crime to leave these people with their money. Any thoughts or
experiances with similar games appreciated

Regards
Nick

[BigDan9]

I know the feeling, mate. You can go in with dollar signs in your eyes, and leave a while later ready to punch several people in the head.

It sounds like you're confident that you know what you're doing with your starting hand requirements but I'd make a couple of suggestions:

1. Don't be tempted to change them just because everybody else is playing with garbage.

2. Keep reminding yourself that premium hands like big pairs and AK are often not much use in large pots where you haven't had some help from the board to make at least top two pair or a set. Be prepared to let premium hands go more often (or at least don't invest too much in them) if you can't narrow down the field.

3. Put a little more premium on your strong drawing hands and keep implied odds in mind, as well as the odds of hitting your draw in the first place, if you think most people will be calling (rather than raising) with hands that you'll beat if you make your hand.

4. Keep cool! They'll pay you off in the long run...

I'll be in Sydney in July, so maybe I'll see you there!

[Brainwalter]

read and post hands in the small stakes forum after reading small stakes hold'em by ed miller.

[BigDan9]

Fair point. Advice for playing loose games at any limit (including some of the games played by guys in this forum) still helpful, though, eh?

[melnik]

My apoligies, in my mind 5/10 and 10/20 was middle limit, i now see you guys are a little higher up the food chain. Thanx for your comments Dan. By the time you get here the poker room will be at it's full capacity of almost 20 tables. Currently we have 6. The fish are swimming but we can't seem to hook them hehe. It's tough when your against 7 ppl all trying to chase down your set [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Brainwalter]

Yeah your post was good, just letting him know there is a wealth of information on the subject.

[Brainwalter]

Good luck, it would be great to be in an area where live poker was just legalized, like California when they legalized hold'em. Sounds like you'll clean up for a long time to come.

[amulet]

read small stakes hold 'em it was written for exactly this type of game.

and realize that a game like this will have bigger flucations, but if you play soild hands, and well postflop, over time you will make money. you can not view one session, or one week, it takes time.