Is opening very large a leak against very loose tables?
The local 2/3 game has players that are very loose
On average, if I raise to 5 bb, I very often get 2-4 callers
To dissuad
I don't understand how you make it work. Do you just play a very tight range for large raises? Do you have 2 sizings, and are they at all balanced? Do you limp/reevaluate with 44/JTs/KQo, etc.?
My sizing changes with the dynamic of the game, who is in the pot, which players I want to play hands against, and how they are reacting to raise sizes recently. I don't sit down and just start blasting $25 raises. I'll start small and increase my raise sizes until the desired goal is achieved. Then I'll adjust it from there as the mood at the table changes. I don't believe there is a "right" raising size even in the same configuration against the same players. You have to read the table. The goal is to get HU IP. Find the size that achieves that with regularity. Tighten up if a player on your left knows how to 3!, loosen up if people are never 3!ing, go bigger if people are calling with trash, go smaller if people are playing reasonable ranges. You have to figure it out, and the right size now might be different from what it was an hour ago.
Sometimes you get many callers anyway, sometimes it is 2 or 3 handed, sometimes you steal the blinds.
Then adjust. If it goes multiway and Vs showdown JJ, 88, AK. Ok, sometimes multiple people get big hands, and no matter what size you raised all those hands are calling. If you raised it to $20 and you see a bunch of offsuit trash at showdown, raise $25 next time.
When you get it HU, aren't you likely against another strong hand? So is the purpose to get it HU so more chance your overpair or TPTK/TPGK holds up, and if not you can cbet and barrel and try to get the opponent to fold?It seems like you are playing more face up, which is supposed to be OK because they are all fish. Then you are forcing them to call with closer to correct rang
No. Yesterday I made it $35 over several limpers and got two callers. I ended up losing the hand as both Vs chopped with 86o? Both of them rivered a straight. I had 2nd pair and went for thin value on the river, and they started jamming. Sucks to lose $55, but it is absolutely +EV to be raising $35 when Vs are calling you with 86o. Usually, what happens is that you'll find yourself playing a ton of hands against the same 1 or 2 Vs who just want to play a ton of hands and don't care about the price. They usually have terrible ranges. Then the other 4-5 Vs at the table will nit up and wait for a monster, imagining that they are going to stack you when they finally make a hand. When they call, respect the range. They're playing nitty, so they aren't going to call often. If they 3!, fold and let them feel good about winning your $35 with their AA.
Raising bigger doesn't suddenly make the other players understand what a good range is. Some will become overly tight, others will keep limp calling with utter trash. If you find that people are only calling with premium hands and you're stealing the blinds, back off. Stealing the blinds is a bad result at $1/$3 because you only get $2 and if people are playing that tight, then you don't need to raise so large. If you have a table full of people who are limp calling 50%+ ranges for $15, increasing the raise size isn't going to result in a table full of people who play perfect GTO. A handful of them will tighten up, and a few of them aren't.
The 86o hand is confirmation bias.
A player who 3b 74dd, flopped a straight and doubled vs Aces. Now he 3b all kinds of trashy suited hands because he won. Biased.
Conf bias works with losses aswell, there are tons of live players who will actively tell you they flat AK because "ive lost so much money 3b AK its not worth it"
it sounds fantastic but your bypassing the part about hand reading. if opening to 8bb makes villian flat his entire range and tighten it, then it goes from something like pairs, broadways, scs, Axs and some other weird hands like 74s, T7s etc. when he flats to only 22-QQ and all suited broadways. while we still hold our specific RFI range. Hes going to have a equity advantage a
The goal is to be IP. If a V who has position on you calls, then you have to slow down. The player who is in position always has an advantage, that's poker...
they dont have to 3b to exploit. just call tighter and let us whiff. or let us barrel into the effective nuts when they flat their QQ on a T52 board or w/e.i see what your saying but going to the flop with a wider and weaker range than your opps who will CORRECTLY make the adjustment of just folding more and cold calling much tighter than they would vs a smaller size is not goo
If the player is playing a tight range, don't barrel off. Hungry Horse poker strategy doesn't work at a loose passive $1/$3 table. If the flop comes T52, the IP player is supposed to be checking that board like 35% of the time in theory. Against a V who isn't 3!ing appropriately and therefore has a stronger range, we should check even more. If I raised to say $25 and got called by one of the nittier players, I'm just checking this board with my entire range. OTT, the player will let me know if they have a hand.
The player who is nitting up preflop is usually going to play conservatively post-flop especially when the pot is bigger. You don't have to c-bet every board. Check it back and if they check again on a blank turn, bet $15 into a $50 pot, and they'll fold AQ. If they start leading, just fold. Their range is strong, they are playing honest and they don't bluff enough. They are going to whiff a lot too, the difference is that passive players are going to look to check it down and be quick to fold every time they whiff.
When the preflop raise gets bigger, calling with a tight range isn't playing correctly, it's an error and we can exploit errors. It is super easy to exploit someone who is flatting with a tight range and is going to play passively post flop. The exploit is that you bluff smaller and tighter, and you fold wider when faced with aggression. And when you have value, you pile the money in because Vs range has strong hands that should have raised earlier but let you get there.
The 86o hand is confirmation bias.
A player who 3b 74dd, flopped a straight and doubled vs Aces. Now he 3b all kinds of trashy suited hands because he won. Biased.
Conf bias works with losses aswell, there are tons of live players who will actively tell you they flat AK because "ive lost so much money 3b AK its not worth it"
I'm just using that as an example. It happens quite frequently that there are people calling with trash hands even when you size up. That's low stakes in a casino. Watch the showdowns, see what the players are doing at your table and adjust your bet sizes accordingly. Ideally, you want to be getting called by 1-2 people with reasonably weak ranges that you have position on. Find that size. My point is the assumption that you're only going to end up against strong ranges because you raised larger isn't true. It is true for SOME players, and if you find yourself up against very strong ranges only, then you don't need to raise big at this table at this time.
It's poker, you have to be dynamic and flexible to what your opponents are doing. Observe, see what the Vs at your table are doing, and adjust your opening ranges and your sizes accordingly. In some games it isn't appropriate to raise big, in others its leaving boatloads of EV on the table not to. The game of poker is figuring out which game you are in.
Enjoyed this post, lot of good ideas
I don’t get to open in late position very often, because someone else has, so I try to reduce the field by 3betting.
I used to adhere to bigger opens in early position, but I flipped my thinking. In general, I open 10 early and 15 late. It’s more about being consistent, than trying to exploit people pre-flop.
Lot of other factors, like straddles & limpers influence sizing and are actually helpful in reducing the field. Certainly willing to size up from the button with lots of limpers.
I agree with banana that villain’s reaction to my open can greatly clarify the situation & most villains find a small bet tricky to deal with.
Finally, every game is different and nothing set in stone. In many of my games, if you open to 20 or 25, expect a 3bet to 100 or all folds. I don’t like playing multiway, but it happens.
So, my advice is not to play like everyone else or you will lose like everyone else, but it’s ok preflop. You don’t need to make waves when you play better than the others postflop. But if that’s not true and you’re in a tough game, find another game.
