Changing gears

First i'd like to thank all of the posters who replied to my first post, they were very helpful and i understand much better now. On to my next question,
i've been playing in a home game for about 5 months now, and do fairly well with a tight/aggressive play style, but i've found that it is harder for me to try and pick up the pot on a flop that is full of low cards. If I've raised before the flop and then bet on the low flop, I will get called or sometimes raised, because they know the kinds of hands i like to play. I don't think i'm getting bluffed off of the pot, most of the table is tight aggressive. Sometimes i belive it to be a semi-bluff from the player...but if i only have over cards, I find it kind of hard to play KQoff if the flop doesn't help...The other problem is that if i raise with a less than stellar starting hand..ie J9 or 44's which i mostly do when i have position and i get a caller i know that i am behind almost all of the time. If the flop doesn't hit, what's the play? I find that i am losing a lot chips preflop...Do i need to reraise them..bet more...play diffrent hands and hope it comes to a show down so they can see i play lot's of stuff? I want to I guess change my perception at the table? Thanks in advace.

Some good questions and a lot depends on who you are playing with and who is in the pot with you when you make your moves. If the buy in game is for $5 then forget about bluffing and only play when you hit, people just wont lay down a medium/top pair despite you high raises or reraises.

Try to vary your play up a bit, maybe after you raise preflop, check the flop and reraise any raise, change your play, of course if the other guy checks (depending on his style) you may well be in front and can bet on the turn.

If you raise preflop and the flop shows rags, he may know by your bet that you didnt hit, so will stay in the pot with his low pair.

Also, dont raise the same amount every time, maybe with low pockets, say 55, raise 4 or 5 the BB (depending on table position) and see what happens. Then if you hold AK, maybe make a 3 x BB raise and see if the flop helps

Be selective about your bluffs and dont be afraid to lay down a good hand if the flop doesnt help, its obvious that the flop wont hit every time, and the same will go for your opponents.

Hope this helps and let us know how it goes

Actually in games like this where you get no respect on low flops, etc. you may want to "change gears" a lot and limp a lot and see a ton of flops. Especially if this is a $5 game, seeing flops is crucial because it is a lot harder for your opponents to put you on a hand. If you limp suited connectors and linked cards (78 off, etc.) you will be able to have more of an opportunity to outplay your opponents post-flop.

Don't go too crazy, but mixing it up and limping with weaker hands and even strong hands at times (AT-AQ, 88-JJ) will start to throw your opponents image of you off (your currently tight and play only big cards, now they won't know what to do when you start winning pots with little cards.)

Check the articles section of the site. There is a two part article by an absolute poker genius there about changing gears to improve your game.

Sometimes a total variance on play is good and needed if your image at a poker-table is a good one. Last night i had a decision made that i was going to bluff a certain hand if it came up, the hand in question was a brutal one 92o.

Middle stages of the game sure enough sitting on the button 92o. Raised 3XBB got 1 caller, bet out at the flop, re-reaised on the turn, and bet at the river into at that stage a HUGE pot. Thinking i had made a fatal blunder, then it came, my sole opponent announced that he had me on the ace high flush and folded. Wow, in a moment of excitement i showed my cards (mistake ?).

The net result of this is that the guy i bluffed tilted so much he nearly fell over, stupid calls and worse folds. Tightened up after that one, but every time i made a hand after that i got serious action, and finished ITM.

Usually when I see a lot of low cards on the flop often, I would starting betting with hands like 5,7 or 6,8. Some of the best hand sI've hand recently were with low cards. Limp in if possible with low cards. There were some games where for ten straight flops you didn't see anything higher than a Jack.

In who's humble opinion ?

Humble? I never said humble.