How loose should you play?

Do you Loose players play with jun like

Q6 or K2 in hopes to flop 2 pairs?

or what about 67s or pocket 3s?

My question is:


How loose should you be and as a loose player how often should you bluff?

Because I know that loose goes from


Healthy and unreadable

to

Unprofitable

then

Gambling

all the way to

On tilt 100% of the time

It's not a good idea to play Q6 and K2 in my opinion! It's much better to play hands with more potential, like suited connectors, small pairs, etc. And when you're gonna play marginal holdings you should do it with good position, otherwise it can get very tricky.

It's impossible to say how loose you should play, it's a lot about how well you play postflop. Just experiment and see what style fits you best.

How loose should you play? My answer is don't play loose at all. In the beginning when I was playing, my strategy was also playing loose. Ofcourse in the hope to hit my top pair.

Now I'm playing really tight and the results are much better now. Particularly in freerolls games. All the players with a loose strategy are eliminated very soon. Good for me ofcourse

Sandro, are you looking for tips on how to improve on playing a more aggressive style of play and bluffing. If so, check out the articles section. There are 2 new articles that may apply to you: Semi bluffing and how to play aggressive poker.

I can tell you that bluffing is very situational...your table image, your opponents playstyle, and the flop are just some of the factors in deciding when the right time is to try and bluff someone out. I can guarantee you that you won't get an answer that says "I always bluff when...." from the majority of CC members.

If these articles aren't exactly what you're looking for, try to read Dan Harrington's HoH series. If you follow his concepts, you'll find yourself playing a lot looser and will be playing the correct pot odds when you do play these hands.

When should I play loose?
Answer: Table, table, table.

First and foremost, tournament and cash games are completely different. In a cash game you can set up a play for two hours later that will win you big. A tournament you don't have that time to set things up with people busting out and new faces always coming in plus every increasing cost to play a hand will always leave you hanging.

You can sit down at one table and play crap hands and bluff all night and win everytime. You sit down tomorrow and get stomped. What just happened? I thought I figured this loose stuff out!?! Why? You have to read the players and the table itself to make that determination. This is where changing your pace and play comes in. This is why someone who can change gears and lots of experience has an advantage. Someone new to the game will not have the experience or skill to know how to play hands after the flop.

Very aggressive tables require you to sit back and wait for your hands. You will not be able to bluff here. You find yourself at a passive table (especially post flop) and you can steal and play crap in late position all the time and get away with it. You may not want to play hands like K2 or Q4. You could start playing any hand that has straight or flush possibilities but on certain tables when you feel you can steal or blindside players with it.

Number of times to bluff:
I like to play my looser hands when in late position so I will do a bet when it is checked to me alot of times. The hard part is firing the 2nd and 3rd bullet to win it sometimes.

These things are mostly situational, but I would make one general observation:

If you are a loose player, you would be unwise to bluff other than very occasionally. The other players are more likely to call you than they would if you were tight. If they are at all observant, they will know that you are inclined to play borderline hands.

Though it may seem paradoxical, a tight player is much more likely to pull off a successful bluff. If the other players have noticed that he does not play many hands, they will be much more inclined to respect his raise.

If you are a new player you should read some books before diving in too deeply. Harrington's books are excellent as well and stan.... however you spell his name.

Also, there is no one stlye that is best for all games, all tables and all situation. A lot of this will come from experience. Generally, in a Limit game I play tight and aggressive. In a NL ring cash game I will play looser, at least in my starting requirements. In tournaments I adjust my style depending on the table and situation in the tournament and my table image at the time.

As far as playing cards like K,2 and Q-6, I almost never play these types of hands, unless it's late position and I'm trying to steal the blinds. What do you do if you have K-6 and a king hits. There is a good possibility you are dominated here and lose all your chips. Hands like 6-7, 7-9, etc. especially suited play much better. If you hit you can get alot of chips if not you can safely give it up to a bet or raise.

Avoid falling in love with any suited cards. I see alot of new players play anything suited. It's long term death although you may hit a few times and get suckered in to thinking its a good play. I might play a suited ace from late position with limpers in front, but generally don't play cards because they are suited if you wouldn't play them if they weren't.

And as for pocket 3s. I will play these alot depending on the action in front of me. You flop a set and average of one 1 of 7 times. If the flop comes with a 3 your hand is well hidden and you stand to make alot of money on the hand which will make up for all the times you have to throw the hand away.

Concentrate on your post flop play, that will seperate you from the average player.

thanks guys