Loose Players @ advantage?

Playing in certain home games I have seem to come across many loose players that have no logic or poker skills at all. I study this game, I love this game and I do learn to adjust to a lot of the bs that comes with it. So today I come tas what can be going wrong with my string of losses. I generally play a 1/2 nlh gm where the min buy is 40. I buy in for prolly five times the min. I think with such a limit that players that play loose,stupid and eveything else donkeywise . May have the upper hand. In these games the majority hands have four or more players that see the flop ( mainly because after the third calls everyone else claims they call because of pot odds!) AA get crack a lot, suckouts happen a lot and alot of other bs too. I think players perform this way because they feel they can re buy in until they finally achieve thier goal of getting paid off for calling every hand. If there is any help out there please respond if hands situations are needed I have plenty that I can show!

Raise more than standard with your good hands aslong as they keep calling.

Valuetown them with your made hands.

Whereas LAG play isn't bad for itself it's brutally hard to master - and I doubt that any of your opponents has this skill.

How tight are you ? Are there any semi-loose plays you're making which don't seem so loose just because the others are even looser ?

E.g. A10,AJ from EP, small PPs OOP without propper odds, Axs limping, A6o-A9o from EP/MP ?

If yes cut these out yourself.

If you're getting 3bet alot pre + callers are you jamming QQ+ ?

Thanks for the reply, Ill show you a hand preview of a hand where I was beat. Straddle button for 8, I have AK suited raise to 32, sb calls, bb calls mp3 calls. flop comes 2, 3, A. I have a flush draw and top pair top kicker ( 2, 3 suited) I bet 50 , bb and sb folds. MP3 calls because they only have 8 left . turn K, river is a 2. I loose to quads. Why Is the pocket 2's in this hand. Yea I want this call because this will not happend all the time but with this crowd it happens a lot. Suckouts should not happend so often in my opinion.

I also seem to run into this type of situation in local 1/2nlh games.. I play it just like I would .01c/.02c online pretty much, as it seems very similar(but this is just my own opinion, I would say the play is more like a ftp freeroll imo) ). I agree with grafkarow.. raise more than usual, as I have seen people raise 6xbb with any sooted hand with a face card, or just any face card( k2o, J4o, q6o, etc..). It seems a lot of people are just there to gamble... so just play your game, don't start playing their game, get your money in good and value bet when you have it. Yes you are gonna lose to some donkey crap sometimes, but just try to get it in good as often as possible. I've seen people play to the river with some pretty bad hands.. 2nd 3rd and even 4th pair, and even call river bets with missed draws. yes it might seem impossible at times to come ahead, but imo if you play pretty tight and play your position, and don't overvalue drawing hands or ax hands, etc and you should come out ahead. It seems that most don't know what a donk bet is, and whenever they hit..whether they were the initial pfr or not, they bet out. Of course watch the table and see what kinda hands they are showing down, whether they call down light or not..etc.. you really want this type of play, but have to understand you need something to go to showdown with.

edit: i posted this before i saw you last response... I don't wanna sound like a dumbass here(if that's eve possible), but how well do you know the people you are playing against? Is it self dealt or a permanent dealer? I mean your probably on a bad run of cards, but make sure you know that nothing is fishy going on.. as I have played at a few places where I could swear ppl were soft playing/working together it seemed.. but again I had no proof(and was the type of place where you better have some backup if you want to start accusing, because these weren't the type you would wanna get in a confrontation with, at least as a scrawny white kid from the burbs playing in the hood like me lol..and even then you probably don't wanna start making accusations)....why i don't play anywhere like that anymore.

The last time i played that cash game I found out that the dealer and 2 of the players were all brothers... so I was like hrmmm, I think im done with this game... only played there maybe 4 times, I think I broke even in all, but just to much doubt in the back of my mind... most people I heard later on talk about this game said they were scared to play because if they won they felt like they were gonna get robbed on the way out... which i doubt would happen, but i guess you never know... DAMMNIT VA why did you have to get rid of the legit, but not fully legal(even though city police were there watching over things), charity poker rooms here in portsmouth va....

Kinda tipsy right now(just got back from the free poker league at the bar)... so hope this makes some sorta sense..lol

suckout = ahead the entire hand?

your right but you know what I mean! There are many suckouts though!

Makes a lot of sense, I guess I just gotta play more patient! and play my posistion more. In early posistion would you raise or just wait to see what kind of action takes place if you have K,Q off ( are related hands?)

Oh and I have noticed myself falling into the trap of playing looser because it doesn't seem so lose compared to the play at the table.
I see these loose players( who im sure have no poker strategy) and it seems to work for them, but if you watch closely they seem to just play it as it flops.. bet when they hit fold when they don't.etc..
whenever i stray from my normal tag game, and start calling/limping in along with other players(except to set mine)...it never seems to work for me, but for some reason it seems to always work for others..prolly just recollective memory on my part tho

You know I am probably the most inexperienced LIVE cash game player here, so don't take my advice as 100% for sure always the right way( i mean i guess you shouldnt do that in poker ever). I've played maybe 20 live cash games at the 1/2 stakes, twice in a legit poker room(charity poker halls they closed down a few months ago), all the others in illegal poker houses, never in an actual casino(im only 25 years old). In these games i really think you need to play position, and i have no problem folding AQ, AJ,KQ utg.. I mean position position position, don't overvalue aq aj kq utg, once you raise it seems someone calls and then the rest of the table calls... so i like to only play moster starting hands TT+, AK.. and depending on the table for the night i might open it up a but but usually not much.
I actually started waiting until i was 2 or 3 away from the BB(utg3?) and than woud stand up and go smoke a cig in the smoking room or something, and make sure i was back by the time i was on the button... i just didnt like playing anything from utg as it gets me in more trouble in those games than anything.


aliright im done with this post for the night(and all others i think).. i start to ramble after trips to the bar, so lemme stop embarrassing myself lol..

As said get rid of the semi-loose hands in EP.

J7-J10, Q8-QJ, K9-KQ, A2-A10 (even AJ, AQ depending on table).

In the example you presented mp calling with 22 oop isn't optimal (unless you're all very deep stacked) but after he hit his set on flop he is almost never going to fold.

AKs is a slight dog to 22 pre, just for the record. (48/52 afaik but I don't have pokerstove at hand atm).

An aggressive player if you don't have position to work with. So that is the next tip, try to play hands behind him so you can maximize your wins and minimize your loss amount on the losing hands.

Bet way more on the flop.

Vfranks- has a point make sure the game isn't like his pic.

I play in cash games at a local casino that is exactly like what you are saying. I have a strategy for these games.

I never buy in for the max at first. (you never know what you are getting)

I buy in for a solid middle position. this will be explained as i go.

I want enough bb's to mix it up but not so much that it hurts when i make ultra aggressive tight play. When you get a big hand like kK bet hard and large. even push all in. Yes in a cash game push all in and show your cards. The reason i don't want to be at the max is if you face AA you don't want to be stuck for the max. after you do this you don't have to bet this large but still make a large bet. If someone comes over the top you know they have a hand.

With big hand bet big. Do not play the Kx or Ax after that play unless it is for position and big. I know this seems scary but you want to seem like a tight manic.

So what do you play. position and suited connectors. Do not limp ever when first to open. bet big (big hand) or 2x the big blind. when you hit value bet the flop and push the turn and river. I don't want to go large with my cbet because i want fold equity cheap. People will be scared of you so you can get in cheaper preflop and cbet lighter.

Don't worry about them catching on because they are donks and don't realize raise/reraise/call followed by you check/raising means strength. So they don't get off there kx when the k hits and you just hit the nuts.


This is only how i play when i am in this situation. I have found it profitable but thats just me.