How much to open range against a really bad player?

C

CaptainKout

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Total posts
328
Chips
0
Today I was on the left of a 50/7 player who was basically playing fit/fold post flop so a cbet took down the pot pretty much every flop against him. Obviously I wanted to play a lot of pots with him. So I opened my range and tried to isolate him a ton but got into weird spots in multiway pots because he wasn't the only player who liked calling at this table. I ended up losing a couple really costly top pair weak kicker hands in multiway pots which makes me believe I shouldn't have been playing those hands anyways.

Questions:
How much should I open up at a table with one of these guys, two, three?
What becomes playable?What if I'm oop against this guy? Would it be better to just play my normal game and take his money when he gets in the way?

My thoughts:
If there are more than one calling fish, I'm pretty much guarenteed one of them in each pot I play anyways so I should probably just play the usual stuff.
On the other side, the cards don't really matter if its a heads up pot because hes just gonna fold anyways, but when I'm getting called behind or called by several limpers, then I need real value, right?
 
Arjonius

Arjonius

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Total posts
3,167
Chips
0
One thing you have to watch for when you encounter a chronic limper is how the other players at your table react. Do any of them have enough game to realize you're isolating the limper light and to adjust their play accordingly? If so, you should take into account that the likelihood of seeing the flop multi-way increases. You'll probably have to deal with a few more re-raises too, which means the range when they happen will be wider than usual.
 
c9h13no3

c9h13no3

Is drawing with AK
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Total posts
8,819
Chips
0
Play a crap ton of hands against these fish. Anything two cards 9 or higher in position will probably do. If there was ever a time to be loose, its against terrible players.
 
C

CaptainKout

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Total posts
328
Chips
0
I know its almost always better to enter with a raise than a limp. I think this might be one of those rare situations when its not the case. When there are several loose passive players at the table, then i can often expect someone to call behind so with my more speculative hands should I be limping behind the fish? It seems like a gamble to be popping it up for isolation when its unlikely to get you heads up in the pot. Should i replace the suited connectors and middle pairs with two high card hands?
 
shinedown.45

shinedown.45

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 18, 2006
Total posts
5,389
Chips
0
I know its almost always better to enter with a raise than a limp. I think this might be one of those rare situations when its not the case. When there are several loose passive players at the table, then i can often expect someone to call behind so with my more speculative hands should I be limping behind the fish? It seems like a gamble to be popping it up for isolation when its unlikely to get you heads up in the pot. Should i replace the suited connectors and middle pairs with two high card hands?
I think with several limpers you're better off with high card hands or just simply fold IMO unless the odds dictate a call, even AA doesn't play well in multi-way pots so why would anything less even be considered being played?
 
c9h13no3

c9h13no3

Is drawing with AK
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Total posts
8,819
Chips
0
I think this might be one of those rare situations when its not the case. When there are several loose passive players at the table, then i can often expect someone to call behind so with my more speculative hands should I be limping behind the fish? It seems like a gamble to be popping it up for isolation when its unlikely to get you heads up in the pot. Should i replace the suited connectors and middle pairs with two high card hands?
Do both, but typically you want to be isolating these fish. A large chunk of your advantage on fish is your ability to win when you dont hit. When you are in a multiway pot, you lose the ability to win when you miss. Plus, people are less likely to pay you off because they play more cautiously in a multiway pot. So if you aren't isolating limpers, raise even larger! Also cut out some hands like Q9, that are on the weaker end.

But that said, if there's already two limpers in, and you look down at 67s or 33, you can limp along. Just be sure to attack flops instead of playing fit/fold. In limped pots, initiative still wins.
 
Arjonius

Arjonius

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Total posts
3,167
Chips
0
It seems like a gamble to be popping it up for isolation when its unlikely to get you heads up in the pot.
All tables and situations are not the same. For instance, your bet sizing may affect the probability of successfully isolating. So can your table position - not that you're on the immediate left of the limper, but rather that you're less likely to get more players entering the pot when you're both in LP.
 
G

GWU73

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Total posts
785
Chips
0
When he open limps and you have the button or c/o, raise him like crazy. Otherwise play straight or the fish will school.
 
Top