Advice on winning home games against Beginners

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BStevo985

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Hey guys,

first post so be gentle!

Now I don't consider myself an amazing poker player. But I like to think i know more than the basics (I'm talking about Hold 'Em btw). I've played for a while, watched a lot of poker and recently started reading some books on it (studied Super/System and now moving on to Poker Theory by David Sklansky)

I have a group of friends that I regularly play with. 4 or 5 of them play decent poker. When we play a small game I really hold my own and get a lot of victories.

However, when we get other of our friends involved and play an 8 or 9 handed game I never ever win, or even play well.
The extra guys we get to play these larger games know the rules of Hold 'Em, but that's really about it. It basically turns into a game of "who's got the best hand" because you basically get called all the time.

Does anyone have any tips on the best way to play these kind of players because it really throws me?!

Usually i just try and tighten up and when I get a hand that I know has them beat get as much money out of them as I can. But that never seems to happen often enough to win the game.
One of the other decent players always seems to be more aggressive in these games and wins a decent amount but it's because he gets called all the time and he has the cards to win!

Is it just luck of the cards in this situation or is there anything I can do to get an advantage in this kind of game? I'm getting a bit tired of losing these games and seeing players who most of the time I know aren't as good as me taking home £100 when we play :D

Help!
 
sam1chips

sam1chips

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First of all welcome to the forum!

I've been dealing with a very similar thing. Been playing a weekly game with some of my friends, only one of them really knows a decent amount about poker. Another person who is super aggressive...he views any starting hands with Qx, Kx, Ax, or suited cards as a "good hand", and his typical pre-flop raises are usually 150 or 200 chips with blinds at 5/10...I also feel like he pre-flop raises more than 50% of the hand. All of the other players are, as you seemed to describe above, calling machines.

We've played 3 games and I haven't won once. So I've been thinking about how to solve it and this is what I've come up with...

Ultimately, it's just gonna be waiting until you get a good hand, and try to get paid off on it. People will keep calling bets with middle pair, backdoor straight draws (I was amazed when my friend had KT and the flop was 9xx and my friend said he had a "straight draw" because he could've hit a 10 and a J for a straight).

Also, if your game increases from 6 people to 9 people, you're supposed to play tighter anyways. Realize that when you DO get a premium hand, you have to try to eliminate everyone from seeing the flop (Remember, pocket aces are only 50% chance to win against 3 random opponents).

...It's also worth noting my potential aggro-opponent solution (It might not be relevant for your situation, but figured I'd share it anyways). I have made a point to sit on his left. Just quietly pull up a chair as close as I can get to his left. Just try to be able to have position on him as many times as possible. With all of the other players not knowing the importance of position or anything like that, nobody else is racing to sitting on the aggro's left like I am. And I feel like nobody even recognizes it either, as long as you don't make a big deal about doing it you're fine.

Anyways, interested to see what the rest of the forum thinks, because I am definitely struggling with the same problem as well. Best of luck in your future games!
 
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spstevens

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Firstly it is a home game , have fun and enjoy the company.

As to the bad players who play all the hands just enjoy this as well , don't try to out donk them as you can't. Simple ABC poker will work just fine.

If they are call stations who hang in with middle pair , top pair with a weak kicker etc. don't try to get fancy and bluff them as it wont work , make them pay for your made hands and value bet them to death.

I paid my rent for the first 3 years of my married life from a job site poker game that was played at lunch , break and any free moments available by not trying to win all the money on the table , just what came easy as it was enough to get the rent paid and never seemed to make me stand out or be resented .

That is my 2 cents worth.
 
steveiam

steveiam

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I think all you can do is play position,play a tight game and only enter with a raise dont limp in.Try some 3 bets and be aggressive.
 
MediaBLITZ

MediaBLITZ

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Pretty simple - if there are more players you need to play less hands. With 4-5 players it is perfectly fine to play up to 1 out of 3 hands - BUT with 9-10 players playing 1 out of 5 hands is almost too loose (at least for a beginner).
The more players there are the greater the chances someone gets a premium hand dealt to them and your QJ ends up facing AQ, AK, KK, etc. more often than it did with only a handful of players.
 
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BStevo985

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Cheers for the advice so far guys!

A lot of it is stuff I'd implemented before (or tried to at least). I guess maybe I'd just been a bit card dead the last few games and it made me feel likeI was doing things wrong.

But the playing less hands when there's more people is something I don't do very well. I think I'm tempted in too easily when the blinds are low and there's a lot of people in the pot to play hands when obviously I should be more reserved.

When I get a hand against these guys I'm good at getting the most out of them, i just feel like I need to do more without the cards. But I guess that's not really possible in that sort of game.


As for enjoying it, don't worry, I definitely still enjoy it. The fun of a poker night with mates is in the banter and the conversation. It would just make it that little bit MORE fun if I walked away with a nice wad of cash in my back pocket at the end of it :)
 
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BStevo985

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...It's also worth noting my potential aggro-opponent solution (It might not be relevant for your situation, but figured I'd share it anyways). I have made a point to sit on his left. Just quietly pull up a chair as close as I can get to his left. Just try to be able to have position on him as many times as possible. With all of the other players not knowing the importance of position or anything like that, nobody else is racing to sitting on the aggro's left like I am. And I feel like nobody even recognizes it either, as long as you don't make a big deal about doing it you're fine.

I used to do exactly this when we played (in a small game or a big game). Sat to the left of the guy who I knew was the best of the other players.

Unfortunately, he caught on pretty quick and we now draw for position so that's no longer an option (although most of the people playing still don't understand why drawing for position is even worth doing :) )
 
TheKid84

TheKid84

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Try a bit of bullying the bullies. If you call, they raise, give them a decent reraise from time to time. It's a gutsy move, but you might plant in the back of their minds that you're there to not be messed with.
 
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