Bad hands in live games

I play as part of a league (live) and usually do quite well. I mostly do well and find myself at the final table. However I have a hole in my game which I really need to develop a strategy for.

I get some days, like today, where almost every pair of cards I am dealt is short of my range. I usually play 10-A and pocket pairs, if in position I sometimes play 9s as well.

Recently, constantly being dealt cards under that range, blinds grind down my stack and I am folding what feels like 99% of hands. Meanwhile others at the table are getting stronger.

What strategies are there for these occasions? Thanks

Expand into Suited Connectors, also try playing the positional game and squeezing re-stealing from the blinds against the weaker ranged players.
IE look for situations when there is added potentially dead equity in the pot.

Also I find targeting specific players who you know well, especially their weaknesses is viable. It also is generally a great way to expand your repertoire of lines.


Variance can be a bitch. But you know, look on the bright side.

Also expand into smaller PPs and try and set mine, you are about 1/7 to flop a set and can often make a nice pot even when you know you're playing against a stronger range and hit.
Just be careful to fold them when you need to lol. Dont marry the hand!

Lotok said:

I play as part of a league (live) and usually do quite well. I mostly do well and find myself at the final table. However I have a hole in my game which I really need to develop a strategy for.

I get some days, like today, where almost every pair of cards I am dealt is short of my range. I usually play 10-A and pocket pairs, if in position I sometimes play 9s as well.

Recently, constantly being dealt cards under that range, blinds grind down my stack and I am folding what feels like 99% of hands. Meanwhile others at the table are getting stronger.

What strategies are there for these occasions? Thanks

Click to expand...

You are going to have to play more hands PARTICULARLY in late position to really be a good NLH donkament player. This is especially true of later game situations where short handed play becomes a factor. There simply aren't enough premiums to keep you afloat once you get down to say 7 handed.

change your strategy and play more aggressively in l8r tournament

You are producing pleasing results with your approach of play i do not think there is a grave need to transform it. You can fine-tune some of the segments of your play if you start playing more inferior hands you chips will go down sooner.

I dont want to play a looser range particularly, however the comment about being more aggresive later in the tournament is very true. I often find myself with this problem on the last table as there just aren't enough strong hands.

I think playing aggressive against people I know to have a loose range and make bigger moves to steal blinds is a good plan in general, but such a move with weak starting cards is risky, often in these live games people will limp in even with a strong PP, in a pub league you cannot always get strong tactics but find a lot of LAGs and Calling Stations.

Somebody touched on it earlier. Find the player who plays a wider range of hands and don't be afraid to get into a hand with him, even if it means opening up your range a little. If you can identify the weaker players at your table, they can often be a good source of chips for you.

Towards the end of tourneys, you really have to play the position game a lot more. Try to steal blinds when in position and the opportunity arises. You will occasionally run into the big hand monster, but you can't miss those opportunities. That doesn't mean you have to shove every time it's folded to you and you are in the Dealer position, but you need to at least consider it more strongly than you normally would.

I believe that it is better to put pressure on weaker players with marginal hands, or bluff them with those who have