I'm still folding here even though live is a lot looser. After all just because live is being played this way doesn't mean it's the right way to play. 98o on the button against 1 I'm calling, 2 I'm raising, but against 3? Iron Maiden said it best man. Runnn tooo the hillllls!!!
You're thinking about this backwards! The more people in the pot, the more you should play
hands like this! Especially in position and for only 1BB.
The idea with a speculative hand like this is to flop big (trips and straights). With more people in the pot, your chances to get paid off increase when you hit (and the pot will be larger because there will be more dead money in it by the time you get to the river).
We're not winning by making a pair here. We'll be folding all unfavourable flops. But when we do hit (and hit bigtime), then I want everybody in the hand, so more people can pay us off...
Related to this: suppose you're in a 9-handed game and UTG minraises and six people call.
You're in the BB with 72o, the worst hand in the deck. But the
odds are 15-1 and you're closing the action. You should ABSOLUTELY call 1BB.
You'll be folding most flops, but occasionally you'll hit a 772 flop, or some other flop that gives you a monster. When that happens you'll be very happy that more people are there to pay you off.
It's not so much about how loose the games are, but what odds you're getting on entering the pot. The better those odds, the weaker your hand can be.
