Player-Submitted Guide for Beating
Low-Limit Poker
written by BeatTheFish.com
...Fishy says, "Pot odds mean
nothing to bad players."
The following article came to us via the
Poker Forum and a
discussion on how to beat loose tables at
Bodog.
Some of the tips that "Buckeyepride" offers are excellent and key
concepts for low-stakes no-limit Hold'em players hoping to make as
much as they can at .50/1 and lower. In fact, many of these
principles apply to larger games in which there seems to be little
correlation between the money on the table at the skill level of the
participants:
...
Buckeyepride: "The following
strategy is good for whatever limit you play, but I feel it is more
crucial when you play lower limit as the play is going to be worse.
In other words, more bad players = bad decisions = more money for
you. I usually 3 table .25/.50 or .50/1.00 NL. I know these limits
are small, but you can make an absolute killing if you are willing
to put a decent size, if not all, of your stack in the middle.
Before sitting down, as everyone knows, look at the flop percentage.
Not only that, look at the stack sizes of the fish at the table. I
will rarely sit down at a $50 table if someone is sitting with
$80-$90+. Why you ask? Because this means he's either a decent
player or a maniac. Others might look at that as a positive
opportunity, but I see it as trying to grind someone who has the
ability to lean on me. I don't want that. I suggest finding a full
table with people between 25-50 because they are either losing their
money or afraid to buy in for the full amount. In my experience,
these games (while multitabling) can have as good a win rate as a
$1/2 or $2/4 game simply because the players are worse.
Like Doyle Brunson says: "I want to have
the most money at the table when I sit down." I want to be the
bully. Does anyone else love it when you raise to $3-$4 in
early/middle position with AA-QQ, AK and get called by 2 people? I
realize most will say, "Sure, but they will draw with anything."
Yeah well, if I take AA-QQ and risk my whole stack every single time
and 1 person calls down to the river, I am going to make a lot of
money. I will gladly push my $40-$50 in chips over to someone who
drew out if I, in turn, take $40-50 2-4 times away from him. That's
simple mathematics. Also, I have read over at 2+2 and in some poker
books that you want to bet the exact amount that does not give your
opponent pot odds to call. This is correct only if you are playing
solid players who understand the math and the thought process. I
know that positive/negative expectation can figure into this simply
because you won't always have the best hand even when it looks like
you have it dominated. However, in online poker, at least at lower
limits, this is NOT CORRECT. You want to bet as much as you
anticipate him to call, which by experience, is a LOT more than the
odds the pot IS NOT offering him.
Let's say you are sitting there with $50
in front of you and your opponent has $50 and the pot is $20. Assume
he will call with a draw regardless of what you do (which is
frequently because people always play the nut/2nd nut draws). You
have top pair after the flop and he has a flush draw. If you bet,
would you rather bet around $15-20 in which he might call or bet
around 30 or all in? Personally, I would definitely err on the
higher end. I am willing to risk my stack to win the maximum amount
of money, especially if if I'm about a 66% favorite. That sounds
like a good business decision to me. Another consideration is how
much time you are willing to sit down as long as the players are
relatively weak.
Since I started playing again, I've been
averaging about 45 hours a week on top of a 50 hour a week corporate
job. It isn't easy, but the money is there for the taking. I see
people talk all the time about busting out of cash games because of
a draw. Tip to those people: you need a much bigger bankroll than
almost everyone suggests. Why? Because of the MAX buyin, you have a
ridiculously higher percentage of being pot committed given the
dynamic of online poker (having to raise 6-10 times the BB as
opposed to a live room where 2.5-5 can be the norm). There is no
true big stack poker when you play in online cash games. You simply
need to play like you are in a Sit and Go; at least from an equity
point of view (disregard hand values and position relating to the
previous statement). I think this is one of the least analyzed and
talked about topics today regarding online cash games. I deposited
$500 originally (I am way over that now) but I am still playing at
the limits I started at which are mentioned above."
...
"Buckeyepride" makes two great points
that all low-limit players should keep in mind:
1. Loose drawing players and
calling stations are the most profitable players to play against in
poker. While they may occasionally hit that flush or straight
draw to scoop a huge pot away from your pocket Aces, statistically a
four-flush will only make it by the river about 1 out of 3 times. If
my opponents want to go all-in endlessly on straight on flush draws
while I have pocket Aces, I would play it all day every day and be a
wealthy man. If you can stay tilt-free and are playing within your
bankroll, you should rebuy into a game in which you feel that you
have an advantage over your opponents.
2. The "standard raise" outlined
in many poker books simply isn't sufficient for loose online cash
games. Perhaps I'm going out on a limb, but I don't think that
raising 3-4x the big blind is enough to dissuade loose calls at wild
online poker tables. Our guest writer here seems to agree. Most
poker authors are referring to either tournament play, higher
stakes, or live games as that is what they have the most experience
with. If you're at a table where 4 or 5 limpers routinely see the
flop, I recommend at least a 5-6x raise. This is one key step to
help cut down on online bad beats.
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