live game help

[pgil]

here's the deal. I've been to my local casino the last couple of weekends, and have done alright. I have come out ahead, but am wondering what sort of adjustments I can make to maximize my earn. I play 1/2 NL 200 max BTW.

opponents are typical low stakes live players. They make amazingly weak tight laydowns when they shouldn't, and make incredibly loose calls at the worst times. The regulars can't lay down TP to save their lives, and nobody knows about pot odds.

I am currently a rock. I open raise premiums, limp along with small pairs, and the occasional SC IP. The problem is, I don't feel as though I am maximizing my skill advantage by only entering 10% of the pots while these players are throwing all sorts of chips around with garbage. But I don't know if I will be able to thin the field enough to enter more pots lightly and still get the best of it.

What sorts of spots are people looking for to open up their games? Does it make sense to try to isolate raise after a few limpers with less than premium hands in these types of games? The few times I have been able to get a single caller (or two) they are usually playing fit or fold so it makes it pretty easy.

I am currently thinking that the best thing I can do is to maximize value when I am in the pot and hit a hand, but beyond that I am a little lost.

[dev]

loose/rock baby

When people stack off with over-pairs and TP hands and play deep, get involved in position with 50%+ hands. 2p or better, get it in. It slightly high variance, but if you know your villains, you'll be murdering the game.

In a B+M game, shorties are even more annoying. You can't exploit them as often (keep in mind this is a quantitative, not qualitative) because you just need a hand. Shorties are generally just donators, but don't go after them light, let them donate to whoever they will. The deeper your opponents get, the more you can exploit their bad play. Besides, showing down a light range of hands vs. shorties ruins the respect you get from the rest of the table. That might be profitable on some level, but the variance goes thru the roof. In my experience, in order to play long sessions live, you're better off keeping a good image and not taking the variance.

[Fnord]

Against retarded opponents in these games I don't raise UTG, play pretty tight from my blinds, fold my SB a lot and play like total manaic in position.

The biggest mistake these guys make is playing too many hands out of position and calling raises with them. They try to make hands and don't fight back often enough without the goods. When they do fight back it's with weak-ass lines you can blow them off of.

[pokerfan]

whenever i played live games in my local casino, i always turned to ED Miller for advice :P All of his articles are good enough to destroy any 1-2 NL live games in north america.
For example:
7 easiest steps to beat 1-2NL live games:
1, Play tight, dont play trash and play " sometimes trash" in good situations
2,Dont play out of position
3,Dont overcommit in small pots
4,Big pots for Big hands
5,Pull the big trigger especially in position
6,Adjust to your live opponents
7,Keep your head in your game and dont make mental errors

[Fnord]

Focus your engery on studying your opponents. Relax, don't force yourself to play and don't get fustrated by a cool deck.

POSITION
POSITION
POSITION
POSITION
POSITION
POSITION
POSITION

[pgil]

so in this position you speak of, are you playing big cards, connected cards, or any two cards? and are you raising them to try to thin the field and then take it down postflop, are you limping behind hoping to take a larger pot when you hit, or a combination of the two? like raise good TP hands, limp along with SC and small PP's, that sort of thing.

[pokerfan]

i'm really curious about how Fnord play like total manaic in position :P
AK,AQ and other big broadway cards are good hands for attacking loose limpers, IMO. Incidentally, i limp in lots of medium SC, SP , one or two gappers and Ace or king suited cards on the BT/CO when there are a bunch of limpers in front of me. Also, i'm happy to raise/isolate or 3 bet squeeze vs one or two weak passive limpers or weak tight players if i have SC or SP on the BT /CO. Keep in mind that position combined with a SPR of about 10-13 is very good for stealing with SC or suited gappers when effective stack is relatively deep at the table.
DONT PLAY THESE " sometimes trash" HANDS OOP