Wild Strategy?

[eFoldem]

Ive only been playing for about 1 month. I normally win about $25-50 a night playing for a few hours. Occassionally I lose my disciplin and I go all in with 2nd best hand, or even bluff when I know I shouldnt because it hurts to see a $20 pot go to someone else. But for the most part I win more than I lose.

My question is about strategy... I do NOT follow the books any more! When I did I lost! Example if 4+ people stay in the pot after its been raised and it comes to me, I call with low connectors especially if they are suited. Reason being I assume with so many high hands that its very likely I will match a good hand. And frequently I hit up 2 pair, straight, or flush and when I do it pays off pretty good because everyone who called thinks everyone has high hands!

Furthermore, when I see a "target" who keeps going all in, or raising with nothing, and basically being dumb! I will call almost any hand that I can get in cheap with just for the chance of them trying to bluff me when i hit a good draw!~

And this has made me much more successful then when I was going strictly by the books! Does anyone else do this or other things like this that you can suggest ?

[Rondavu]

Congratulations, you just discovered implied odds. The good players constantly call raises with low connectors because they're easy to get away from postflop, and are often up against a hand that someone is falling in love with. Therefore the only time you're paying the pot heavy is when YOU flop strong. So the idea is that your opponent is paying the pot when they are behind more often than you are paying the pot when YOU are behind. There's a reason you're making money doing this. It's because you discovered a genuine tactical advantage.

There are pitfalls to this strategy....

-Your opponent raised a low connector

-You get outdrawn sometimes (spiked a set on your two pair or hits a higher straight)

-You try to get cute with your read holding second pair or TP on a rag board against a high pocket

-Your opponent is too tight postflop

-You get porked by flush over flush

Also pay attention to stack sizes. Calling a 4xBB raise from someone with 15xBB left is NOT worth the risk. If your pile gets low then you lose implied odds too.

One time I called a 3xBB raise ($6) from SB (I was in BB) while I was holding 74o. The board flopped 568. He had AA. I took $150 dollars off him. That's implied odds. They are very beautiful.

[eFoldem]

Thanks! My I normally get 1-3 good wins after an hour or 2 of play and I will be up to maybe 50-75 from 25/nl -- and I do not go on tilt (any more) but people I feel like they have learned to read me like an open book! They know what I do, even tho I try to play extremely diverse. I call with AA/AK/AJ/AQ/QQ/JJ/KK some times, sometimes I raise 50cent sometimes a dollar. Occasionally $2. I play as diverse as possible. I even raise 50cent -$1 with bad hands like 78diamonds some times (not often).

I play as diverse as possible! And I still feel like they have "Learned" me.

People start re-raising me with crap cause, or I hit 2 low pair and they push me out or beat me with higher pair... Or they raise big knowing I wont call $5 with a 30% chance of drawing a flush, and actually I would depending who I play.. But when I do and I hit my flush they know what I was going for so they wont raise me again making the over all odds worth it.. Because if I call $5 3 times and hit it once, but they fold when I hit it and raise when I dont...

Maybe it is just tilt and in reality they are not learning to read me it is my own fear's scaring me out after I have been at a table for an hour+?

Do you normally change tables after an hour?

[aislephive]

You don't seem to be doing a very good job of mixing up your play. First of all, raising exactly 2.5-3 x BB is a good way to not give much information on your raising hands. Position isn't normally a huge factor in a home game, especially with a lot of players paying to see the flop. If you believe that they believe you're on a flush draw, then raise when they bet into you. It should catch them off guard and they probably will rule out a flush draw. Raising with crap hands is only worth it if you have position and if you're opening the pot. I call raises often with position no matter my cards if I know they are capable of laying a hand down.

One thing that seems to stick in my mind when reading your posts is that you seem to be more of a caller as opposed to a raiser. Eliminate that part of your game right now. Raising and reraising is an important part of becoming a successfull player. By raising and reraising you get information about their hand that they don't have about yours. All they know is that you're raising yet again.

Cheers.

[Checkways]

Part of the problem with this is that normally you flop a draw. With multiple players in a raised pot, your draw is going to get incredibly expensive. The next thing you know, you've lost your stack because they're making it too expensive for you to draw on.

Then you hit your draw only to realize someone had a better draw or the board pairs giving someone a house.

You'll flop 2 pair 1 out of 50 times and sometimes they will get counterfieted.

If you can do this well and handle the variance then more power to you. But this is a quick way to bust your bankroll when suddenly those draws stop hitting for two weeks in a row.

If you continue to play against players that give away cards for cheap or if you continue to play against players that don't know when their aces are beat then this is a great strategy. You just have to be very careful and use some restraint.

[Infamous]

Then you hit your draw only to realize someone had a better draw or the board pairs giving someone a house..

I don't think these limits are high enough to give someone a whole house!

Maybe a treehouse?

[Checkways]

Then you hit your draw only to realize someone had a better draw or the board pairs giving someone a house..

I don't think these limits are high enough to give someone a whole house!

Maybe a treehouse?

Sorry. I meant to say, "...or the board pairs giving someone a spot in your mother's basement".