Help me beat this game.

I've been playing a lot of NL with some friends of mine. Basically, shorthanded low stakes NL hold'em.

Background info:

We play for 5,10,15 dollars per game. Everyone gets 50 chips. SB-1 chip, BB-2 chips. When someone gets knocked out the blinds go up. We have anywhere from 4 to 6 players. Everyone plays pretty loose-agressive at the start and tight-agressive when chips get low. All players are decent/good poker players.

What kind of strategy would you guys use to beat this game?

Define decent/good.

Tight Agressive is always a good way to go.

-'rilla

if everyone is playing loose/aggressive when the blinds are 1/2 and 2/4, i would play tighter. whats the point of trying to make a move on 3 or 6 chips? you raise 6 or 10 chips with a weak hand like QJ and get called and miss the flop, what have you got? nuthin really. i just got harringtons new book and two quotes have really stuck with me.

"You make your most money when you play opposite from your normal style."

"A good strategy is to play opposite the play of those around you."

the second one is one that would help you in this game. if everyone is playing marginal hands in the beginning, wait and play solid hands. with 50 chips and the blinds at 1/2, you could wait a few rounds, depending on the number of players, and pick up a solid hand. slowplay it the whole way and let the loose player do the betting for you, as long as ur pretty sure you've got the best hand. one problem is the number of chips you're starting with, it favors the bluffers and aggressive players because there is a chance that you wont pick up a hand early on and before you know it be down to 25 or 30 chips and feel like you have to make something happen. but even then one double up and you're back to or ahead of where you started. players will start to peg you as tight, and then you can switch to playing more aggresive and stealing pots when the blinds are higher. keep them guessing. if you fall into the trap of letting them dictate you playing just like they are, its gonna come down to who gets better cards and that shouldnt be the sole deciding factor of who wins the game. just my two cents.

Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla

Define decent/good.

Tight Agressive is always a good way to go.

-'rilla

Ok, lets say they are average to slightly above average players.

Is tight agressive the best way to play when we are only playing with 50 chips?

Originally Posted by keyser5

if everyone is playing loose/aggressive when the blinds are 1/2 and 2/4, i would play tighter. whats the point of trying to make a move on 3 or 6 chips? you raise 6 or 10 chips with a weak hand like QJ and get called and miss the flop, what have you got? nuthin really. i just got harringtons new book and two quotes have really stuck with me.

"You make your most money when you play opposite from your normal style."

"A good strategy is to play opposite the play of those around you."

the second one is one that would help you in this game. if everyone is playing marginal hands in the beginning, wait and play solid hands. with 50 chips and the blinds at 1/2, you could wait a few rounds, depending on the number of players, and pick up a solid hand. slowplay it the whole way and let the loose player do the betting for you, as long as ur pretty sure you've got the best hand. one problem is the number of chips you're starting with, it favors the bluffers and aggressive players because there is a chance that you wont pick up a hand early on and before you know it be down to 25 or 30 chips and feel like you have to make something happen. but even then one double up and you're back to or ahead of where you started. players will start to peg you as tight, and then you can switch to playing more aggresive and stealing pots when the blinds are higher. keep them guessing. if you fall into the trap of letting them dictate you playing just like they are, its gonna come down to who gets better cards and that shouldnt be the sole deciding factor of who wins the game. just my two cents.

Awesome post, man. Thanks a bunch. Im going to read it a few more times and then post on it.

Thanks again!

Hopefully it is obvious that a table of tight players will give you blinds easier than a table of loose players.

Conversly, a table of loose players will eat up your chips if you are not tight.

Personally, in the kind of tournament you are in, you will see very loose play indeed - but in fact this shouldn't matter if you think of their "looseness" as relative to yours.