Live cash games... Playing with fish.

Hi guys,

Last night I ventured to my local casino for a live ring game ($60 min $100 max $1/$2 ).

The first thing I noticed compared to online play was the very large number of limpers. People would consistently limp complete crap from early position, and then call decent re-raises.

Most flops had between 3-5 people involved.

Added to this was the complete donkey play that went on; such as bluffing with air on flop, turn, and river; Calling to the river with overs, calling all in with Ace high, raising all in with second pair, calling to the river with what appears to be a flush draw only to fold to a river bet after the third diamond came down.... the list goes on.

What I want to know is whether anyone has any special tips for succeeding at a loose/fishy table like this. Besides just waiting for great hands and playing solid ABC poker, are there any particular plays that FTR members recommend?

note: I usually play sit n goes online, but have a small amount of cash game experience.

I feel that the players at the casino are just money machines. They play poker with the same mentality as they would play roulette - ie: they are there to gamble and losing money is just a part of the thrill, with the undercurrent that if they lose it is because they were unlucky.

What casino?

Limp pairs unless the game is aggro pre-flop. Play effective odds hands. Don't bluff a lot, build pots pre-flop then value bet post-flop. Be ready to re-buy.

50 deep NLHE with fish juicing the game is stupid easy to beat unless the rake is oppressive.

Auckland casino.

"unless the game is aggro post-flop" - why does this make a difference?

I think rebuys are quite important.. It's amazing how fast your $100 stack goes when calling $10 bets chasing flushes.

Originally Posted by Antics

Auckland casino.

"unless the game is aggro post-flop" - why does this make a difference?

I think rebuys are quite important.. It's amazing how fast your $100 stack goes when calling $10 bets chasing flushes.

When you are in an overtly aggro post-flop game you raise your pairs to juice the pot for when you hit your sets so that villian(s) are more committed to calling off their stacks against your monster. I could be wrong about this though.

I fixed my post. Was supposed to read pre-flop.

If there is someone jacking up lots of hands to 10x or 20x (not uncommon), then unless you're deep against him you should be folding a lot of the smaller pocket pairs as you must now be playing effective odds.

play tight preflop and u will win. limp behind decent hands in pos when you can.

Originally Posted by IowaSkinsFan

play tight preflop and u will win. limp behind decent hands in pos when you can.

So are we ideally trying to get as many people in the pot as possible when we have a decent hand in position in the hope that we hit a monster?

So limp AJ+, and pp's from position?

Or should I be raising pf with AJ+, KQ, 1010+

I know what I would do online, just not sure about IRL.

Play big hands very fast.

Play all hands that make big hands cheaply until they become big hands. Like Axs or SCs.

Originally Posted by Antics

Or should I be raising pf with AJ+, KQ, 1010+

I know what I would do online, just not sure about IRL.

Just my $.02, but I raise all those hands as well as any PP 88+, depending on the action to me. Yes, you lay down a fair share postflop when you miss or when action dictates, but you should make it up plus on the pots you win.

The game you describe is, in my experience, not atypical for that level buyin live game.

In terms of flop play, I guess a lot is very read dependent - but in general terms, how willing would you be to lay down TPTK to a raise or to an OOP bet?