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Ok, this post turned out much longer than I intended, but I wanted to share what I've learned about small stakes B&M NL over the last 6 months.
I play in a B&M $1/2 NL game with a $200 max buy-in relatively often. It used to be $100, but they raised it to $200. I wouldn't play the game until they raised it to $200; I could make more money playing $10/20 LHE. But now, with the $200 buy-in, not only is there more dead money on the table, but there's more room to manouver, my hourly rate has gone way up, and my variance has gone way down compared to the middle-stakes LHE games I've played in. The other big added benefit over the middle stakes LHE games is game selection. There are routinely at least 5 to 10 tables to choose from for SSNL, whereas for middle stake LHE you often have to choose between playing in a tough game or not play at all. I've played the $3-6 NL blind structure games too, but there aren't as many clueless players, and quite often the pots get just as big in the $1/2 game. Also, due to gaming regulations even though the game in "NL", there is a maximum $500 bet/raise size. I haven't seen it factor into the $1/2 game, but I've seen it in the $3/6 game. NL with a limit .. how f'ed is that!
As a whole the players in these small buy-in, low-blind NL game are weak, very weak! They are showing up to the casino in droves; thank you WPT and online poker!!! The trick is to figure out which ones they are, what their particular weaknesses are and prey on them with the right counter strategies. Run over the weak tighties and trap or re-steal against the over-aggressives. I'm still amazed at how str8 forward so many of the players play. If they are betting they have a hand, if they are betting strong, they have a strong hand. One night I had a guy sit there for 3 hours on a $100 stack. He'd either fold 90% of the time, or raise all-in when there was about $6 in the pot before the flop; it was truly idiotic. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know how to play against a fool like that.
Tells/reads and player profiling are big parts of this game for me. Keep your eyes and EARS open. The amount of information these players are giving away during and in between hands is truley unbelievable. You have to be able to figure out when and against whom you need an actual hand and when you don't. I'm tired of the term "change gears" because half the time, the people using it just heard Mike Sexton talk about it on the WPT. Pros do it primarlily to throw off aware opponents. In these fish-fest games you 'change gears' for a different reason than our WPT friends; you do it based on who you are in the pot with. Although deception against semi-ware to aware players sometimes factors into these games, its more about preying on weak players and avoiding the more solid ones. You have to be good at figuring out who has a clue and who doesn't. I find this much easier live than online.
Yes, pre-flop raises are routinely between 5 and 10BBs in this game. Because I have an edge over most of my opponents post-flop, I'll play a wide range of hands (even to a raise), but I'll be much more selective when a player that I've pegged as solid opens the pot for a raise ahead of me. I stay clear of most potentially dominated hands, but will play many sneaky, speculative hands even to a raise. I vary how I open the pot with strong hands based on the table etc. I hate not getting action on my big hands! At active tables, I'll often limp re-raise. Although I'm not a big fan of it, I do find that I often limp-fold from early position too. That's right the most under-used play in poker, the ol' limp fold!! It's only $2 and the upside implied odds are usually worth it. The number of cheap flops your opponents let you see make it worth it. I take down some huge pots with crazy cards, which of course tends to gets me action when I have solid cards.
Position and post flop-play skillz are HUGE in this game. The ability to lay down TPTK in the RIGHT spots is also a money earner. In late position, I'm raising the pot with any two cards when I see a bunch of weak limpers in before me, or if there a number of players that might be hip to my plan, I'll limp along with any two cards and splash around. The number of times I steal a moderate size pot still amazes me. I love it when I hear, "you hit a set, I fold my top pair".
Sets and disguised str8s are huge money makers; recognizing good implieds odds situations is really what this game is all about. Those situations come in many flavours, learn to recognize them; they don't all involve hitting a huge hand. In goes the other way too; reverse implied odds situations are killer in NL if you don't recognize them often enough.My last piece of advice; take extra time when you are confronted with a big decision where you have many chips on the line. You can flush many hours of solid poker down the drain with one bad decision.
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Trouble adjusting to B&M Nl game
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Originally Posted by BankItPayette
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