Playing at loose tables.

So I've been at poker for a few weeks now, learned alot, and I decided to incorporate table selection strategy into my game. So after reading the guide and a few posts, I set out to find the loosest tables with the highest pots and the highest percentage of players seeing the flop.

Well the result was disasterous. I've lost three buyins so far.

I've played at loose tables before when I first started out at 6max 10 NL, but since moving back down to 10max 5 NL and now up to 10max 10 NL the tables i've played at have been fairly tight for the most part, so my play style has adjusted to profit.

Unfortunatley what I did at the tight tables is getting me killed at the loose tables with bad players. After reviewing poker tracker and spending time in deep thought, I've developed some strategy for myself for playing these tables and I want to run it by you guys to make sure I didn't miss anything obvious.

-Never limp in with anything in UTG or UTG+1 unless it's a pocket pair. This includes KJo, KQo, KTs, QJo, etc. I lost half a buyin alone from limping in these positions, only to have to fold to a raise from another player down the line. Any other hand I will play from UTG or UTG+1 will be a good one, so therefore I'll raise with it.

-Raise higher preflop with a good hand. 4xbb just isn't cutting it here. Everytime I'd have a hand like AQs, I'd have 3-4 callers to my 4x, quadrupling the chances of having a bad beat. I haven't figured out an exact value, but I'm going to start high, like at 8x, and work my way down until I'm only getting 1-2 callers.

-Play much much tighter. 67s in MP3? Fold. QTs? Fold. AJo? Limp only in MP2 or higher.

-Bet 80% or more of the pot to players who are drawing. 50% gets callers, and lots of them. Even 75% is pushing it. Too many players sucking out on me at these loose tables.

-Don't bluff at all, unless you know the players left in the pot are tight. The donks will call or raise, even if they have the lowest pair on the board. This is how I will make money off of them when I'm sure I have them beat.

Anything else I miss?

i am glad to see you on here. You have just entered the MICRO LIMIT ZONE. Where all kinds of dumb moves will occur. Understand that the only thing you can do is play solid hands and in position. If you have that many callers in the hands with you, at the 10nl tables you need to raise 6-8x BB. Se how that works. I play the 6max table and I develope an image. I dont chat. I rarely whine about suxouts and I am aggressive when I have the goods.
If a board is looking like someone is trying to draw, and I have the best hand my opponent(s) gets a potsized bet or an allin bet.

Your betting is gonna be the key on any hand you enter. I have been watching videos from Cardrunners and I have learned from Green Plastic that pot sized bets take care of most of your chasers. At the lower limits though, sometimes no bet of any size is gonna drive a fish out of the hand.

Tight it right. Review AoK'S nineteen hand strategy. How long have you been playing poker. If its only a short time period, I would suggest you not play 6max yet. There is alot to learn.

Position is also very important. KJ should be folded early and often in the early positions. Aj is ok in late position. Learn to reraise with you made hands. Don't bluff and try not to slowplay.

Loose tables are where the money is at man. The nits aren't going to suck out on you, but you're gonna make a lot less money off of them than you do off of the crazy ones. Ofcourse you have to adjust your playstyle. Typically - and this is 6max - my VP$IP stays the same (around 30) on a looser table but my PFR drops from 15 (which I maintain on tighter tables) to 10.

But it's not just preflop. Your postflop game has to change too, that's even more important.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...pic.php?t=7282

One thing I'm not sure is right is playing much tighter. You probably just want to stick to your normal standards and not tighten up too much because you'll be missing out on earning opportunities, folding better hands to worse hands preflop. In fact in that link I even said to loosen up and play stuff like KJo in EP because if there are tons of players in the pot, it is likely to be one of the better hands. Food for thought. gl

That was a good thread. Throwing AK away when you miss is probably my biggest downfall at the loose tables... cbetting seldomly works there.

Now the part about sets I had to laugh... according to poker tracker, I've only won 28% of the hands where I flopped a set.

Here's one part that I think you missed... losing a BB to a raise. This was a leak for me bigtime at loose tables. I get KJo, UTG, limpin, only to see MP3 raise 4x the BB and now I have to fold. That ten cents lost numerous times added up to half a buyin at the end of my session.

regarding flopped sets: At this level, hitting your sets should earn you big money. Just bet them strong and the fish will pay you off to chase their flushes. Under no circumstances should you check or bet less than 2/3 pot when you flop your set. If the board is suited on the flop, still bet it strong but if you get called and the turn or river hits a 4th flush card, then dump your set. Otherwise, it's hard for me to see flopped sets as a 72% losing situation.

regarding your last paragraph: I think the key point is feeling out the table and individual opps. If people are consistently raising 3-4x in late position at your table, then you are not in a loose calling table type of situation that my strat would work.... so you're definitely right that you'd need to tighten up based on position and opponent.