2NL Weekend Crowd Questions

Quick question. It's the weekend on BOL. And the crowd is a mix loose-bettors and loose-passive calling-stations. 2 to 4 per table. VPIP is high, as is average pot size. I obviously can't merely bet my normal range. Tighten up somewhat? No bluffs? Yes, I'm guessing. But should I be limping drawing hands like suited-connectors for value when I hit hard or remain diligent and play and bet very tight hands? Also, is betting PF always lucrative when these guys go to showdown quite often? I don't think this atmosphere is conducive to opening up my PF range. I will likely have to wait until Monday morning. You thoughts are welcome and needed.

When you're opponents are playing loose ranges, you continue against their raises more often.
E.g. you play a wider range (not as wide as theirs, though). You'll be calling a bit more and 3-betting wider. This means you'll be post flop with weaker holdings, but not as weak as theirs, on average.


Pay attention to their lines. Most of them don't know about ranges, and will bet themselves into a corner where it's like 90% of the time they just decided to bluff on some street without thinking of what hand they could possible hold which would play that way as not a bluff.


If in a HU pot, when your holding is better than half of the hands your opponent will continue with (meaning the hands they don't fold), you bet. This is a thing. It's not the whole story, but it's a piece of a bigger picture. Just think that there is no possible bet the opponent can make that offers you 50% or less pot odds. If there is 1 penny in the pot and I raise you lots and lots of dollars, then whoever wins still get slightly more than 2:1 on their investment. So if you have 50% chance of winning against the range they will have if they don't fold to a bet, then you should bet. Emphasis on the fact that this is always true, and a lot of the time you can profitably bet wider than this.


If a specific opponent has not shown you that they are capable of folding to a bluff, then DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BLUFF THEM.
Bluffing isn't a thing you sometimes do against everybody. Bluffing is a thing you only do when it is profitable.

Making these adjustments is hard when you don't have a stable base. If we tell you to call more it kind of assumes you're playing a fairly TAG style (which you aren't). I'd try to concentrate more on playing a good style of poker than adjusting to exploit villains.

It's very good to think about this type of stuff but it's running before you can walk.

If limping is seeing a flop a high percentage of the time without a further call, and pots are often getting big regardless, then go ahead and limp something like 22-77, 45s up to 9Ts, Axs and some other suited hands. This is non-standard advice, some people would say it's fishy and they might be right, but if you're capable of getting money in when you're strong, and keeping pots small when you're marginal, then you'll have a lot of success with limping on the right table. You've just got to be aware what "the right table" means.

As for bluffing, at these stakes people don't like folding, so it's best to limit bluffs to semi bluffs.

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

If limping is seeing a flop a high percentage of the time without a further call, and pots are often getting big regardless, then go ahead and limp something like 22-77, 45s up to 9Ts, Axs and some other suited hands. This is non-standard advice, some people would say it's fishy and they might be right, but if you're capable of getting money in when you're strong, and keeping pots small when you're marginal, then you'll have a lot of success with limping on the right table. You've just got to be aware what "the right table" means.

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I agree and my only argument is that it's still probably better to be raising those spots. If you're doing what ong suggests, and are profitable post-flop, then you'll be more profitable if the pot starts a little bigger. This is especially true when your pre-flop raises kinda annoy the other players, but not enough to make them even consider limp/folding.

Thanks guys. Let's see if I can put it to them this weekend.

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Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey

I agree and my only argument is that it's still probably better to be raising those spots. If you're doing what ong suggests, and are profitable post-flop, then you'll be more profitable if the pot starts a little bigger. This is especially true when your pre-flop raises kinda annoy the other players, but not enough to make them even consider limp/folding.

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The risk/reward ratio is better when we limp, assuming pots get bloated. If we're risking 2c and win $1, then next pot risk 6c and win $1.50, which is better?

This is what I mean by "the right table".

Make note of average pot size in raised pots, and compare them with limp pots. If at showdown limp pots are 40% the size of raised pots, well limping becomes very appealing.

I never open limp apart from blind va blind, but I tend to open raise a smaller sizing at a loose passive table. That's because I'm check folding a lot on the flop, because the flop often goes 4 ways or more. That means I lose less when I check fold the flop, but can still get it all in by the river due to the inflated size of the pot pre.

Playing 30/20 usually works for me at these tables, but every player is different.

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

This is what I mean by "the right table".

Make note of average pot size in raised pots, and compare them with limp pots. If at showdown limp pots are 40% the size of raised pots, well limping becomes very appealing.

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Linked to this, I like to sort tables by hands played. Fewer hands usually means fisher tables, as there's more post flop action.

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Originally Posted by OngBonga

As for bluffing, at these stakes people don't like folding, so it's best to limit bluffs to semi bluffs.

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This holds true for nanostakes on the US facing rec networks BOL and Ignition but even @ 2NL on WPN, depending on the time of day, the game might play entirely like a 25NL game. Lots of guys with 10%+ 3b, 4b bluffs, tons of floats and then check raises on the turn. Back a few years ago, this was basically all you were exposed to on WPN as there was virtually zero table selection due to limited traffic. Today, the network is absolutely booming so although there are 2NL and 5NL regs who are ready for 10NL+ on rec networks, there's still a nice mix of total whales to be seen, as you would expect from these stakes.

2NL and 4NL - and it looks like even 10NL - are pure faceroll on BOL.

edit: I looked at my last 2 sessions on WPN, both from today. Over about 600 hands I'm 3betting ~18% of the time and am up a BI. It really depends on the time of day but in the overnight hours, from about 3-7 am, it's radically different and extremely cutthroat. If you can hang at 2NL there overnight, you can easily profit during the prime times for fish.

Oddly enough, Mondays have been my most profitable day for the past few years and Sundays have always been my worst. :-?