no fold 'em hold 'em

[johnnyawe]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but how do you beat the no fold 'em crowd? People that limp in or call preflop raises with anything (even 27o) and will call to the river unless faced with a monster bet. This is a no limit ring game I'm talking about.

Played a 4-man home game last week and one of the players did this. He busted out at one point, but he was able to recover and go home with the most money at the end of the night. The game was a lot of fun, but it irked me that I wasn't able to take advantage of his poor play.

It seems like in this home game situation, you don't really get as many hands in as you would in an online game, and you have to rely on taking down 1 or 2 huge pots, rather than slowly wearing down your opponents. This style of play seems to favor people who limp in with anything..

I'm having another game tomorrow, a larger one, and I expect more than 1 player will be doing this.

[Yeah]

Are they constantly raising/rerasing after the flop and preflop. Or is everyone just limping?

[michael1123]

Obviously don't bluff him, and when you get a monster hand bet big all the way, but don't make a "monster bet" that'll scare him out. Seems like a nice way to pay yourself off every time you get a great hand.

[Fnord]

Raise pre-flop and value bet him to death. Be inclined to take cheap cards instead of bluffing when you miss the flop.

[johnnyawe]

Good advice from Michael and Fnord.

Are they constantly raising/rerasing after the flop and preflop. Or is everyone just limping?

Preflop: mostly limping.

Post flop: Fair amount of raising/re-raising even with mediocre hands, but this is not nescessarily poor play in a 4-man game. The thing that stuck out as different from the online games I play was the preflop limping in with anything.

[michael1123]

4 handed, I can't really blame them for that either. You obviously can't just sit out looking for group 0 and 1 hands when you're at that short of a table. Toss the complete junk (72o, 83o, whatever), but play the mediocre hands (suited connectors, one hole suited cards, ace rag, etc.)

[Yeah]

Ok, here is what you do...

Wait until you get rockets preflop, and once you do. Fold them to the limpers, yet stick them in a special muck pile.

Once the hand plays out, announce you folded your AA preflop because you weren't feeling it. Grab the hand and show them all - the look will be amazing

Boom, this will send them into a special place - called Kansas, ok no - but maniac betting- on your behalf - let the insanity begin!!!

Just think, they will try to bluff you out of every single pot since you folded AA - even when you have something like AAs - which is way better than AAo.

So, take that advice and run - I did, and I havn't looked back since

OK, that was pointless, dumb, and probably not funny, but this is the one thing I enjoyed doing today...and I heard it from someone else before too!

Wow, I'm a lame SOB

Anyways, the other posters gave great advice to really help you. You can beat him, just don't "turn into him" if you don't get good cards early, and he is winning again.

Good luck at the tables

[Humphrind]

I'm agreeing with Michael. On a game like this, you have to take bigger swings. You can't minimize your losses, but you can do a lot to maximize your profits.

See almost every flop. Chase what you can justify, and when you do get a good hand, raise accordingly. You may spend a little time quite down in this game, but those pots you do take, you should be able to make them big.

[jobupoker]

I've recently been faced with the same problem. I've started a regualr home game and its fairly new so the players are still learning how to "play the right way".

I've come to the conclusion that the only way to end the night profitable is to do as Fnord and Michael suggest. The only thing I do different is I don't raise preflop (unless group 0). I've found that with all the chasers I'm more than able to make up for it when I hit. Winning 2 or 3 big pots a night and not loosing the rest of the night lets me walk away with a nice profit.

I may not be the biggest winner but I'd rather be the most consistant winner.

[johnnyawe]

Dudes,

Just finished tonights home game. I had between 4 and 7 people playing. I took everyone's advice here... and it worked brilliantly. Buy-in was $10, and I cashed out 3 hours later with $67!!!!!!!!!! I've NEVER had a session that good in my life, internet or otherwise.

I completely dominated the table. Of the 6 other people playing, I busted five of them at least once, some of them twice. Unreal. Honestly, I did not even have great cards. I caught some nice flops and rivers, but most of the rivers I caught were due to their poor play. EVERY time I had a monster (two pair or better), I was able to get one person to go all-in with me. And I followed the advice here of NEVER trying to bluff. Even at the very end of the night they had not caught on and were still calling my monster bets.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice!!! I definitely have the table's respect going into next week...

[fishstick]

I've NEVER had a session that good in my life, internet or otherwise.

hey natural - a far cry from "i'm done with poker for good!"

congrats on a great session.

[Humphrind]

Dudes,

Just finished tonights home game. I had between 4 and 7 people playing. I took everyone's advice here... and it worked brilliantly. Buy-in was $10, and I cashed out 3 hours later with $67!!!!!!!!!! I've NEVER had a session that good in my life, internet or otherwise.

I completely dominated the table. Of the 6 other people playing, I busted five of them at least once, some of them twice. Unreal. Honestly, I did not even have great cards. I caught some nice flops and rivers, but most of the rivers I caught were due to their poor play. EVERY time I had a monster (two pair or better), I was able to get one person to go all-in with me. And I followed the advice here of NEVER trying to bluff. Even at the very end of the night they had not caught on and were still calling my monster bets.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice!!! I definitely have the table's respect going into next week...

Great job. Congrats!

[johnnyawe]

I've NEVER had a session that good in my life, internet or otherwise.

hey natural - a far cry from "i'm done with poker for good!"

[michael1123]

Congrats indeed. Winning money is fun!