Low limit cash games - how to play?

[GOALden Hawk]

G'day,

Just wondering the best way to play low limit cash games online. ie 25c/50c limit. Bluffing doesn't seem to work that well, as players aren't really that tight.

Is it worth playing super tight and waiting for hands, or should I loosen up a bit? Or is it better to play PL or NL with low amounts?

 

[red+black]

I wouldn't think bluffing in low limit cash games would be +EV.

Falchoon is a good limit player, so wait to hear what he has to say.

 

[Falchoon]

I wouldn't think bluffing in low limit cash games would be +EV.

Falchoon is a good limit player, so wait to hear what he has to say.

I don't play a lot of cash games, mainly tourney where bluffing is huge when the blinds are up.

But when I do play low limit cash games v a table of 10 my bluffing percentage would be <1%, you'll generally have a drawer playing to the river who then thinks what's an extra 50c. and will call with 5th pair. A lot of players will play AK to the river no matter what's on board betting it the whole way. So I'll call a lot with 2nd pair.

I do raise a fair bit though, still aggressive, if I have a good hand I want either a big pot or less callers.

Hands like 9Ts are golden.

I pissed a guy off big time last time I was at Crown, I played 23s, he was on my right and called, guy to my left raised, this guy calls, 5 callers. I'll have a look, flop AA4, he leads out with a bet, I know he has the A and I know because I've sat next to him for 3 hours that at minimum he's got AJ. He's playing no limit on a limit table complaining nobody respects his raises blah blah. Actually he was a nice guy to talk to. Therefore a 5 is still good he bets, $5 call, $50 pot odds are there everyone folds, turn 5, he bets, I raise, raise raise, river 7 or something. Raise raise raise.

I said I would have folded if he raised pre flop, uh oh fireworks, he was unpleasant for the next 45 mins or so.

It still helps to have read on people and be unreadable yourself. So I treat it like I treat Omaha. AA's are nice if you can get heads up 9,10 is handy in a multiway pot. I'll bet the A's but 5 callers on a 89T board and my raising days are over.

If I have the best hand I on a board that is hard to get caught on, I'll call a 25c bet ony to raise the next 50c bet, then lead on the river.

People will chase flush draws to eternity and back.

Other than that a lot else is dumb luck, the one thing I'd say is be aggressive, I bet my flush draws etc.

 

[dmc333]

I'd normally play 5-10c if I was playing cash and you just have to sit around, you can't get away with much, it's too easy to call. Lately I've wandered into some 25-50c and found the players are a lot tighter, I've called raises with absolute rubbish, called the flop, then either took the lead or reraised on the turn (without so much as a pair) then put in a 1/2 - 2/3 pot bet on the river and taken it down.
It's especially scary for them when low cards have flopped, or that card which might make a straight/flush lands on the turn.

I've only done it 5 times, all recently, but I've sat down with $50 and walked with at least an extra $25 each time, although I don't stick around for long, 20 minutes max.

Funniest part is, they instantly reload to $50 after you've taken $ off them, but they never get the chance to get it back... well not yet

 

[divvydan]

G'day,

Just wondering the best way to play low limit cash games online. ie 25c/50c limit. Bluffing doesn't seem to work that well, as players aren't really that tight.

Is it worth playing super tight and waiting for hands, or should I loosen up a bit? Or is it better to play PL or NL with low amounts?

Hi GOALden Hawk. Not sure what your level of play is and it has been a while since i played low limit games but i feel i have useful information so i'll share it (yes, i have also been drinking so that might be the reason).

Firstly, at this level bluffing is almost completely pointless. Yes it's annoying not to be able to bluff people but the fact is that they're not going to fold so don't do it.
Now, assuming 9/10 handed ring games:

My advice would be to play tight and aggressively as much as possible.

This means playing a range of hand such as 88+, AK-AJs, AK-AQo, KQ-KJs, KQo. (yes, that's not many)

Just in case you were unsure (88+ means all pairs 88 and above. AK-AJs means all suited Aces from AK to AJ, etc)

Most of the money you make at this level comes from fundamental errors on behalf of your opponents. The main errors they commit are playing too many hands preflop and not being able to fold when they catch a small piece of the board and when they have weak draws such as gutshot straights with no other outs.

Once you have that part of the game down pat (again i'm not sure where you're at with your own game) you can start to add hands that play well in multi-way situations.
The reason for this is that most pots at this level have 4-6 players and are not raised as often as pots at a higher level.
When there are many people in the pot the kind of hands that benefit are pairs and suited hands.
Because of this i would also include:
22-77, Axs, Kxs, QJs-54s and QTs-64s. (x= any card, normally below T)

There are, however, two important things to note with the additional hands i have included:

1. They are best played from late position (i.e. close to the button) because doing so enables you to know more accurately if the pot is going to be multi-way.
2. You need the ability to be able to get away from these hands if you only slightly hit the flop.
With point 2 i mean if you hit 1 pair or a weak draw you should realise that your hand probably isn't good and unless you're getting the right odds (find out what they are) throw the hand away. This is a tricky part of poker that takes time to understand.

Now if most pots are being played multi-way, there are some hands that play worse in that situation, such as KQ-Kxo, AT-Axo, QJ-Q9o and so on.

The reason is that these hands lose value when there are more players in the hand.

When playing post-flop the thing to remember is that because you can't bluff, you need to bet for value. This means don't be afraid to continue betting with a hand such as top pair, top kicker (TPTK) or 2 pair when getting called down. Most players at this level will let you know if they have that beat by raising, especially on the turn.

I'm not going to get into too much strategy like; free cards, thinning the field, isolation, slowplaying (which should be very rare) etc.
What i will say is that Falchoon is right when he says "the one thing I'd say is be aggressive".
As a rule you really should be looking to raise/bet more than call and fold more than raise/bet.

The other thing is about raising draws. The important thing to remember is why you're raising the draw to begin with. At this level you're unlikely to win the pot straight away so that reason doesn't hold. The main reason for doing so (when you do) is to increase the pot size without decreasing the number of player and/or to earn yourself a "free card" on the next round of betting (assuming you're raising the draw on the flop).

Because of this, the best time to raise a draw is when you're in position (close to or on the button) and there has been a bet a some calls before the action reaches you.
If you don't have position and are unlikely to have everyone check to you on the next round of betting to get the "free card" you really should only be raising when there is a significant overly in the pot compared to the odds you're getting to make the draw.

Long story short, play good hands, play them strongly, don't bluff, always know what hands are best for any particular board and always know the odds that you need for your hand when you're drawing.

 

[GOALden Hawk]

Cheers guys, great advice. I usually play pretty tight as it is, so I think low-limit cash games might suit me initially.

 

[red+black]

Plenty of great low limit books out there.