Live Straddle
 

Why do people do this? And what, if any, advantage does it give the player?

Re: Live Straddle
 

I only do it to liven a rocky game up.
I've been in really tight games where within 1-2 orbits of doing this, 9 out of 10 people at the table are straddling,a nd cheering the 10th to do it as well.

Eventually the party is on, the drinks are flowing, and so are the chips.

Another reason to do this is to give out some kind of loose image.

Re: Live Straddle
 

Haha I throw in a live straddle for different things. Sometimes I feel like putting more money in the pot and sometimes if I feel like somebody said a bad joke I'll put the straddle on.

-HoldemPokerPlyr

Re: Live Straddle
 

how do straddles work really? Do you have to announce it to the dealer or do you just put it out there?

Re: Live Straddle
 

I play them in home games, just to liven action up, and in general its probably +EV for me becuase most of the guys I play with in the home game are so bad post flop

Re: Live Straddle
 

sometimes if I'm am in a pretty tight game and have been catching cold cards I will straddle. If I get 3 or 4 people to call I will put a large raise in with my option, or even move all in knowing that none of them can call, and this allows me to pick up a pot with little risk. You have to be careful with the all-in move though, because someone will catch on.

Re: Live Straddle
 

[ QUOTE ]
how do straddles work really? Do you have to announce it to the dealer or do you just put it out there?

[/ QUOTE ]

Where I play, you just have to put the chips out there. But it probably depends on the house rules.

I always announce a straddle anyway, to call attention to it. If you are straddling to loosen up the game or to give a loose image, you want to be sure everyone knows it.

Some casinos allow only one straddle, others allow as many as players want. For example in a 2, 4 game: 1st pos(SB) - 1; 2nd pos(BB) - 2; 3rd pos - 4; 4th pos - 6; 5th pos - 8; etc, until the next player does't straddle, or the button straddles. I've been in games where there were 3 to 4 straddles at certain points in the game. Obviously, for this to happen there have to be several wild players (usually drunk) seated next to each other.

I have also been told of places where any player could straddle any amount from any position, even if no one had straddled before them. These were stories about poker in Montana in the 1970's or 80's.


-- Don

Re: Live Straddle
 

worst play in poker, if youre serious about winning money its the dumbest thing you can do. if youre looking for a good time and are black/asian, right up your alley!

Re: Live Straddle
 

[ QUOTE ]
worst play in poker, if youre serious about winning money its the dumbest thing you can do. if youre looking for a good time and are black/asian, right up your alley!

[/ QUOTE ]

What!?

Re: Live Straddle
 

Some purposes of the straddle are:

* Loosen up a tight game.
* You are buying the button and preflop position.
* You are advertising with this play as a loose player.

It sets you up for a possible big pot or to steal a mediocre pot preflop.


This is an action inducing play.



Spitting in a wishing well,
Trae

Re: Live Straddle
 

I understand some peoples reasoning behind the straddle, but i still think its an overall bad play.

Just my 2 cents

Re: Live Straddle
 

[ QUOTE ]
Why do people do this? And what, if any, advantage does it give the player?

[/ QUOTE ]

In pot limit, it doubles the max bring in. It's pretty pointless in NL and limit, IMO, unless you are trying to create an image or loosen up a game, as others have mentioned.

Sometimes, if I have a tight player to my left, I offer to put his straddle on if he pays my big blind. In 5-5 game, I would be paying $15 a round instead of $20 if I put the straddle on myself. (He pays $15 a round too.) Because he is tight, I don't expect him to raise much out of the straddle, so it's almost as good as having the straddle myself.

Now, in Mississippi, where the button has the first option to straddle, I straddle every time I have the button.

Re: Live Straddle
 

[ QUOTE ]
worst play in poker, if youre serious about winning money its the dumbest thing you can do.

[/ QUOTE ]


That's absurd - are you just a rock?

There are several reasons to straddle:


1) Stir things up on the table - if a table is dead tight, a straddle can jolt it into action, greatly increasing pot size and profit margins.

2) Skipping UTG. Valuable in NL - allows you to act last PF, see flops you wouldn't otherwise, and conceal certain hands.

3) Affects your table image which can be used for deception.

4) Grows pot size without growing rake. This makes the stakes higher, but you don't have the extra rake collected in higher stakes games. This means effective rake reduction.



AB

Re: Live Straddle
 

[ QUOTE ]
worst play in poker, if youre serious about winning money its the dumbest thing you can do. if youre looking for a good time and are black/asian, right up your alley!

[/ QUOTE ]

thats about wraps it up, on to the next post