[Splossy]

I'm not even sure there is a usefully winning strategy for some home games in the short term - ie for the night. I agree with the guy who said just play like they do and try to make good decisions after the flop. I've played games with complete newbies who bluff a lot, call raises with nothing etc and aren't even really sure of what hand beats what hand. Trying to beat it properly is about as much fun as sticking needles in your eye. Far better to just get stuck in, have fun and leave it at that.

I've had advice like: play tight. Well seeing as the game only lasts for say 3 hours and we play about 30 hands (in between drinks and pizza etc) I could easily hardly play a hand that hits the flop the whole session.

All I can say is that if you find a bet amount that will actually get people to fold then use it occasionally to keep you head above water and remember it's a showdown game so betting high cards preflop isn't useful if no-one folds. Get in cheap and mix it up.