So how do you 2-4 players do it?

Frond · #1 11-08-2006, 11:07 PM

Hi, very first post here. Really enjoy the forums.

Played live today at a local casino, $2-4 for about 2 hours. I have just finished reading SSHE and have read some others as well. I play about 2-5 hrs per week live cause that is all the time I have. I have been playing online for about 8 months or so as well. Today's table was the passive no foldem type with 8-9 to the flop every hand except me. I feel like I have really opened up my hand requirements a lot but I still find it terribly hard to play a hand like 38o or even call 2 raises with it in any position except the blinds, and even then not always for a raise(esp.the SSB). But this was the case today with all the others at the table. I was the rock. Many hands I was the lone one who folded PF.I know that this play is the correct play but it gets very frustrating watching someone play 37 offsuit and hit a str8 and take down a big pot with it. So, how do some of you 2-4 players deal with a table like this? I only got 3-5 playable hands for this session. No pairs, no suited connectors at all and AQo once and my lone showdown hand AKs I ended up raising this hand UTG and got 7 callers!!! Could not belive it. Ended up making A's full with it and won a nice pot but that was it for the session. Now I know that I was cold decked for sure and am not expecting a pair every hand etc. but I was almost considering playing some hands like Q6 etc but I knew it would be stupid to start doing that. I have pretty good discipline and folded most all my hands. Should I step it up to 3-6 or 4-8? Considering the rake & tips and my style of play would I be better off there? Money is not really the issue it is experience at higher levels which I don't have too much of as of yet. I play 3-6 Omaha and stud hi lo comfortably but the swings there aren't as bad usually. Ended up down around $15 for the session.

Dhani · #2 11-08-2006, 11:45 PM

Defintely!! Where do you play? What limits did you play online?

Yossarian147 · #3 11-09-2006, 12:32 AM

even thinking about calling a raise with 38o makes baby jesus cry

Frond · #4 11-09-2006, 12:51 AM

I am in the So Cal area and I have access to about 5-6 card rooms and or casinos all within 30-70 minutes away so there are a lot of choices and games to play. Live play I have only played 2-4 and online I play .25-50 up to 1-2 on occasion. Seems though that online that the play I have encountered at these levels(.25 on up to 1-2) is tighter then any live game that I have played in. I would have thought that it would have been the other way around.

38o hand and the like-I was not joking as a lot of you are probably aware of at this level of play. I even got my wife to play for her very first time last week, sat her down at home beforehand, played a bunch of hands with her, she can even tell what a good starting hand is and not to call cold raises out of position etc. and it was her first time playing. She hung in there and only lost a little but she could not believe some of the hands that were shown down. I told here that she is already betetr than at least half of the players at the table. That's a given.

So, step it up a level then? Can I expect tigher play overall at 3-6 and 4-8 then I can at 2-4?

jjshabado · #5 11-09-2006, 02:25 AM

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Can I expect tigher play overall at 3-6 and 4-8 then I can at 2-4?

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I suggest you re-read SSHE because you don't seem to have grasped the important points. Loose games are good.

As for the fact that you were "cold-decked", do you feel that wouldn't have happened at a higher limit?

Frond · #6 11-09-2006, 02:47 AM

SSHE-I plan on re-reading it, in fact several more times. Too much info to absorb in just a single reading. For me at least.

Cold decked-No not at all. Just wondering what to expect at those levels. If the play at 3-6 and 4-8 is the same loose style as it is at 2-4 wouldn't I be a bit better off moving up considering rake, tips etc?

mrcunningham · #7 11-09-2006, 03:51 AM

I think the main issue regarding the difference b/n 2-4, 3-6, 4-8, all low limits is the rake/drop/toke. If there is no difference in absolute terms, if you have the bankroll you may wish to move up a level or two. At the big LA cardrooms, there will likely be little difference in quality of play b/n 2/4 and 3/6, but if the rake/drop/toke is identical, you will have beat the game significantly more to come out ahead.

brick · #8 11-09-2006, 03:59 AM

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If the play at 3-6 and 4-8 is the same loose style as it is at 2-4 wouldn't I be a bit better off moving up considering rake, tips etc?

[/ QUOTE ]
you should move up asap because of this.

danxd · #9 11-09-2006, 06:23 AM

with the drop, three-six is better. here in california, the rake is capped for all games. so the higher the limit, the better the percentage.

the three-six game is a bit tighter, but not by much. you'll still find many callers. four-eight is more agressive, with many pre flop raises.

Mygtar · #10 11-09-2006, 08:38 AM

Hello and welcome to the forum. I played 2/4 live for about 1.5 years. I had the same experience as you described. This is what I did as I folded hand after hand. I counted the pot, tried to read people's hands, kept track of all the bets I SAVED by not playing crap, talked to people.

I have since moved up to the 4/8 game about 2 months ago and it plays pretty similar, maybe only 4-5 people to the flop, but similar just the same.

Both these games can be gold mines for someone who understands the game, has discipline to fold and not chase, and can read hands pretty well. The 4/8 game will be more profitable because of the rake, but obviously you will have more of a downside swing possible.

Hope this helped,
Mygtar