the most ****** up med stakes home game EVER

[daveT]

I know you are still confused, but what is 10 card Omaha?

Is this double flop, or do you get 10 cards in your hand?

[Dr. Detroit]

[ QUOTE ]
Here's a little background,

Due to unforseen circumstances, I was forced to move to a country where such things as Poker - Drinking and Porn are strictly forbidden. As luck has it, I am well received and connect myself to the underground Poker society (the small one it has).

I'm a new commer to their 'Home Game', and I feel I am not perceived as a threat because I look inexperienced (I'm 22, everyone else is 30 - 50 and is a table coach). I've only mentionned that I play online. Upon getting to this 'Home Game', I see that there are two tables ... I sit with the host who invited me.

The buyin is just under 600 American, in which you get 2000 chips. Blinds are 25 / 50. Its dealers choice (games alternate between NL Hold'em, Omahahahaha and 10 card Omahahahahaha, real real [censored] up) ... and after 15 mins it becomes aparant how bad everyone is. Money is being splashed around like a fat man doing a cannon ball off the high-dive.

Firslt, any input on strategy in a 600 dollar, 40BB game is greatly appreciated (the game has about 6 - 8 players in any given orbit).

I ended up losing 2400 that night and would like to reverse my fortunes. I know I'm buying into a very high variance donk fest and would like to know how to play optimally.

Online I beat 100NL for 8ptbb/100, 200 for 5pbb/100 and 400 for 2.2ptbb/100 over around 350k hands. I consider myself a decent player ... but that kinda money hurts.

On a side note, when the game got shorter and both tables had a combine number of 8 players, the cash game turned into a tournament with w/e chips you had left. The winner ended up taking down about 22k in money.

[/ QUOTE ]

I play in a game like this 3 nights a week and the ending is pretty much the same. The players are all donks but they dont care and it works out well for me at least 2 nights a week.

FWIW

I play Hold-Em much more openly and aggressively as the players I am with prefer Omaha. I am often forcing the action but slowing up pretty quick to aggression.

The Omaha is also played NL and I play extremely conservatively (limping and calling with almost no raises)and try to control pot size thru position if I am there at the river I will have a premium hand.

Overall I always find myself wanting to make moves on these guys because they are suck donkeys... and saying to myself "Don't outsmart yourself, they aren't smart enough to fold to your moves."

[SykoraG]

double flop basic... gets alot of money in fast.

Really though I'm so confused on as to how to play still, playing tight eats up my blinds like its nobodies business.

[DrMcNasty]

[ QUOTE ]
playing tight eats up my blinds like its nobodies business.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe the answer is "don't play." You know that tight, straightforward play should be a long-term winner against folks who know little more than hand ranks... if that is not profitable, what else could be? (Probably nothing)

Maybe the answer is finding an edge alongside the game... you've got a bunch of gamblers assembled. Can you take favorable (+ev) props to make up for the unfavorable (-ev) game?

Maybe the answer is cultural... how long do you expect you need to play with the group before you could propose a change in the structure? Are these Saudis or people of your own culture that you are playing with?

Also, is there any chance of getting a smaller group of them together at your residence where you set the stakes? Maybe the heavier gamblers would welcome a second game?

[BrianBigNFun]

[ QUOTE ]
Ive only played once so I'm still a little confused myself. But as far as I know, what chips you have after the cash games are over are what you use to get in the tournament. I sat with 5000 chips and the guy beside me had like 17000 (was dominating it) .... so yeah, while at the same time on the way to the tourny that was beginning (as of word of mouth), 1 or 2 people cashed out.



[/ QUOTE ]

wow, that's pretty f'd up

[cardshark]

The strategy of a disciplined poker player requires the player to know when to fold a hand. We all know that, right?

Well, by the same logic, the strategy of the same disciplined poker player also requires the player to know which games not to get involved in, in the first place.

This sounds like a gambling game. People just have money to burn and want to gave some fun betting at the turn of a card. Might as well play baccarat or craps.

Forget about trying to "making moves" on them. The only "moves" that would work are peeking, second dealing and stacking the deck.

[Dr. Detroit]

[ QUOTE ]
The strategy of a disciplined poker player requires the player to know when to fold a hand. We all know that, right?

Well, by the same logic, the strategy of the same disciplined poker player also requires the player to know which games not to get involved in, in the first place.

This sounds like a gambling game. People just have money to burn and want to gave some fun betting at the turn of a card. Might as well play baccarat or craps.

Forget about trying to "making moves" on them. The only "moves" that would work are peeking, second dealing and stacking the deck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not true, these are still numbers games and it is about being disciplined and not committing too many of your chips unless you know you have the best of it.

[Small Fry]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The strategy of a disciplined poker player requires the player to know when to fold a hand. We all know that, right?

Well, by the same logic, the strategy of the same disciplined poker player also requires the player to know which games not to get involved in, in the first place.

This sounds like a gambling game. People just have money to burn and want to gave some fun betting at the turn of a card. Might as well play baccarat or craps.

Forget about trying to "making moves" on them. The only "moves" that would work are peeking, second dealing and stacking the deck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not true, these are still numbers games and it is about being disciplined and not committing too many of your chips unless you know you have the best of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Going to have to disagree with you here Doc. Even if the game was just NL Hold'em which the OP has played extensively this might not be the game for him for several possible reasons. 1. too much variance and it makes him tilt and then he loses his advantage. 2. Basically this is a short stack game and maybe he doesn't have the skills for this game. Sure he can get them but does he want to risk his money at these stakes while learning. 3. Possibly the players aren't as bad or he isn't as good as he thinks, so his advantage isn't as great.

A good player identifies a profitable game based on his own skill set. For example, if you are successful against TAG's you might have a very tough time playing a table dominated by LAG's. I'm sure you know the saying about spotting the fish within the first 20 minutes.

I do agree that it is still poker and there are probabilities and odds so from that perspective you're absolutely correct.

So, I think the OP might be a little out of his element here. Which is why he's asking for advice. He needs to look at exactly how his skill set fits into this game and what adjustments he might need to make. Then he needs to determine if he can make those adjustemnts. It's one thing to be a LAG and say to yourself I need to play TAG , (or vice versa) it's a whole nother thing to actually do it. OR maybe he tilts big time after losing a couple buy ins. Can he walk away or does he feel stuck so he tries even harder to get it back which will probably cause him to lose more. He can identify this, but does he have the mental fortitude to solve this problem.

Good Luck

[Al Mirpuri]

Forget the poker. It seems to me that daddy moved to the oil-rich gulf. If you get caught you are going to get lashed. Even online may be too dangerous but it must be far less so than playing in an underground game.

[eof]

Always choose NL Holdem for your deal. If you have 20 buy ins, you should keep playing IMO and not play the tournament with a big stack unless you think you can win.

I played a lot of poker online and was a big winner in the 25NL (Yeah whatever) and upto 3/6 Limit. I thought i was the bomb-diggity and I went and played with a bunch of drunken fools once a week, and although I showed a profit, I was not dominating the table. The problem was the stakes were too high and I was out of my element. You have to be thinking on a deeper level than they are, are they just playing their hand or are they playing mine? Too often I was playing only my own hand and not noticing I was probably getting bluffed way more than I thought, although it was made up for by getting a lot of loose calls.. it really only takes one good player at your table looking into your soul while you don't notice to make a big chunk of your EV go away.

Play TIGHT,