Theoretical table with all 2+2'ers

[cdlarmore]

1. you wouldnt catch me in that game!
2. you would need to play much more random/sporadic so as to be unexploitable.

3. I would run Lag to Weak tight varying it up about every 5-7 hands for max unpredicatbility...

it would cause them to give you enough action on your call streaks to make them profitable, and the lag periods could be played tightly postflop if you dont connect hard.

[JJNJustin]

Lets assume hypothetically that this is the only game you can find to play in. Lets also assume hypothetically that there is no rake. You have to devise a strategy to beat good players. What would it be?

-J

[cdlarmore]

As stated above, more random play, a variety between Loose agressive and weak tight, alternating every 5-7 hands off and on as they adjust to your play.

[checkmate36]

It doesn't matter what stakes the game is played at. A bunch of 2p2ers would enter the game and flip for thousands. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[QuadsOverQuads]

Translation: "I've decided to play in a -EV game. What's my optimal strategy?"


q/q

[sweetjazz]

[ QUOTE ]
Lets assume hypothetically that this is the only game you can find to play in. Lets also assume hypothetically that there is no rake. You have to devise a strategy to beat good players. What would it be?

-J

[/ QUOTE ]

You're basically just trying to stay one level ahead of your opponents. If the game has become where people are calling down light, you cut back on your bluffs and semibluffs while making thinner value bets. If the game is playing tight and "honest" you bluff and semibluff more.

Of course in a tough 2+2 game, the circumstances will never favor one pure strategy. So your adjustment will only be barely noticeable. Even in an honest game, you'll still have to make some loosish calldowns, and even in a crazy game you'll still find a good spot to bluff and semibluff.

If the player skill is pretty close, then the key factor in distinguishing winners from losers will be how people adjust to running bad. People who spew and tilt will be the suckers in the game. Of course the variance will be extreme, again assuming fairly evenly skilled players.

You should always be aware of the flow of the game and what your image is. Tighten up when you start to look LAGgy, loosen up when you start to look rockish. Try to figure out what strategy the other players are using and pay special attention to whether players make the same type of plays repeatedly or vary their play frequently. Adjust your assessment of their hand ranges accordingly. There's a big difference between someone who will check/raise a blind stealer from the BB on an Ac 6h 3s flop with J8o 100% of the time and someone who makes the same play 5% of the time. In the first case, not calling down with KQ would be criminal, while seeing a showdown with KQ in the second case is much more dubious.

I don't know what more specifically can be said, as the exact strategy will depend on so many variables that could have a wide range of values when sampled over a typical 2+2 pool of players.

[Michael Davis]

Everyone who answered "don't play" should be banned immediately. Maybe the original question should have been posed as if it were a tournament.

-Michael

[pzhon]

[ QUOTE ]
You are playing a Texas Hold'Em poker game and every opponent is a solid player who is very familiar with the writings on these forums. What adjustments, if any, do you make in your overall strategy?

[/ QUOTE ]
Typically, I call the check-raise all-in on the flop with AK unimproved, and expect to be ahead. If it's limit, though, I buy in to the table for the entire amount I have on the site to fit in.

2+2 games may be full of decent players, but many play intentionally poorly. You'll see people minraise back and forth 10 times preflop, and AK unimproved often takes down the whole pot in multiway all-ins. Continuation bets get no respect, and people make sick river calls with J-high. It's not a big surprise to see two stacks over $400 at a NL $25 table.

2+2 games are fun (and profitable for me, ignoring opportunity cost), although I get annoyed and quit when I have been showing my cards along with most of the experienced players, while some nits who are winning don't show.

In a serious game, though, most 2+2-ers are used to exploiting the weaknesses of losing players (who exist at all levels). They often do this without understanding why their strategy works, and that their own strategy is far from optimal. I'd protect myself by playing more closely to optimal play myself, while exploiting the very different mistakes decent players make instead of the mistakes of the usual calling stations and maniacs.

[Michael Davis]

"and AK unimproved often takes down the whole pot in multiway all-ins."

LOL

-Michael