adjusting to a weak/tighter game

martybonus · #1 02-25-2007, 08:42 AM

I've just switched from bodog which even at .50/1.00 is populated largely by loose-passive players who call down with any pair and on any kind of draw. It's a license to print money: bet for value and fold to raises on later streets where appropriate.

But now i'm on partypoker cos of the sweet, sweet pokersource bonus whoring. 50 bucks + 500 hands= 125? don't mind if I do!!

I'm only about 100 hands in so I wanted to get some more opinions. Seems to me the tables are tougher than bodog. by far. You get far fewer players per flop - maybe 3-4 on average instead of 5-7 - though the passivity remains.

i'm not sure if they're weak-tight, but they do play fewer hands and raises are still unilaterally indicators of a good hand. PFRs are a bit more common as well.

Another side effect is that the pots tend to be much smaller.

So I'm curious what kinds of adjustments I should think about making, in addition to the SSHE stuff which I'll re-re-read.

Seems like blind steals are going to be much more successful (limited experience shows yes) and bluffs in general will be a more useful tool. Raising to protect seems tempting though because the pots tend to be small, this would seem non-canonical. Should I loosen up a bit and see more flops but fold UI on later streets?

Any general guidance (and corrections!) would be greatly appreciated. I know, 'everything depends on the situation', but general ideas are always great starting points - that's why I usually fold 27o UTG [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

kerowo · #2 02-25-2007, 08:58 AM

Wait for more than 10 orbits before deciding anything.

fretelöo · #3 02-25-2007, 09:05 AM

Passive? Party?

Get more aggro preflop. Open-raise every hand you want to play. Be a bit more aggro post as well. Look at players postflop skills - they tend to be mediocre as many hands just collect the blinds and people adopt this as a kind of playing style. Playing back hard at them often leaves them pretty much in the dark.

But as kerowo said: Adjust slowly and take your time.

martybonus · #4 02-25-2007, 09:10 AM

thanks lads!

fretelöo · #5 02-25-2007, 09:18 AM

Marty, assuming there'll be a reload at the end of the month, I'll be playing there too. If you want, maybe we can organize a ride-along for a session or something.

martybonus · #6 02-25-2007, 10:15 AM

that'd be cracking. I've got a review with befolder as well so that should help alot. Just let me know what happens.

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for a while. I'm not quite sure what to make of party. I'm still getting used to the interface!

but yeah, that'd be really cool. cheers.

bozlax · #7 02-25-2007, 12:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I'm only about 100 hands in...

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] I figured I could stop here.

martybonus · #8 02-25-2007, 05:13 PM

hehe fair enough [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

i'll worry about it more if it's a repeat occurrence. spose it just shocked me cos i was so used to much softer, looser tables.

but i'm curious as to whether any of you guys concurred with my albeit-hasty assessment that party is pretty weak-tight.

OziBattler · #9 02-25-2007, 05:26 PM

marty, if you think the games are tight now...just wait til the next reload cos every party bonus whore out there will pile in and hang on to their chips like grim death hoping others will drive the pot to raked hand size. yes, im being serious.

one adjustment is to be careful about playing speculative hands in early position as you run the risk of being isolated and paying more than one bet to see a flop.

marty, what limit are you playing at party?

Guitierez · #10 02-25-2007, 05:46 PM

I'm at Party under same conditions, bonus-whoring 1k raked hands at 0.15/0.30.....
I also find games pretty tight. After 900 games PT shows me an ASF of 30%, Avg Pot is 5.4 BB, quite passive postflop. But this may not representative since I leave the table as soon as ASF drops below 25%.
It's hard to find fishes as players seem to get more educated. But there are still a lot of bad players coldcalling with no matter what hand, preflop raising hands I would discard without thinking twice.
The strategy that still keeps me going at 7.5 BB/100 is straightforward ABC-Poker,rarely bluffs as they will get called, speculative hands only from late position with many limpers. Push your good hands to the max, dont hesitate to reraise in large pots.
Hope that helps, I'd like to meet you there, PM me your screen-name if you play the same level, might be fun....