Club games and their pros and cons.

[jkamowitz]

For the past year, I have successfully played 5-5 and 5-10nl in private clubs as well as low to high buy-in tournaments. I have had success in both but recently have begun to think that these games, once you become a regular, become less profitable. In a casino, you're free to be ruthless, but in these clubs there is an ugly pressure to be the nice guy.
Normally, my strategy is to present a nice guy table image, it lets me get away with some things a jerk can't and people tell me their strategies and secrets.
The club that I currently attend opens its doors 5 days a week at 10am and goes until dawn. This presents a few problems:
1. The players leave and go regularly and in quick succession. They often play for an hour or so and return at night. This means that it is hard to acculate information about their play, as one's playing style and emotions can change frequently.
2. Business is too frequent. I do do business on occasion. But it has unfortunately become taboo to refuse business. The recent fad is when two people go all in they play for what's in the middle of the pot and not what is in front of them. Thus money rarely moves hands.
3. The dealers are to slow. While there are a few club dealers that have excelled beyond expectation, the majority I have come across are incompetant and often unaware of how the game should be played, be it hold 'em, omaha, or stud.

Sure you're going to say, so don't play in clubs play online. The problem is I enjoy live play. My question is how do I exploit these tendencies? This is not a 'we're not friends then' post as I understand that these are not my friends and I should be gutless, but the pressure for business hinders a big win.