I was just reading an article online and they mentioned getting up and changing tables if you find yourself in a “bad game.” So what defines a bad game in your opinion?
Players asking for loans who came to the game "cash poor"
Constant straddlers.
If you want to play 2/5 wait for a fucking 2/5 table. If you don't want to play 1/2 dont sit at the fucking 1/2 table.
I don't mind the occasional "Hey lets get some excitement" straddle, but every orbit... Table change please!
I sat at a 1/2 table where for the first hour I was there, the pre flop raising was between 20 and 75 pretty much every hand. I literally wanted to vomit because with only 300 max buy-in, 50-75 pre flop usually mean you were going all the way and people were getting stacked left and right. I had no idea what was going on lol. I couldn't agree with this sentiment more. It was less the straddling and more the "go play at a 2/5 table lol".Constant straddlers.
If you want to play 2/5 wait for a fucking 2/5 table. If you don't want to play 1/2 dont sit at the fucking 1/2 table.
I don't mind the occasional "Hey lets get some excitement" straddle, but every orbit... Table change please!
Casino? That's bananas, was everyone deep stacked or just a shove fest?I sat at a 1/2 table where for the first hour I was there, the pre flop raising was between 20 and 75 pretty much every hand. I literally wanted to vomit because with only 300 max buy-in, 50-75 pre flop usually mean you were going all the way and people were getting stacked left and right. I had no idea what was going on lol. I couldn't agree with this sentiment more. It was less the straddling and more the "go play at a 2/5 table lol".
At Twin River Casino. This was the very first time I sat at a table like this and I can genuinely say that it was vomit inducing. I sat there sick to my stomach folding hand after hand after hand because if I played any hand pre flop it was getting raised. I eventually got pocket 8s and got stacked . It pretty much was an all in fest. People would either see a flop and shove, or shove on turn. Couple deep stacks but they were the ones who won their coin flips. I ended up paying 75 to see the flop the with my 8s, came out 8,Q,5 (don't remember suits). run out was a 2 followed by another queen and the villain had quad queens lmao. It was the absolute most tilting thing that has happened to me playing poker. Villain was playing all sorts of weird hands so the 75 pre flop didn't really help with trying to put him on any feasible range. But hey, that's poker I guess...lolCasino? That's bananas, was everyone deep stacked or just a shove fest?
I sat at a 1/2 table where for the first hour I was there, the pre flop raising was between 20 and 75 pretty much every hand. I literally wanted to vomit because with only 300 max buy-in, 50-75 pre flop usually mean you were going all the way and people were getting stacked left and right. I had no idea what was going on lol. I couldn't agree with this sentiment more.
Yeah that's a good strategy. I folded hands for an hour until I got the pocket pair. I know 8's aren't the best of the best but with that specific table people would be playing Ace little for 50+ so if there was ever a time to flip the coin that was the hand to do it. I was in for 150. up to about 350 and got stacked at about 310. What really made me angry was that my original table which I was very happy with got broken and I got the shaft by being seated at this table. Haven't been back to that casino since but I might go back to just shrug it off.I encounter this a lot... People playing either 1/2 or 2/5 with shallow stacks, bloating every preflop pot.
This means that almost everyone’s stack-to-pot ratio is tiny on the flop... which in turn means a lot of shoves. And if there are still any chips behind for the turn and river, if you’re still in the pot you’re almost always incentivized to get it in. Even when you think you’re beat, you only have to win a small percentage of the time to make it correct to do so.
It makes for a very high variance, more BINGO-y game which appeals to gamblers, but blunts the edge of thinking players.
The most absurd game of this type I’ve encountered is a social hall cash game which spreads 1/2 No Limit Omaha High Low—already an absurdly swingy game. Incredibly, they only allow players to buy in for $60 (30BB) at a time for the first couple hours. After that they’ll allow buyins of $100-$120.
Usually someone puts in a $5 straddle preflop (“Hey, watch me put in almost 10% of my stack blind!”) followed by someone who raises it to $20-$30. And then there will be 4-5 callers.
So you’ve got a ton of players each with maybe $20-$100 left on the flop, with a pot that’s already $80-$150. Multiway, with 4-7.5x everyone’s effective stack already in the middle, this guarantees at least one flop shove and call. Then you get to wait 10 minutes while they run it three times, and then for people to try to chop the pot multiple ways.
And then wait while the losers peel another $60 and the host has to fish out more chips every hand.
I’ve actually found it to be a profitable game for me. Early on I’ll just fold pre about 80% more often than the field and only play premiums with nut/nut potential. No one notices; they behave the same whether I’m in or out of the hand. Once I’ve tripled or quadrupled up, I can then play both a little looser and more strategically. But it is a ridiculous structure.