Why You Can’t Beat Low-limit Games — Part IV

This series is only for people who can’t beat low-limit games. Parts I and II proved that you don’t lose because the games are too loose and the players are too stupid. You lose primarily because the costs are so high that you need a huge edge to overcome them, and you rarely have enough edge. Part III said you must carefully select games that give you that essential huge edge.

If you haven’t read them, do so at CardPlayer.com. If you don’t understand and adjust to the critical importance of costs and game selection, you won’t make the necessary adjustments, so you’ll keep losing. This, and future columns, will discuss strategic adjustments.

Be Very Tight-Aggressive

If you aren’t very tight, you’ll play cards that don’t give you the edge needed to cover your costs. If you’re not very aggressive, you won’t get full value from your good hands, and you won’t protect them properly.

Of course, you can’t protect them as well as you can against the better players you’ll find in bigger games, but it’s absurd to claim – as so many losers do – “I can’t force out anyone!” Even the loosest players fold sometimes, but too many people forget it and only remember when their opponents draw out. Every time you knock out someone, you increase your chances to win.

Because bad beats are so frustrating, some players become looser and less aggressive. After having their aces and kings cracked by trash, they start playing marginal or worse hands. They foolishly think, “I can’t win with good cards, so I’ll play the sort of junk that’s beaten me.” They also raise less often because they mistakenly believe that, “I can’t force anyone out.” They are understandable, but self-destructive reactions.
You must suppress your anger about bad beats, wait for the right cards and situation, and then attack as aggressively as possible.

Play The Blinds Correctly

Never forget that the rake and jackpot drop (R&JPD) have the greatest impact in tiny pots. The smaller the pot, the larger edge you need to cover your costs. You should therefore:

• Always chop the blinds (except in short-handed games with reduced rake). You’ll rarely have a large enough edge to cover the extreme costs. Playing small pots without a huge edge will cost you money. Big pairs are the only hands which give you that huge edge, and you won’t get them often enough to make a difference. Besides, if you sometimes chop the blinds and sometimes refuse to chop them, smart opponents will know what you have, so you won’t get much action when you win, but you will lose heavily when they draw out.

• Never over-protect your blinds heads-up. The costs are so high, that protecting them with weak hands is extremely foolish. Let’s say you’re playing $3-$6 with the usual $1-$3 blinds. You’re the big blind with 6-5 suited, someone raises from early position, and everyone folds. You’re not getting acceptable odds to call. You may think you’re getting 10 to 3, but after the R&JPD you’re getting only 8 to 3. You’re out of position against a much better hand. Don’t be a macho fool. Just fold.

Rarely Open-Limp

If nobody has entered the pot, you should almost always either raise or fold. People justify open-limping when: (1) They have aces or kings and hope someone raises so they can three-bet. (2) They have a weak draw and hope to see the flop cheaply against a large field. Unless you have solid reasons to believe your hopes are justified, neither reason makes sense.

Open-limping with aces or kings: Countless people have limped with them in loose-passive games, let many opponents call cheaply, lost to trash, and blamed “the idiot” who beat them. They rarely accept the responsibility for foolishly letting them draw cheaply.

Surprisingly, you shouldn’t open-limp if the game is very loose-aggressive. Open-raise to build a large pot with a small field. If you limp and someone raises, more people are likely to call than if you open-raise (because the pot is bigger). If several players cold-call two bets, they’ll almost certainly call your three-bet, making the pot too big.

That may sound like heresy. Don’t you want to create an enormous pot with aces or kings?
No, you don’t. All you have is one pair, a very vulnerable hand against a large field. Huge pots make low-limit players’ most common and serious mistake – calling too loosely – a much less serious error, perhaps even the correct post-flop play. If the pot contains fifteen small bets, they should call with only a few outs. Then, when someone hits that longshot draw, we hear that same old complaint about “idiots,” even though, because the pot was so large, the winner’s post-flop calls were correct.

Open-limping with weak or marginal draws: This mistake occurs much more frequently. You get aces or kings only once every three hours, but get many marginal and weak draws. Besides, you came to play, and folding is boring. So you open-limp with small pairs, small suited connectors, and even weaker hands, especially if you’ve been card dead.
You hope to see the flop cheaply, but get raised. You call because, “it’s only one more bet,” catch a piece of the flop, lose several more bets, and complain – hopefully only to yourself – about your bad luck. Of course, it wasn’t bad luck; it was poor discipline.

You should open-limp with weak and marginal draws only when there are many loose-passive and no aggressive players behind you. You need to see the flop cheaply against a large field. If the game is very loose-passive, you can open-limp with pocket deuces and 7-6 suited under the gun, but not in late position. That advice conflicts with the conventional wisdom that you can play weaker hands in late position, but – if nobody has limped, and you’re in late position – you can’t get enough opponents or odds to justify limping with those weak cards (but you can occasionally steal the blinds by raising).
No flop no drop: If your room has this rule, open-limping is much worse than in rooms that rake every pot. When they don’t take a rake or JPD without a flop, aggression pays an extra dividend; it saves you a dollar or two, which greatly increases your Expected Value.

Let’s say you’re playing $3-$6 with $1-$3 blinds, $1 rake and $1 jackpot drop at $10, and no flop, no drop. You open-limp, one player calls, and the small blind folds. The house takes $2, leaving a pot of $8. You risked $3 and must usually risk considerably more to beat two players and win $5, plus their additional bets. If you open-raise and everyone folds, you risk $6 and win $4 without any later bets.

Of course, you shouldn’t open-raise without a good hand, but, unless your hand is good enough to raise, you probably don’t have enough edge to cover your costs. That brings us back to our basic principle: Low-limit games have such high costs that you can’t win without a huge edge. Starting with very good cards is an essential step toward creating that edge. If your cards aren’t good enough to raise, fold. ♠

“Dr. Al” ([email protected]) coaches only on psychology issues. For information about seminars and webinars, go to propokerseminars.com. He is David Sklansky’s co-author of DUCY? and the sole author of four poker psychology books.