Why bother raising in early position?
[S]eems to me that if you are getting multiway type raises every hand hand after hand in that particular game even with an early raise[,] then your raise is in effect creating the conditions under which you will get cracked sufficiently with high pairs to make raising not worth it, in effect[.] [I] know this has been frequently written about on last position -- you are making it worthwhile odds wise for true multiway hands to gamble with you for the lesser bet[:] suited medium[,] small cards[,] small pairs[,] even [KQ] offsuit etc[.]
[I] would think about limiting my raising in early position to [AA] maybe
[KK] certain[ly] [AKs][,] maybe [AQs.]
Phew, it took only a little editing to make that readable.
I've done a fair bit of simulations and mathematical studies on preflop strategies and the concept of "hand balancing" - balancing the strengths of hands you can have in different situations, to prevent players from exploiting the information you are giving (by raising your
limping hands because you tend to raise with your strong hands, for example.)
In the loose type of game being referred to in this thread, I submit that:
1) You don't have to worry about your opponents adapting to your play.
2) You should raise with fewer hands than normal.
On the first point, your opponents want to play. They are looking for excuses to call. If you raise under the gun, they'll think "Oh gee, he probably has pocket aces. Let's call to see if we can really put him on tilt by giving him a bad beat." The whole concept of hand balancing goes out the window.
On the second point, there is no chance to steal the blinds, you want dominated hands to call, and with a lot of your hands you either want as many players as possible or you want to see the flop for as cheap as possible (or both)... so you will open-raise less often in a loose game.
On top of whether the game is loose, it makes a big difference whether the game is aggressive or passive preflop.
Based on simulations using Wilson's Turbo Texas Hold'em, here are my suggestions for preflop play in loose games...
Loose-passive game preflop strategy:
Raise with AA/KK/QQ/JJ/TT/AKs;
except you should limp with TT in very loose games;
limp with most other playable hands;
but raise with AK and other offsuit aces.
Loose-aggressive game preflop strategy:
Limp-reraise with AA/KK/QQ/JJ/TT/AKs;
limp with most other playable hands;
but raise with AK and other offsuit aces;
and raise with 77-99 unless game is very loose,
in which case limp 77-99 and raise with TT;
definitely limp with playable pairs smaller than 77;
limp, then call if raised or reraise with AQs and AJs.
Pocket pairs are stronger than most people think. With the combined chances of having an overpair (or "top under pair") or a set by the river, JJ, TT, 99, 88, and even 77 are often worth
raising with preflop, even in loose games. JJ, TT, and sometimes 99 are so strong that you can consider limp-reraising with them. But once you get to a very loose game, where it's going to be like 7+ way to the flop even if you raise, then the small to medium pairs start to play better by just limp-calling.
BTW, according to sims, the list of playable hands in a loose-aggressive game UTG is: 66-AA, A3s-AKs, KTs-KQs, JTs, QJs, QTs, AT-AK, KQ.
For passive games add: 44, 55, A2s, K9s, T9s, J9s, KJ, and maybe QJ.
You can't go much wrong playing 33 and 22, either.
As far as the original poster's question about whether it might be wise to open-limp with every hand, it's not a bad strategy in such a game, so long as you reraise when it comes back raised once and you have AA, KK, etc. The only thing you're sacrificing compared to my suggestion in a very loose-aggressive game is not raising with AK, AQ, AJ, and TT, and at least you won't be exploitable by any alert players.
In tighter games, it looks to me like open-limping with every hand is not a good option, because stealing the blinds, even from under the gun, has so much equity. In very tight games, it also looks like raising with every hand, while better than limping with every hand, is suboptimal, because you *don't* want to steal the blinds with your very powerful hands, like AA-JJ. In tight games, it's very important to balance your hand strength between open-raising and open-limping (with a reraise from some of your limping hands.)
[I] would think about limiting my raising in early position to [AA] maybe
[KK] certain[ly] [AKs][,] maybe [AQs.]
Phew, it took only a little editing to make that readable.
I've done a fair bit of simulations and mathematical studies on preflop strategies and the concept of "hand balancing" - balancing the strengths of hands you can have in different situations, to prevent players from exploiting the information you are giving (by raising your
limping hands because you tend to raise with your strong hands, for example.)
In the loose type of game being referred to in this thread, I submit that:
1) You don't have to worry about your opponents adapting to your play.
2) You should raise with fewer hands than normal.
On the first point, your opponents want to play. They are looking for excuses to call. If you raise under the gun, they'll think "Oh gee, he probably has pocket aces. Let's call to see if we can really put him on tilt by giving him a bad beat." The whole concept of hand balancing goes out the window.
On the second point, there is no chance to steal the blinds, you want dominated hands to call, and with a lot of your hands you either want as many players as possible or you want to see the flop for as cheap as possible (or both)... so you will open-raise less often in a loose game.
On top of whether the game is loose, it makes a big difference whether the game is aggressive or passive preflop.
Based on simulations using Wilson's Turbo Texas Hold'em, here are my suggestions for preflop play in loose games...
Loose-passive game preflop strategy:
Raise with AA/KK/QQ/JJ/TT/AKs;
except you should limp with TT in very loose games;
limp with most other playable hands;
but raise with AK and other offsuit aces.
Loose-aggressive game preflop strategy:
Limp-reraise with AA/KK/QQ/JJ/TT/AKs;
limp with most other playable hands;
but raise with AK and other offsuit aces;
and raise with 77-99 unless game is very loose,
in which case limp 77-99 and raise with TT;
definitely limp with playable pairs smaller than 77;
limp, then call if raised or reraise with AQs and AJs.
Pocket pairs are stronger than most people think. With the combined chances of having an overpair (or "top under pair") or a set by the river, JJ, TT, 99, 88, and even 77 are often worth
raising with preflop, even in loose games. JJ, TT, and sometimes 99 are so strong that you can consider limp-reraising with them. But once you get to a very loose game, where it's going to be like 7+ way to the flop even if you raise, then the small to medium pairs start to play better by just limp-calling.
BTW, according to sims, the list of playable hands in a loose-aggressive game UTG is: 66-AA, A3s-AKs, KTs-KQs, JTs, QJs, QTs, AT-AK, KQ.
For passive games add: 44, 55, A2s, K9s, T9s, J9s, KJ, and maybe QJ.
You can't go much wrong playing 33 and 22, either.
As far as the original poster's question about whether it might be wise to open-limp with every hand, it's not a bad strategy in such a game, so long as you reraise when it comes back raised once and you have AA, KK, etc. The only thing you're sacrificing compared to my suggestion in a very loose-aggressive game is not raising with AK, AQ, AJ, and TT, and at least you won't be exploitable by any alert players.
In tighter games, it looks to me like open-limping with every hand is not a good option, because stealing the blinds, even from under the gun, has so much equity. In very tight games, it also looks like raising with every hand, while better than limping with every hand, is suboptimal, because you *don't* want to steal the blinds with your very powerful hands, like AA-JJ. In tight games, it's very important to balance your hand strength between open-raising and open-limping (with a reraise from some of your limping hands.)
