Interesting Game Of Hold Em

[alanstats 0]

Here in Florida they have 2 dollar max betting limits on any particular bet, so that limits them to 1-2 hold em. They have introduced a new format called ante 2. All players ante two dollars before the cards are dealt, so we have a 20 dollar pot. The cards are dealt and it plays like a normal straight 2 hold em game, with 2 dollar bets capped at 8 pre flop and on all 3 subsequent rounds. Obviously these pots are much larger than normal 1-2 or straight two pots here in Florida. I have seen the play and its rather agressive, with a lot of pots capped preflop. Can anyone help me from a math or theory standpoint figure out this game. Obviously preflop for only 2 dollars, the pot odds are great to come into any pot, and the pot odds will always be decent at any point in a hand. You really only need to win a few pots to make it a successful night by Florida poker standards. I am going to play next week. My thoughts in beating this game would be to play pretty tight, and commit as little money as possible other than the 2 dollar ante, until I have a made hand. I guess position becomes more important in this game when deciding when to limp in preflop, because these pots are frequently capped. Wow sorry for rambling, just wondering if anyone has played with this ante format, and if anyone can offer some mathematical or theory advice.

[Suited_Up 2]

First of all.. $2 ante in holdem is nuts.You now have odds to play pretty much any 2. Tight is definitely the wrong way to play this, if you should even play it at all.

[No_Neck 0]

what about not playing big draw hands like A suiteds and such, since the pots are going to be big and multiway I think suited connectors and even single gap suited connecters might be worth playing. But if you don't hit a big draw you are going to have to fold. Play any pairs pretty much to hit a set. Not sure if it will work but if I think you are much better off with a draw to the nutts than AA.

[Theraflu 1,047]

well i'm not good at figuring out the math quickly, but in general if you're going to have lots of players to every flop, then your high pocket pairs go down in value and suited connectors and aX suited are going to be more valuable, since unless you hit a set or fill up, the hand might not be the best.since it sounds like its going to be tough to limp, late position is definately going to be your friend with the more mediocre hands.

[No_Neck 0]

isn't it funny that in order to make it legal they make the game more of a gambling game.

[Suited_Up 2]

isn't it funny that in order to make it legal they make the game more of a gambling game.

Funny, in a hey, this is the most retarded thing i've ever heard of.... kinda way.

[No_Neck 0]

Funny, in a hey, this is the most retarded thing i've ever heard of.... kinda way.

yeah thats the one

[alanstats 0]

Yea well the state of Florida is a joke. You can bet 5k on a game of Jai Alai, or greyhound racing, but you have to play a joke of a gamble in poker. I think in late position I'd play any two cards for 4 bucks or less. I'd probably come in with suited connectors or pocket pairs of any kind but I'd really never raise. I think the name of this game is hitting a flop, or at least drawing to the nuts with sufficient odds. The problem with this game is that the pot seems to sucker people into calling. If the pot is 40 bucks, someone with AK will call all the way down trying to hit anything. I'm not sure if this is a decent strategy or not. In all honesty its probably not worth even sitting at this table, but again, Its the closest to real poker we have down here.

[SweetDaddyFreak 0]

Yep, it sucks to live in Florida and play poker.If i didnt have a laptop I would've probably gone crazy.....everyone sucks live though so it evens out

[no not baxter 0]

Live poker in Florida is +EV, no matter what game you play. 90% of the people playing are complete donks who have no idea what they are doing and do not give a shit that they are losing their paychecks. I sort of feel bad, but then I realize that its NOT MY PROBLEM.

[godoffrisbee 0]

alanstats, are you talking about $2 action at the fort myers greyhound track. if you are, i would just stick to the omaha game. since it's hi-lo, people just dump money into the pot. yum yum

[alanstats 0]

I'm in West Palm Beach. They have it at the Palm Beach Kennel Club too. I need to learn more about Omaha H/L before I play, but I'm pretty sure I'd be able to beat that game anyway.

[Lawnmower Man 0]

Live poker in Florida is +EV, no matter what game you play. 90% of the people playing are complete donks who have no idea what they are doing and do not give a shit that they are losing their paychecks. I sort of feel bad, but then I realize that its NOT MY PROBLEM.

If you ever travel to fish farms - the local dog tracks or casinos like the Hard Rock - you will regularly make tons of money, even if your play doesn't improve. But yes, Florida live poker is +EV, if you want to improve your game find a few real players and play cash games with them. Before that you should build up your stack at the donk loaded $1/$2 or Straight $2 LHE tables. Switching games to Omaha takes a lot of TV poker fans out of the equation, but if your anything more than a typical fish you could still take 40+ BBs/HR.

[alanstats 0]

40 bb an hour. You're a joke. We're talking long run here. Not an occasional big score.

[Zach6668 513]

40 bb an hour. You're a joke. We're talking long run here. Not an occasional big score.

Chuck Norris would make 40 bb / hour, although his number is closer to infinite.- Zach

[BNH77 0]

I thought u said it was an interesting game? This game sounds like a complete card catching fest, which has to be the least interesting form of poker.

[Sluggo 0]

Not sure if it will work but if I think you are much better off with a draw to the nutts than AA.

No. AA is better than JTs, even ten way.

[Zach6668 513]

No. AA is better than JTs, even ten way.

Very very true.

[Abbaddabba 0]

I'd love to try an ante plus blind structure online.Say, the ante being half the size of the small blind.So at a 1/2 game, the ante would be a quarter and the blinds would be the same as usual.I think there are as many weak/tights who would fail to adapt to this as there are loose/passives that fail to adapt to standard full ring.The game that the OP is describing wouldnt be entirely mindless though. It's just different. While it's true that a loose/passive's style may work quite well in this structure, a weak/tight would crumble to pieces. If this were live, i wouldnt want to play it just because of how many loose/passives there are. But online? You could do quite well i think. Only problem is that people who are cheap and/or ultra tight probably wont play int he games with an ante.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'd love to try an ante plus blind structure online.Say, the ante being half the size of the small blind.So at a 1/2 game, the ante would be a quarter and the blinds would be the same as usual.I think there are as many weak/tights who would fail to adapt to this as there are loose/passives that fail to adapt to standard full ring.The game that the OP is describing wouldnt be entirely mindless though. It's just different. While it's true that a loose/passive's style may work quite well in this structure, a weak/tight would crumble to pieces. If this were live, i wouldnt want to play it just because of how many loose/passives there are. But online? You could do quite well i think. Only problem is that people who are cheap and/or ultra tight probably wont play int he games with an ante.

They actually have this on PartyPoker right now if you play the MT SnGs. The problem is that they take FOREVER. I got 13th in a 2-table limit tourney and it took me an hour and a half.

[alanstats 0]

Ok I'll try to bring this back to the topic in hopes that I can get a bit more advice from you strat geniuses. Obviously we've established that a weak-tight game will suffer in this structure. We've also established that we will frequently have sufficient odds to look at flops with mediocre cards, or drawing hands.The key to this game is that the pots do get big in relation to the bets, and so they are heavily contested post flop as well. The betting is usually capped on all streets, even by people just drawing. I guess the key would be to see flops with the suited connectors and pocket pairs, as well as all standard starting hands. But for another 8 bucks on the flop turn and river I think I'd need to tighten up post flop, and get out of hands that didn't hit me. Maybe I'm making no sesne

[Cooker 0]

I think you probably play any 2 cards that have a reasonable chance to make a winning hand then stay in with any draw (gutshots should be profitable with that much in preflop). I would be playing every PP, every suited hand, most connectors, any 2 cards T or higher. I would only fold the absolute junk preflop unless almost every pot is 3 bet. Your immediate odds and implied odds are going to be fanastic so you can speculate. I think most of the "profits" in this game are going to come from folding obviously beaten hands on later streets. You should probably always draw to any hand that has a reasonable chance to be good (even trips and 2 pair with bottom pair for instance). That being said, this structure is going to be high variance and take away a huge chunk of a good players edge. I wouldn't expect your winrate to be great no matter how good your strategy is at the end of the day.

[JacKingOff_suit 0]

It's really a crap shoot because of the antes and the turn and the river rounds are still $2 bet (I think that's what you've implied).I suggest there's a better game to play. Everyone gets 2 random cards, put $34 chips ($2 ante + 4X$8each betting round) in front of them, then deal 5 cards on the board and see who's the winner, that saves a lot of time and makes the game much faster.

[no not baxter 0]

I think you probably play any 2 cards that have a reasonable chance to make a winning hand then stay in with any draw (gutshots should be profitable with that much in preflop). I would be playing every PP, every suited hand, most connectors, any 2 cards T or higher. I would only fold the absolute junk preflop unless almost every pot is 3 bet. Your immediate odds and implied odds are going to be fanastic so you can speculate. I think most of the "profits" in this game are going to come from folding obviously beaten hands on later streets. You should probably always draw to any hand that has a reasonable chance to be good (even trips and 2 pair with bottom pair for instance). That being said, this structure is going to be high variance and take away a huge chunk of a good players edge. I wouldn't expect your winrate to be great no matter how good your strategy is at the end of the day.

I actually played this game yesterday. I agree with the hand selections from above. I would play almost all suited cards, almost all connectors, any pair, and any two cards that were 10 or higher. Basically, the only hands I folded were your unsuited J4, K3, J4, 25, etc. I almost never raised. I only raised preflop 3 times the whole session. I raised with AA, AA, and AK (of course the times i had AA the donks werent capping it). I really dont think it is necessary to raise with any cards other than AA, KK, QQ. Maybe you should raise with AK...But, your really not going to force anybody out except the guys that were going to fold anyway. Anyways, I was up $220 at one point, but then hit a really bad deck of cards and finished + $70. I think the game is going to be profitable. Yeah, it is too early to tell. I can't make conclusions on the game after one session, but I think the game will turn out to be profitable. However, I do not know if this game is as profitable as straight two. The players seemed much better in Ante 2. We really didnt have any donks who were drunk and capping every pot except for this one guy who only did it for 20 minutes. Straight two has tons of idiots who cap every pot and there you can just be patient and wait for your hand and then pick off the donk.Once again, I have only played one session and I am not totally sure about the difference in players between straight 2 and ante 2. Who knows...i could of gotten unlucky and ran into a lot of rocks...-Baxter

[Abbaddabba 0]

I agree with the hand selections from above. I would play almost all suited cards, almost all connectors, any pair, and any two cards that were 10 or higher. Basically, the only hands I folded were your unsuited J4, K3, J4, 25, etc. I almost never raised. I only raised preflop 3 times the whole session. I raised with AA, AA, and AK (of course the times i had AA the donks werent capping it). I really dont think it is necessary to raise with any cards other than AA, KK, QQ. Maybe you should raise with AK...But, your really not going to force anybody out except the guys that were going to fold anyway.

Terrible strategy.You should be raising with tons of hands.