Playing tight at a $40 No Limit Table

[Alan Mendelson]

The $40 buy-in no limit hold'em game at Hollywood Park Casino has a reputation for being a very loose game, with players playing "any two cards" and going all-in even on draws.

That's why I avoid the game. Except yesterday, when I couldn't get on my usual $100 buy-in game. I took a seat at a $40 game while the wait list for the $100 game was whittled down to my spot.

But I decided to stay at the $40 table when I saw I could win... if I kept my cool and played tight.

And I did play tight until I saw that the calls were loose.

I started with $40 and never had to make another buy. I cashed out $300 after tips about two hours later. It was a nice $260 profit, or $130 per hour.

With about $34 left in my stack (lost three blinds of $2 each wanting to see a flop with high cards), I was dealt 77 as the big blind. Everyone folded but the button who was the big stack at the table and raised to $30. The small blind called. I went all-in for $4 more and the button and blind called.

My 77 held up. The button raised with J-9 offsuit, the small blind called with A-4 offsuit, and they didn't pair up. I tripled up.

The next hand I played was KQ offsuit and the flop came 9-10-Jack with two clubs. I had no club. Two other players in the hand, I pushed all in with my straight hoping to block a flush draw. But the other two players called, one with two pair and the other with one pair. My straight held up.

I played only one other hand, AK off suit with an ace on the flop and I beat the other players in the hand, one with KK and one with AQ.

At the peak, I had about $325.

There were other hands I might have played had the table been tighter, hands like A9 and A8 but I didn't. Ironically they would have won also.

I took my profit and left.

[Vegas_lover]

In many, many occasions playing tight is a smart move. Often many people playing at the poker tables have watched the WSOP on tv a little too much. And don't forget about players that usually play on the internet. Those players are aggresive even with marginal hands. Many of those players tend to throw around chips and call fairly easy. You just need 2 or 3 good hands to bank a decent profit within an hour or two. You could make some money this way almost every day.

[Alan Mendelson]

You just need 2 or 3 good hands to bank a decent profit within an hour or two. You could make some money this way almost every day.

This is probably correct for most successful cash game players. Sometimes two or three big pots in a whole session of play gives them their "win" for the day.

Unfortunately at a "tight" table, if you win only two or three pots, your wins might not even cover the blinds that you lost while waiting. So it's better to be the tight player at a loose table.