Having literally grown up playing poker, my first and truest love of the game was always low stakes LIMIT. Card-centric, patient, "boring" limit betting mixed games. I typically have a cash game at my home every couple of months or so these days, and I always ponder at the beginning of the night, changing the format from low stakes ($1-$2 friendly spread limit) to something sexier like Pot or No Limit. It's what everybody knows and loves these days. I typically hear grumbling and mumbling over the first few rounds from these players that they "can't bluff anyone off a hand".
Well, by the end of the night, I'm always more convinced than ever that low LIMIT is the way to go, for my home cash game. Without exception, the grumbling settles down, and the fun grows. People love to play hands, and even at a full table of 9, there is great incentive to limp with speculative hands, and even chase an unlikely river - when all you stand to lose is a couple of bucks.
Even our biggest "loser" managed to only drop $80, four buy-ins. The two biggest "winners" approached $100 each, not bad for four hours of jovial, low pressure, highly social card playing. We had two tables and at one point 17 bodies. I was at the less fun table, we only had quads show up once - the other table had it six times!
I did manage to turn a profit as well, almost $40 ahead at the end of the night. Thanks to patience and pushing when the time was right. I didn't mind folding middling hands pre-flop in Omaha/8. I was in a tiny minority in this respect - I think most of the gang fell in love with whatever starting cards they happened to have. I was able to save a lot of bets, simply by not playing cards like 9 7 J 3 - yet I routinely saw similar ones like this at showdowns - almost always coming up second or third best.
I was also able to capitalize in Hold-Em, believe it or not, by instinctively/subconsciously reading other players hands; and popping it when I knew I was ahead. Given the calling station nature of the group, who are used to a lot more bluffing in the No Limit arena - I was able to appropriately punish marginal drawing hands and middle pairs. Most memorably, I had Ac Qs in middle position; I raised pre flop and got two callers behind me. The flop came three low spades, I fired my obligatory continuation and both players called automatically. Then came a red queen, without thinking I checked hoping to check raise. Both players checked behind me. An inconsequential card came on the river and I led out with the now allowable $2 max bet. The first player begrudgingly folded (I guessed a baby ace or a single spade that didn't fill out) and the second player tanked a while before calling disgustedly. I showed my TPTK and he mucked. I'm guessing he had a middle pair or some such nonsense - he said he was calling just to see what I could have. (A little late in the night for that, but I got an extra bet out of it.)
I took time at one point to indulge in a found of a silly game of my own imagining - triple draw, but instead of the typical 2-7 loball, I made it an A5 split pot game with an 8 qualifier. I got a big pot on the first hand, but then called off all of those chips for the rest of the round. Still very fun.
All in all a great night, with the biggest turnout yet. I now have over 30 friendly and enthusiastic players on my invite list - January's NL Hold-em tournament looks to be a big one, we might even have 3 tables! I did an informal survey at the game last night, to see what kind of tourney folks were most interested in playing - NLHE won by a landslide. I confess, I love it too - but my heart always longs for old school mixed games.
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