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LOOSE
GAMES
Semi-Bluffs in Loose Games
Remember that in a normal games, semi-bluffs have three ways
of winning - by making the best hand later, by catching a
scare card to make opponents fold later, or by making opponents
fold immediately. It is these three possible ways of winning
that make semi-bluffs profitable plays. But what is likely
to happen in a loose games? First, loose players don't fold
easily, so your semi-bluffs will rarely win immediately. Second,
when you catch a scare card that doesn't really help your
hand, loose players are more likely to want to "keep
you honest" with a call than are average and tight players.
Consequently, one of the ways a semi-bluff can win - when
opponents fold immediately - has been all but completely eliminated;
and a second way - when you catch scare cards - becomes doubtful.
Without these two extra ways of winning, semi-bluffs no longer
have positive expectation. Therefore, you must abandon most
semi-bluffs when there's a high probability that the only
way they can win is by improving to the best hand. With respect
to semi-bluffing, then, it's true that you must play much
tighter in a loose games.
Legitimate
Hands in Loose Games
What about legitimate hands? In a loose games people are willing
to play a hand that is relatively lower in value than the
average. Therefore, your own legitimate hands don't need to
be quite as good as in a normal games since your opponents
are likely to be staying with you with even worse hands. This
becomes especially true when you get heads-up against one
opponent.
However, because of the action and the participants' style
of play, loose games frequently tend to have multi-way pots.
With many players staying in, you would be wrong to loosen
up with hands like two small pair or one medium pair. Even
though these marginal hands might be favorites to hold up
against each of several loose opponents individually, chances
are they will lose when there are several opponents in the
pot. By the same token, if you bet with these hands, you are
much less likely to get two, three, or four opponents to fold,
particularly when they are loose players, than you are to
get one opponent to fold.
Come Hands
in Loose Games
In contrast to other semi-bluff hands and small pairs, come
hands increase in value with many players in the pot because
you are usually getting excellent pot odds to draw to them.
Furthermore, when the games is loose, you figure to get paid
off well once you've made a straight or a flush. Therefore,
in a loose games with several players in the pot, you should
play more drawing hands, such as big three-flushes on fourth
street in seven-card stud, than you would usually play in
loose games, then, you should tighten up considerably on semi-bluffs
but loosen up with legitimate hands. However, you would not
play loose with marginal hands like two small pair or one
medium pair when several opponents are in the pot.
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