It’s the second Wednesday of the month. What does it mean? It means it’s poker night with the fellas. Here is a look at how I play my home game every month. It may help you with yours in the future. We usually have around 8-10 guys for a little 1-2 No Limit Texas Hold-em. The Cash buy-in is $100 and you can reload up to $100 at anytime.
What usually happens with most of these games is we have more or less the same crew. Seven guys out of the ten are pretty tight players, which makes it somewhat difficult to build a pot. At the same time it makes it easy to take down the small pots. This is critical however in a small game with tight players. Usually I will play pretty tight knowing that the rest of the table is tight except, when I’m in position. No matter what the hand just about I will loosen up a whole lot. This allows me to attack the bettor or checker. This will easily take down 8 out of 10 pots. It could be a small raised pot, but a pot is a pot. This is how I manage to stay on the plus side almost every poker night.
When I do get monsters or strong draws I will play strong as well. This will tell me if the other tight players are holding something as well. I do know several of the guys live for the flush draw, so if one hits on the river I will be less inclined to throw down some big bets with pocket QQ-AA. Most guys at my table will only call a big bet when the better option is to re-raise, so I’m always on the look out for the calling stations with draws on the board.
Should you hit a set on the flop with a tight player, you will want to slow it down and let them try to make a bet first. Only do this with a pretty empty flop. This will mean they hit something, but at the same time they are not looking for a big draw. They may have top pair, or two pair. This puts you in a great position against a tight player. You let them lead into you. This is how you take another man’s stack when they are tight. You become the calling station, when the board is favorable. These hands won’t come often, but when they do, you need to take full advantage.
In a home game it is critical to take mental notes of how the players play. Of course you will run into bad situations, but over time playing tight and strong in position will be your best bet against an overwhelmingly tight table.
