Easier to play vs positive ROI players?

This may seem counterintuitive, but in my experience it is easier to play against winning players (slightly winning players). Yes it is true you can capitalize on the big blunders a poor player will make and stack up. However, you have to deal with them calling WAY TOO MANY raises pre-flop, as well as betting patterns that make no sense.

Then you have the bad loose aggressive who love to re-raise or jam you and you are forced to rely on chance.

My most frequent wins occur when playing against several regs who although not great, are better than the average player. The only drawback is they have a better understanding of bubble play and shortstack play, but I still come out farther ahead here. What are some other players views/experiences? Against these bad players you have to wait for better hands preflop or to make hands post flop, but my PS Pennsylvania only has turbo sit-and-gos. Therefore I can't sit around waiting for hands or to connect on the flop as the blinds come around FAST.

StealTheButton said:

This may seem counterintuitive, but in my experience it is easier to play against winning players (slightly winning players). Yes it is true you can capitalize on the big blunders a poor player will make and stack up. However, you have to deal with them calling WAY TOO MANY raises pre-flop, as well as betting patterns that make no sense.

Then you have the bad loose aggressive who love to re-raise or jam you and you are forced to rely on chance.

My most frequent wins occur when playing against several regs who although not great, are better than the average player. The only drawback is they have a better understanding of bubble play and shortstack play, but I still come out farther ahead here. What are some other players views/experiences? Against these bad players you have to wait for better hands preflop or to make hands post flop, but my PS Pennsylvania only has turbo sit-and-gos. Therefore I can't sit around waiting for hands or to connect on the flop as the blinds come around FAST.

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Thank U 4 Posting

You will have greater variance versus players who do not fold often but also greater long term ROI.

It is fine however to play in a lower variance situation and continue to to have a healthy ROI.

What matters is what you feel is best for you and your goals as a player.

Hope this helps

Its true, that it can be easier to play against, what you might call "bad regs". Players who have studied the game a little bit but are not really that good. The reason is, their ranges are somewhat more defined, and because they actually have a fold button, they put you to less difficult decisions postflop.

Very loose players on the other hand can be annoying. They are always in there, so you get very few chances to raise first in and steal the blinds, or get into an easy heads up situation against someone defending his blinds. There are more muliway pots, where you cant really bluff so much, and because they continue with more bad hands, they will draw out on you more often, which can be annoying. If they manage to tilt you, they can also cause you to make bigger mistakes, than you would against the "bad regs". This however is, where you need to realise, that its your responsibility to not tilt and continue to play well, even though the opponent does not.

And as eetenor says, "easy" does not mean more profitable. The crazy maniacs splashing around with almost any two cards are massive losers long term, and the flip side of that is, that if you play against them and keep a cool head, you will be a massive winner long term. Whereas by playing against "bad regs" you will never be able to get more than a tiny little winrate, because the mistakes, they make, are much smaller.

So to be a big winner you need to learn to deal with loose bad players. Stay away from fancy bluffs, that are likely to go way over their head. Bet relentlessly for value, Not let it get to you, when they suck out on you. And sometimes be able to lay down a big hand, when it should be obvious, they have gotten lucky on you.

Yes, it is really easier to play against regular players.
I'm playing at low limits right now, and I see it all the time.
For example, in a hand, two more players play with me, I have a top pair on the flop, one player makes a bet, the other player raises, I think that one pair will not be enough here and I fold, these two players put all-in and open, one player has a straight draw gadshot, the other player has a small pair, then turn and river gives nothing.
And such hands happen very often, I fold the winning hands.
It is easy to play against one fish, and when there are several chips at the table, the game turns into a nightmare.

Yes they maybe easier but its not as profitability. The variance is less for sure and I understand how they can drive you bonkers but if you really want to see more profits you must get more comfortable vs those bad players.

First of all i think that people that obesrvation is really wrong. Its a lot harder to play with people that know what they are doing, sure you will maybe sometimes fold top pair because you think you cant be winning with this hand, but do you know if they really had a better hand? You just need to adjust your game to play more value hands with fishes and know the exact time to attack, its really not hard at all.

The other thing i want to mention its that you shouldnt evaluate your game based on results or profits instead of the decisions you made. These bad players we are talking about can win the tournament you were playing and think he played well but that's not the truth at all. Most of the time he just got lucky

I have the same issue specially in MTT ��

My answer would be sooo long that I'm breaking my head trying to simplify it.

But there's a way to play for each villain type you face at the table.

So the easiest way to play is to adapt depending on who you're playing with at the table.

And of course there's a lot of other things you should "use" at the felt to make the game "easier".

StealTheButton said:

This may seem counterintuitive, but in my experience it is easier to play against winning players (slightly winning players). Yes it is true you can capitalize on the big blunders a poor player will make and stack up. However, you have to deal with them calling WAY TOO MANY raises pre-flop, as well as betting patterns that make no sense.

Then you have the bad loose aggressive who love to re-raise or jam you and you are forced to rely on chance.

My most frequent wins occur when playing against several regs who although not great, are better than the average player. The only drawback is they have a better understanding of bubble play and shortstack play, but I still come out farther ahead here. What are some other players views/experiences? Against these bad players you have to wait for better hands preflop or to make hands post flop, but my PS Pennsylvania only has turbo sit-and-gos. Therefore I can't sit around waiting for hands or to connect on the flop as the blinds come around FAST.

Click to expand...

nowadays i play a lot turbo sng.

thought about it, too. but if you take a 5-10k sng sample, not really... annoying when -30+% players got you from SB, BB, but still much better to play vs. them...

you should try to change your pre-flop raise sizes. when a callstation sits on BB or even SB, no regular + players between us, always openraise the 1,5-2x like normally... if they call - often do - i can get more out from the pot. as usually they have much worse hands, so more often the flop wont find them, 1 of the main reason they are in huge minus...

sometimes, when they got the flop nuts, river falls in a long row, it drives me crazy, but still a huge + play vs. them compare to + regs

vs. regs, i cant cover the rakes - definitely not in long run.

both types you mentioned, good to have around, it is poker, they are going to win some, but lose more, much more...