Message Board : California fixed buy-in NL

When I get out to Los Angeles on business, I always go to the cardrooms to play NL. Unfortunately, they cap the buy-ins. You can play a $2/$3 game with a max of $100, or a $2/$5 game with a max of $200.

These game always have tons of action with lots of callers, even with a raise from EP. My general approach in the $100 game, since I only have 33BB, is to play very snug and wait for a hand I wouldn’t mind playing for all my chips. Even though everyone’s splashing around, I feel that calling a $15 raise (one-seventh of my stack) with a speculative hand like 78s or even JTs is bad poker, even with five callers ahead of me.

This feels right, but I wonder if I’m being too much of a nit and leaving money on the table.

BTW: I have not read Ed’s new book yet. So if the answer’s in there, I haven’t seen it. 

mbuss said:

When I get out to Los Angeles on business, I always go to the cardrooms to play NL. Unfortunately, they cap the buy-ins. You can play a $2/$3 game with a max of $100, or a $2/$5 game with a max of $200.

These game always have tons of action with lots of callers, even with a raise from EP. My general approach in the $100 game, since I only have 33BB, is to play very snug and wait for a hand I wouldn’t mind playing for all my chips. Even though everyone’s splashing around, I feel that calling a $15 raise (one-seventh of my stack) with a speculative hand like 78s or even JTs is bad poker, even with five callers ahead of me.

This feels right, but I wonder if I’m being too much of a nit and leaving money on the table.

BTW: I have not read Ed’s new book yet. So if the answer’s in there, I haven’t seen it. 

With 33BB, you are playing big cards aggressively.  So no, don’t play 78s.  But, re-raise a lot and limp/shove a lot.  If you can spot a player that raises his button a lot, limp with most pairs and shove in when he raises.  There is plenty of dead money to flip for stacks given his likely range.  Be the guy that is always applying pressure.  When you flop top pair with a good A or KQ/KJ, just get it in.   33BB is a top pair game.