Playing Passive FL Ring Games

[lwestatbus]

My ideal ring game is fixed limit where the average pot is in the neighborhood of 6 x the big bet (in a $2/4 game this would be 6 x 4 = 24) with anywhere from 25 - 35% of player seeing the flop. I will look for these stats in the lobby on a table with an open seat or a short waiting list.

In the past year finding these games is getting harder and harder. While they still pop up from time to time I think that players are tightening up. I will regularly see half of the tables at any stakes with average pots of 3 x the big bet.

Does anyone have advice on playing these passive ring games? I'm getting tired of being ready to play and just not finding a table and not having the time to play even a one-table SnG. So maybe I need to broaden my horizons some.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Particularly at $2/$4, I think the rake makes it nearly impossible to beat tight games, even when you have a slight edge against the players (they simply aren't putting in enough money with their bad hands to compensate).

My honest advice is start learning a new game, or move up to $3/$6, where the rake is probably less severe, but still pretty tough to beat.

(I assume we're talking online)

[lwestatbus]

Yes, talking online.

I play $2/4 or $3/6 indifferently and will drop down to $1/2 for the right game. Still not ready to jump up to the $5/10 games yet. It's just getting hard to find a game.

What do you think of 6-handed tables? I don't play those much, though I've got no trouble sitting down to a table that's just opened with 3-4 players.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Generally they are tougher, have better players, and the rake will kill you even faster since you pay it 50% more often.

[Phil14312]

Eeek I disagree with Diamond.

2/4 is very beatable, you just have to learn to exploit all the nitty regulars. It's a different game than 2-3 years ago, you have to learn to adjust to changing game conditions.

As far as 6 max goes, it will put you in a lot of marginal situations. This is good (because the bad players get put in bad situations) but can also be bad if you don't know how to play in these situations.

[suitedaces84]

Haven't played 2/4 in a while so I don't know much about that specific level anymore. But here's what I'm pretty sure of: You're not good enough to make money at a table full of decent regs--the rake is too high. And if you were good enough to beat a bunch of decent regs while paying a relative fortune in rake you'd be able to make much more playing another game. What I'm trying to say is I agree that there are a ton of 2/4 and 3/6 games that no one should be playing.

Quit looking for an ideal average pot size and start looking for bad players. If you play against bad players you'll make money. If you can't find a 2/4 table with a few bad players or one horrible player look at different stakes or another site.

[lwestatbus]

Quit looking for an ideal average pot size and start looking for bad players. If you play against bad players you'll make money. If you can't find a 2/4 table with a few bad players or one horrible player look at different stakes or another site.

Now that's an interesting idea. I miss the system that PokerRoom had where you could tag one of about six colored icons to a player and these icons would show up to their names in the lobby. I'll have to mine my player notes. Looking for "MORON" in the notes will help me to find suitable candidates.