TIGHT VERSUS LOOSE PLAY
Pot Odds and Tight Play
In most spread-limit games, there isn’t much money in the pot to start with.
In many 1-5 games, for example, you only have one blind, $1.
The rake is going to be larger than that if there is any action, so you’re not competing for much money at all.
The competing-for-the-ante-perspective suggests you should play very, very tight if no one else has entered the pot.
Implied Odds and Loose Play
At the same time, the initial bet size tends to be very small compared with the later bet size.
So, the implied odds are good, and a money-and-odds perspective suggests that loose play really is correct.
A MIXED STRATEGY
What should you do? Play tight? Play loose? Well, as you might guess, the answer is that it depends on game conditions, but generally you should do both.
You should play tight and you should play loose. Before the flop you should usually play tighter than normal from early position.
This is because there simply isn’t enough initial money in the pot to compensate for your chances of a raise, but if someone else has opened, you should call much more liberally than normal from late position.
This is because you’re getting large implied odds to try to outdraw an early position opener.
Passive Games
In a passive game, you should see a lot of flops.
You can do so cheaply compared with the size of future bets, and you’re getting good implied odds to play drawing hands, even if the game is tight.
If the game is loose, you should play most of the speculative and gambling hands. You should fold most hands on the flop.
If you don’t flop a very good hand or a very good draw, just give it up and try another one.
If there was no raise before the flop, then you won’t be getting any pot odds for a draw.
Loose pre-flop and tight on the flop is the way to play a passive spread-limit game.
Pick the Right Table / Picking a Seat / Theories of Poker / Betting Theory: The Odds
A Theory of Starting Hand Value
A Theory of Flop Play: Counting Outs and Evaluating Draws
The Dynamics of Game Conditions / Table Image / Player Stereotypes
Women and Poker / Double Bet on the End Games / Kill Games
Short-handed Games / Tournaments / No-limit and Pot-Limit Poker
