Help me "loosen-up" my play (Guidelines)

[InTheHole]

Any tips for the novice?

[daneblazer]

how loose are you now

[InTheHole]

Assuming this is about Poker....some ratings have me in the 99 percentile for "tightness"

[daneblazer]

First thing you need to ask yourself is how good of a player you are after the flop. If you are that much of a rock, I'd start things off by with things like suited connects and lower pocket pairs using good position and pot odds.

Read the Harrington Books...they provide some really good info

[InTheHole]

Thank you...I have actually taken that direction. Still working on position issues

[username474]

Are you playing online or live? Limit or no limit? 6 max or full table? And at what stakes? How the game that I am in is being played at that moment will also dictate my range. I would say you are taking the right approach by playing that tight when just starting out. Everyone has to pay their tuition at some point, playing super tight will just increase the length of your classes. The games these days have evolved a great deal since I first started playing 9 or 10 years ago, live games were actually beatable playing super-super tight back then.

[Whiskeyjack]

Remember that poker is more about timing than cards. Watch TV and see how many winning hands are folded by pros. Usually the bluffer had the right position but again the timing is most important.

[DennisGreen]

Raise in the cut off with any decent hand. 67 suited, A8 anything. This works well especially when you start off super tight. This is key to going deep in MTT's. Don't be scared to raise less than prime hands. Switch up your play.

[Brewdogmike]

I recommend you read "The Poker Tournament Formula" by Arnold Snyder: http://www.pokertournamentformula.com/

[rake922]

play any suited hand

[lolbear]

Tight is right, loosen up when the situation calls for it, like if theres a 8 way pot or an unopened one

[cjhkaplan]

I played in the chip games for a while, but that was not a really good test, as everyone there is a bunch of idiots, and play like jack@sses half the time. I started to play the sit-and-go's with small ins like the $1's at Bodog, it may not be big money, but it is good practice to feel out what you are comfortable with, as other players tend to be a little more reasonable than in the chip tables. Start reading, keep asking questions, and practice, that's the key!

[greywind50]

go to a freeroll and play any two cards every hand, limping early(fold to a raise) and 3xBb in late position...fold to any re-raise ....great practice!

[BustedPretext]

play any suited hand

Do this. That way you can win with pairs or a flush too.

[rink1]

i like the suggestion about the freeroll. i was going to suggest dropping down many levels in your br management just so you could play extremely loose aggressive. essentially, you would be allowing yourself to get a feel for how loose aggressive you can play in certain situations while still caring about the game more than you would if you were in a freeroll. im not saying doing the freeroll is bad, it might actually be more fun than any other poker you have played, but i am saying that playing 3 or 4 levels below your current br management might hold just enough importance that you would still play seriously while being able to play more risky and not worrying about losing the normal portion of your br if u do lose. winning is the goal here, but if your going to learn to play loose, you will make mistakes, so minimizing how much you lose in the process can only help

[daneblazer]

There is some bad advice in this thread. Getting in the habit of playing too many hands is a dangerous practice. You can't just play Q3 suited for shits and giggles, expect to outplay your opponent on the flop, and come out ahead in the long run. Good loose players selectively choose the situations that they play their hands and usually have a good read on their opponent(s). Some donk off a few chips early to give off a table image of a loose cannon, then begin putting themselves in a good position to clean house later. If you want to "loosen up", use position and pot odds to widen your raising or calling range. Don't just start playing hands just to play them.

[nybigapple]

Best way to loosen your play is to just do that. Here's a strategy I read from Negreanu's blog a long time ago:

Go to the lowest limit you can find and buy in for the minimum. If you play online, that could be like .01/.02 NL. From there play every unraised hand. You'll gain valuable experience on how to play people and position and less on the cards.