You are looking at the glass half empty rather than half full. The fact that you get called in multiple spots is irritating. The fact that you'll often see at least one overcard on flops; or a draw of some description is irritating. And ultimately the fact that you will lose pots with 99 - JJ is irritating.
However, if people are calling too much preflop it makes the value of hands like 22 - JJ INCREASE in value, not decrease. The higer end of the spectrum is going to be the best hand pre and postflop a lot. And if a raise to £3.50 generally gets 3 - 4 callers and stacks are 100BBs deep or so; you should be delighted to raise. Because flopping a set 4 way and getting loads of money in is going to be sexual.
On a general level, I used to have your mindset playing live cash. My poker background was live tournaments which played tighter and were no limit - so the game dynamics were more controlled (you could protect your hand by opening big / going all - in). Even the sickest degens in a Dublin cardroom will fold a few hands for the first hour of a tournament. But pot limit cash was a completely different animal. I used to hate the fact that I would raise with 88 - JJ // Big Aces // KQ - KJ and get four or five callers. I'd usually blindly continuation bet and get frustrated when I'd do all my money to the fella who limp called the pot bet preflop with the 93s.
However, you have to stop thinking like this. The fact that live cash players are retarded is awesome!! Raising with good hand strength and getting four callers who like to play 80% of their hands (and play them badly) is something to be welcomed. It is providing you with a very profitable game dynamic - but you need to adapt to the table conditions and act accordingly.
As such, I would definitely be opening pots for a raise with 88 - JJ // AJs+. The key is that I'm not going to get stubborn postflop:
- Don't continuation bet in multiway pots where the board has missed you (your Ax has missed / your pair didn't set and there are overcards on the board);
- Bet one pair hard for value (AJ on a A58 board / 88 on a 542 board etc) but remember that when playing bad players at lowstakes; and holding one pair; and getting raised - you should generally fold;
- Pay close attention to the way your opponents size their bets and the type of hand strength that they overvalue / undervalue. Live poker is often boring but if you can focus during the hour stretches where you are folding you can pick up a wealth of information from bad players that can be vital when you are facing a close post - flop decision with the type of hands you are asking about. There are the guys who will do all the loot with A7 on a 733 board and the guys who will never raise AK preflop / peel an extra card off flops with missed overcards;
- Get brave and look for spots where you can get thin value on a turn or river. Eventhough a board may not seem great for your holding, these guys can literally have any two. So if they all play two streets passively you can bet second pair or a pocket pair with one or two overs on the board for value;
If you are asking the questions in your op you are better than the oppositon. So be getting into raised pots with them. You just need to be disciplined and think your decisions through postflop. Accept that you will lose some pots to mad stuff and that sessions where you run bad will be incredibly frustrating. But so long as you can avoid tilting / bluffing / fancy play. In the longrun you'll crush guys like you have described. Just remember that at the most basic level, your edge will be derived from the fact that bad live players call too often with the worst hand and fail to bet for value often enough with the best hand.
Good luck.
A fantastic post mate. TY
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