Poker Book Reviews

Strategy Tips for Winning in Rammin'-Jammin' Hold'em Games
An Excerpt from Championship Hold'em, Tom McEvoy and T. J. Cloutier's new poker book

Rammin’-jammin’ (loose-aggressive) hold’em games are prevalent in California and the East Coast, not just at the lower limits but at the $10-$20, $20-$40, even $40-$80 limits. These loose-aggressive games are often referred to as no-fold’em hold’em or California-style hold’em. Here are some things that you can do to adjust to these types of games.

TJ: If you’re in a rammin’-jammin’ game, you want them to do the rammin’ and jammin’, not you. You’re not going to outgamble these people or outbluff them. If you’re in a pot, you’re always in there with a hand. They’re still going to ram and jam and build a nice pot for you. You don’t want to fall into their trap just because they’re rammin’ and jammin’.

Tom: In games where they’re capping it with hands like 9-8 suited and two fours, I might want to play a few more hands selectively, hands that I may not normally play, such as A-J suited or A-Q.

TJ: Limit hold’em is a big-card game, so you’re going to play those hands anyway, aren’t you?

Tom: If I’m playing a Nevada-style game with expert competition and it’s raised and reraised by solid players before the flop, I’m not going to play A-Q or A-J. But against loose players in the rammin’-jammin’ games, I’m going to play them. But I’m not going to take all that heat with two fours or J-10, those kinds of hands.

TJ: Which again gets down to knowing your opponents. But in these loose games, you’re going to play the big cards like A-Q, A-J, K-Q suited. You’re going to see the flop with those hands, but if you don’t flop to them don’t be a fool like the rest of them, get rid of them. Don’t chase.

Tom: You don’t just keep calling when all you have is overcards and they’re firing into you, like so many loose players do. Loose players will raise with A-K, get three callers, and keep playing it even though they hit nothing on the flop. They’ll never give up an A-K, even when it’s obvious that someone has hit a pair. If the flop comes with something like 9-8-4, they will bet with their A-K instead of checking to try to get a free card, get check-raised, and continue playing it. This is a terrible play.

TJ: Or say that you are in the pot with low connectors like 7-6. The flop comes 4-4-3, giving you a middle buster. It’s a rammin’-jammin’ game where everybody’s playing everything and they’re all trying to take a card off. You need a five to make your straight. But if anybody has a set of fours, there’s a good chance that they also have a five (or even a three) to go with it because they’re playing those little connectors, too. So if the five comes and you make your straight, where are you then? Your opponent has filled up with the card that made your straight. As far as I’m concerned, a man is a stone fool anytime a pair hits the board and he’s drawing to a middle-buster or an open-end straight. You have to get rid of a straight draw when a pair hits the board because you might be up against a set already and even if you make your hand, if someone also hits his hand and fills up, you’re a gone goose. There’s nothing worse than making your hand and losing all your money because you were drawing dead to start with.

Tom: In these rammin’-jammin’ games you can play a few more hands selectively, but still play a bit tighter than the opposition. And play very solid on the flop and thereafter.

TJ: Also, you should not check the best hand in these loose games. Even if you flop the stone nuts, don’t check it because your opponents are going to ram and jam some more and you’ll get more money into the pot by betting than you will by checking. Don’t give them a free card — even if you lead at the pot, they won’t believe that you have the nuts anyway, and will keep on betting and raising until the end.

Tom: The nice thing in these types of games is that if you get the nuts and lead with it, not only do they not give you credit for it, they also raise you and then you can three-bet them and get in more bets than you would have if you had slowplayed the hand.

TJ: In a regular limit hold’em game, you might get a big-big hand and check it on the flop because you want to get a call on your double bet. But that goes out the door when you’re in a rammin’-jammin’ game. You lead at it with the little bet because you know that they’re still coming. In these types of games, if they have draws they’re going to go all the way to fifth street even though they might be drawing dead. So get all you can get out of your good hands.

Tom: They will take the worst flush draws, the worst straight draws, and keep coming with them. These players will play the 8-7 suited, flop a four-flush, and push it — so what if you have the A-Q in their suit? They don’t seem to take that possibility into consideration. They will never give you credit for a higher flush until they’ve lost four or five bets to you. Naturally, there is a frustration factor in these loose games when they chase down your legitimate hands or your big pairs and you don’t get there. So, you have much bigger fluctuations in your bankroll.

TJ: But you expect those fluctuations. In a rammin’-jammin’ game, you’re lucky if you win 50 percent of the time when you started with the best hand. You can’t let it bother you, you can’t let it change your play, because over a period of time you’re going to end up with the money. You’ll win more money in the long run, but in the short run you’ll have much bigger swings. When your good hands hold up, they’ll be earning extra action that they wouldn’t ordinarily earn so you’ll win a lot more bets with them. Eventually, the luck factor will balance itself out.

Tom: At the lower limits, you will find many people playing any-ace and even any-king. You love those kinds of players. The only time that I can see playing those kinds of hands is when I’m in the small blind in an unraised pot and I can call for one-half a bet just because I’m getting a good price on it. Even then, if I flop to it I have to play with caution after the flop. Actually, I don’t think you lose much by just passing from the blinds. Virtually never play these kinds of hands.

TJ: A lot of players talk about playing low connectors suited. I would rather play them unsuited, particularly in rammin’-jammin’ games, because the pots usually are multiway and if the flop comes in your suit, there’s a good chance that someone else has the same suit with higher cards and you’ll be drawing dead to the flush. Of course, you can get away from the hand if the flop comes suited (if you’re smart) because you realize that you’re drawing to a baby flush. But if it comes unsuited and you flop the nut straight or a draw to it, that’s different. From a mathematical standpoint, being suited adds a little value to your hand but the mathematics go out the door a lot of times in these rammin’-jammin’ games. Using math guidelines isn’t always the right way to get the money in loose games.

Tom: Right. Now let’s look at playing medium connectors in a loose game. Suppose you have 9-8 and you decide to play it from an early position because you figure that the pot will be played multiway. The flop comes A-6-5. I have actually seen players lead with an inside-straight draw in this type of situation. In my opinion, if you lead with this hand you’re making two mistakes:

(a) Playing medium connectors from up front, and
(b) Leading into the field.

Leading when an ace is on the board is way out of line, especially when you know that in these loose games players are quite likely to be playing any-ace. There is a strong possibility that someone will raise you, thus costing you even more money to continue with the hand. A lot of them also play small pairs from any position, so you may already be up against a set. Given the loose game conditions, you want to play the small and medium connectors as cheaply as possible and certainly not from a front position.

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