[2Tone]

I'm liking this thread.

Check out
for some reading on this.

Raising for value gets a little complicated, but in short, you are aiming to increase the size of the pot you have a good chance of taking down with other people's money. A better explanation is welcome.

I play a lot of low-limit hold 'em on Party - 2/4 and 3/6 BB tables. As a whole, I'm looking for chances to raise for value and raising for free cards in late positon (or at least, to the best of my understanding of these concepts). The key here is just knowing the math. And the beauty is that you are not counting on your opponents to make any difficult decisions, like say, mucking a marginal hand.

I'm less enthusiastic about trying to isolate players, and stealing blinds. These require that your opponents to actually fold, which you can't count on. Stealing blinds is particularly hazardous and ineffective, as you can’t discount the possibility of getting three-bet pre-flop by an opponent holding anything from KK to AceX.

As a whole, I find the key to success at these tables is to play pretty rudimentary poker, being extremely selective about starting hand requirements in early position, and betting the hell out of premium hands that hit, and hoping other players come along for the ride - they often do.

I might be limiting my win rate by not playing more craftily and/or aggressively, but I suspect all I'm doing is limiting my variance.

5/10 and up online and B&M are often an entirely different story.