[waxie]

This post is so good it's scary.

I've been staying away from online play, but all of the concepts apply to SH tables as well. I think my key leak (until I started really understanding what I was reading on 2+2) was that I didn't know how to play post flop. Playing shorthanded has really forced me to learn how to play after the flop and I'm a much better player for it.

I've been playing .5/.10 with kids from my college on a regular basis. Most of them are extreme fish, but some of them have actually read a poker book or two. I think I have an edge on all of them, but some edges are bigger than others. Only reccently have I started looking for ways to play pots with the fish and stay away from hands with the kids who know what sort of know what they are doing.

I've found an interesting dynamic develops as well. After we've been playing for two hours or so, the table will go from 7-8 players to 3-4 players. The kids left will be much better players and the game will get harder.

I'm usually up a few bucks or more by the time we get shorthanded. Should I keep playing with the better players and improve or cut my losses? I think it might be worth it to sacrifice some edge to learn how to be a better player.