Re: Debate with friend about how a hand was played
 

slowplaying, tricky playing, fps are all fun and make you feel awesome when you suck someone in with it.

They make you feel superior and its just sweet to ding someone for that extra bet.

Its ok once in awhile to do this especially if you are aware of the betting lines of your opponents.

But the contrary is also true, if I look at my database I have a ton of guys who are tricky players that I have tagged as such.

If I have played more than 20 hands with them I am ahead of 90% of them.

Now that isn't mathematical proof but what it's saying is its easy to take the extra bet out of the person in this hand and look at it as an isolated incident, but if one were to look at the combined efforts of a player who plays value driven poker versus those trying to steal extra bets, I will wager the value driven poker player will be farther ahead than the trickster.

The cost of being tricky is expensive. Even bad players play better against you for one because they don't like being shown up.


For that one reason alone its not worth being tricky.


Hand by hand, the evidence is such that you can't look at any math to prove or disprove the expectations being better in one circumstance vs another.

There are way too many variables to even begin to isolate a problem mathematically where a comparison can be made. But overall those that play value driven poker can show better numbers over a large number of hands than a player who plays primarily to win big pots by being tricky.

Re: Debate with friend about how a hand was played
 

your friend does an absolutely amazing job of getting the least amount of money in while ahead and getting the most amount of money in while potentially behind.

that is remarkable.

Re: Debate with friend about how a hand was played
 

The good thing about habitual slowplayers and other so-called tricky players is that you can read them like an open book. If they go ape on the flop they have overs or a draw, if they meekly call and wait until a harmless card falls on the turn or the river, you can just muck your good-but-not-great hand. This way they charge themselves the maximum for draws while keeping the pot small with their monsters. May they live long and prosper (in their day jobs presumably)!

Cheers,

Smurf