[Ghazban]

On making a SN public:

When I find out that somebody I have played a reasonable number of hands with is also on 2+2, I have a "hm, that's interesting" moment and that's it. From playing with that player, I have a reasonably good feel for how they play and what they are capable of. It doesn't really change my play towards them because my in-game strategies are more heavily weighted towards what I've seen someone actually do at the table rather that what I've seen them post.

On the other hand, when I play somebody I've never played with but I know they post here because their screenname is public, that changes things somewhat drastically. Without seeing a single hand played, I already know that they think about the game analytically and are trying to play well. Based on how many posts of said player I have in memory, I might also have an idea of if they're very LAG or more conservative. I've never played against any 2+2 that made the random donk moves some people make even in higher stakes games (yes 5/10 is not all that high but I've played a few hands at higher stakes, too, and seen some clueless play). I play a little differently against total unknowns in an effort to see showdowns and start to develop reads. If I already know something about the player (i.e. that he posts here or that he's been referred to me as a total maniac or whatever), I can skip some of the feeling-out stage of the process.

I'll exchange SN's with people by PM if they really want to know (I don't mean to sound arrogant here implying everybody is dying to find out who I am) but I don't really want to post it in an open forum.