[Buzz]

[ QUOTE ]
There's an inflection point somewhere where your curves for raise/limp % vs number of opponents (for your pulling and pushing hands) intersect, I think if you shape those curves right and play at that point you'll maximize your profits.


[/ QUOTE ]Hi Gar - That's very good. I like it.

A problem is all opponents do not play the same. In a public casino game, people come and go during the course of a playing session, so that there is a constant change, more with some opponents than others, in the table dynamics.

If Charlie Milktoast is yet to act and if I think he will get out of my way with 2-3-Y-Z or A-3-Y-Z, then I'll raise with A-3-Y-Z or A-4-Y-Z, and maybe with some other hands that might make you wonder about my sanity. But with the same hand, I'm not going to raise if Gambling Gus, who loves a lot of action when he holds 2-3-Y-Z or A-3-Y-Z, is in the game.

I'll raise with A-2-3-4 against some groups of opponents and not against others. It's hard to be specific because there are many various factors that influence the decision, including how some other hands have recently been played and where people are sitting relative to me and each other.

As soon as you recognize that some starting hands are better than others, you start ordering the hands, ranking some above others, wondering what the premium ones are - and it's a natural progression to think that the better the hand, the more you want to get more of your money in the pot. I think that's a logical way for some, if not most, intelligent people to think as they evolve into better poker players.

A-2-3-4 with a suited ace is a premium hand. A-4-5-6-rainbow is marginal at best. Against some groups of opponents with a special target opponent, I'll raise with both of these. Against others I'll raise with the first hand but not the second. Against still others I'll raise with the second hand but not the first. Against still others, I won't raise with either.

How I play any hand also depends on how I have played similar hands and other hands. There is a guy who caught me raising with a marginal starting hand once. He declared (with some disdain), "Nobody bluffs in Omaha." Since then he has called every single time I have raised, not only before the flop, but any time. And, of course, I own him. But when we're both in the same hand, there may be other opponents to also consider.

I realize this is all very vague.

My point is: Raises are opponent and opponent group specific for me.

I believe I can raise or not with almost every hand I'll voluntarily play.

Buzz

[ QUOTE ]
I think, after reading lo, these many Posts by Buzz, that if you're going to raise PF you want to do it with many hands, not just the strong ones. And sometimes ust limp the strong ones.

Doing it that way increases your opponents Marginal Propensity to Call Your Raises Later (Pcyrl) and you get paid really well when you make a hand.

Of course, it also increases your opponents Marginal Propensity to Play Back At You (Ppbay) when they see you raise PF and fold Post, but that's life in the fast lane.

[/ QUOTE ]That's good too.