[bisonbison]

This is wrong.

No. No, it's right.

You already know whether or not a bad player will be in a hand--well, they're in the game, aren't they?

I'm talking about an actual game here, the type that takes place at small stakes tables at the various online sites. Most of the loose players I'm talking about at 3/6 aren't 80% loose or 60% loose. They're 40% loose.

Further, your most profitable situations are when several LP-Ps limp in and you can raise on the button or cutoff with a hand that is normally marginal (eg, A7s).

You're overstating your case. My most profitable hands are hands I would play in any case: AA, KK, AKs, AK, QQ... The marginal hands I am describing are things like 33 in MP. If you have loose players in front of you, they are more likely to limp, allowing you to limp with greater confidence that you'll have the necessary implied odds to hit your set.

and if you know they're loose and weak, you know that jacking up their blinds will only invite them in, and you have position on every subsequent round.

Do you actually play poker? You do realize that any player in the world is more likely to call in an unraised pot than in a raised one?

What I'm saying is that for loose, weak players, position does not matter.

Wrong.

You know that they will not raise, so you can limp in up front with weaker hands.

Wrong. They will raise, they will just raise less often than more aggressive opponents. I am talking about actual situations that occur in games.

You will have position on the button anyway, and the blinds will call a raise.

Gibberish.

If the TA-A is to your immediate left, you will have to fold hands like 33, A7s, and the like that you could easily play if he were not sitting there.

No. Say our TA-A friend plays 15% of his hands. He could only effect your play on 15% of your hands, and he's only going to raise half the time when he does play.

I am a lot more concerned about having to muck JTs because I worry about getting isolated by an 18/8 who raises just often enough to keep me guessing.

See, you don't get isolated as often when you have loose players in front of you, because they're loose, and you are not alone and therefore can't be isolated. See how that works?

Further, it is far more important to play tighter when a tougher player is in the pot than it is to play looser when a weak player is in the pot.

Sure, but if you both play 20% of your hands, how often are you two going to overlap? 4% of the time.

And, besides, putting the TAPs to your left is not how to make your marginal hands more profitable in early position!

It's not all about EP. Besides, only once do you act first preflop. If you've got a 40% loose in front of you, overlimping when he limps will very often create a multiway pot.

I'm not usually concerned about tough players stealing my small blind (especially in 3/6 or 5/10, where the SB is rarely worth playing even in an unraised pot).

Okay. I don't see how that helps your case.

It's a lot worse to get raised by the TAP to your left with a marginal hand than to safely limp in or raise after the TAPs have folded and get no play.

This is just wrongheaded. You are emphasizing rare events over common events: a TA raising 8% of the time, and ignoring a loose limper coming in 35% of the time.


Sorry, but I think you're exactly wrong.