[jjflash]

I can think of a couple of situations where I will try to introduce a staddle to the game. I will however start out by saying that I will stop straddling if after a few orbits less than half the table is participating.

One situation is when the only game that I can get doesn't play high enough for me. In that instance, I will try to get as many people as I can to straddle just to get people used to playing for bigger pots.

I will straddle when the table is full of nits.

I will straddle when I am substantially deeper than anyone else at the table. It makes their decisions more critical.

And I will straddle when the three players to my right are rocks.

Please don't think that I am trying to say that I am correct in my thinking. I have just noticed that these things work for me. I am surely thinking in result based terms rather than "what is +EV in a certain situation". I however continue to think in result based terms until the results tell me to do different.

One other note: It is obvious that when you straddle, you will lose that hand most of the time (I am usually forced to fold my straddle to a raise). Since people that I play with think that everything you do should yield immediate results, they tend to got on a major tilt after surrendering their straddle about four orbits in a row. They don't understand that your profit comes from the loosening of the game and the pot size when you have a hand on someone elses straddle. This tilt works wonders for my bankroll.

I welcome any other thoughts on this, as I am constantly trying to improve my thinking about this game that we love.