[El_Hombre_Grande]

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The trick is to be the guy with the set when some other guy is stacking off with 2-pair.

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Nice trick. How about the trick of being the guy with the flush against the straight or even better that trick of being the guy with quads against the guy with the full house.

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I've noticed that the live players I sit with play a lot more starting hands in reaised post, like 57o, for example. If you play a lot of semi-connected hands, you end up with 2-pair more often than a straight. And so these looser players who play 2-pair like it's a set will often stack somebody with AA/KK/QQ who thinks an overpair is worth their stack. So, the "trick" here is to play better starting hands in better position, and be willing to fold overpairs. It's really not much of a trick.

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I thought your advice was spot on. Live, players are playing a wider range, and the field is usually larger. It should be obvious, but I see a lot of internet players overplaying one pair. Its because on the internet you can get hands heads up and the flop probably didn't hit your one opponent. Thus a bluff or a one pr hand should be good. When you go 3-6 handed, live, someone is playing weird cards and somebody got hit by the flop, sometimes quite hard. Far more often than online. It really has to do with adjusting to pre flop ranges. I think some people, even after doing the math, get stuck on "a pr of Qs is a good hand." It may be heads up. But 5 way, with others betting pot sized bets, it probably ain't. AND , because you are often mutliway, your equity in each pot is general far less.

I adjust by playing a huge range if a passive table will let me -- all suited connectors, all pairs, suited aces, and in position a lot more. But if people behind me tend to raise, in early position I'll play very tight, and leave the speculative hands to when I have position and a reasonable chance of seeeing a flop cheap.

I think poor adjustments are usually the aswer to less than optimal play from onliners. I think tells are overrated. If you think you might be a tell box, just work hard at doing the same think over and over, methodically. Keep you hands away from your chips (the root of many tells), shut up, and do the exact same thing with your cards each hand, whether you fold, raise, or call.