SWEETA,CHOPMAN, THREEBETMAN, ENIGMA Party mid

[Payoff]

just when I thought Smoothcall couldn't get any sicker he surprises me yet again.

[Smoothcall]

Lol payoff. Stick to your railbirding the black chip games on prima. Maybe one of them will give you a loan to pump up your bankroll in the prima 50 cent 1 dollar game!

[Smoothcall]

What do u know about enigma? He said he was crushing the 15-30 way back when a year ago but havnt seem him since. This guy reminded me of sweeta a little bit. Technical game a little off but has potential as he does some deeper thinking plays.
Pocketstar- 15-30 players play alot fo shorthanded bad beat. he seems to study the players well. Not sure if he is that good but does his homeworkit seems. bookis still out on his actual technical play though.

Phoenixrider- someone told me this person has some of the best stats and is very good. The times i've played with her though i didnt see it. One time i saw her call 2 more bets from bb after utg super-solid raised and sb reraise. She had 85s or somthing like that. Maybe she was on tilt. she likes to berate players as well.

[Dan BRIGHT]

Lots of those really aggro guys try to use their aggression and metagame to patch up the holes in their poker fundamentals and handreading.

[Smoothcall]

Yeah you may be right. Do you think there is any credence in playing this over-aggressive as when they actually have hands they get alot more out of them? As people think there completley nuts. I mean i have friends that are very solid but under-aggressive(or at least wouldnt be cosidered aggressive) and they make alot less on big hads i think. And have friends who are over-agressive like this who get tons of aciton on there big hands. Its hard to determine which s better as the non agressive probaly gets his money in alot better the the over-aggressive pros but will likley not get nearly as much action. Whatya think?

[Dan BRIGHT]

My aggression level, overall, has decreased from what it used to be. As my opponents get more aggressive, I compensate for this often by adopting lines that better serve to get me to showdown and let them keep betting with the worst of it (rather than have me take a risk and push them off the worst hand... or have myself put chips in with the worst hand).

Still, it doesnt take lots of crazyness to generate action. All you need is a couple memorable moments for the villain and they will be all over you. Many of my opponents will be like "hey , he just raised 97o on the button.. and then he raised Q2s on thte button... he must be nuts", or they might see me 3betting an oesd out of position, or firing every street with a flush draw on a 3flush flop. I dont always do those things, but doing them once or twice is often enough for some people to take notice and adjust (poorly).

The idea of (aggressive) metagame play is that you acknowledge that these plays are at least, and perhaps more than slightly incorrect in a vacuum, but that overall they lead to an increase in your total money earned (after the villains adjust as you expect them to). The problem with relying too much on an aggressive metagame is that once you make too many metagame plays, you are just playing bad poker. The slightly bad plays no longer hold a benefit in light of your standard plays, since those bad aggressive plays devour the standard good plays.

[Smoothcall]

Yes i agree. Very good post! But it seems that most of the top online players are very aggressive or is that an illusion? I have tried the passive rope a dope strategy agaisnt the over-aggressives and its ok but what i find happening sometimes is i let them control the action too much. And they start taking free cards on turn or betting turn and checking river unless they catch on me. Where if i pound them they seem to pound back and i get alot more out of them. But maybe rope a dope it good when you have something but not real strong so you dont overplay yourself and let them shoot themselves in their foot.

[tongni]

If you play passive, you have to mix in a lot of loose flop peels with turn checkraises and a fair amount of check-folding the river. No matter your style, you still have to play poker, and a lot of players who try to play "passive" just become calling stations and pay off every hand no matter what.

Also, the players who I think are the best 1/2 Party players are probably Habitus, SenorPasta, TuffCents (although how many times can he make a retarded move and get there), I_TRANSFER_U, and f33dmyb0ng. There are a few other players who I think are really good, but I haven't played enough hands with them to establish a definitive opinon.

[Dan BRIGHT]

Well of course lots of the good lhe players are aggressive. But you dont need to go from an AF of a little over 2 to an AF of 3+ to win a lot of money. Sure, some players who win a lot do, but those players are usually tighter than the other ones (so they can afford to pound their hands harder, since the hands they are playing are naturally stronger).

In my above post, when I mention them betting my hand for me, I dont mean top pair or even midpair. I mean things like when I have ace hi or bottom pair and I think that they might have air and yet will still keep firing. Its the only way I will get a bet out of them on the river when they have jack hi.

On the other hand, if I know the villain is a nut and I have something stronger like a good top pair, I will readily use their aggressiveness against them and liberally cap them while they wrongly 3bet midpair or a draw against me.

[Dan BRIGHT]

tongni,

Yes, those players are all very good. From what I recall, their play is generally characterized as very tight, very aggressive, and very willing and apt to defend their big blinds.