Little preflop + flop thing against me

[pokerisme]

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most nights, I'm Justin's ride to the card room, and we often compare notes on players

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Hmmm... I bet the other players in your games will be happy to hear about this..

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Of course it's going to be a while before I smoothcall on the left of Justin with a big ace and raise him on an ultra-dry flop in a multiway pot

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I thought the point of this discussion was the merit of your play in these types of situations not that it was made specifically against Justin.

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but I've been getting tricky lately against times when his opening range is excessively loose, and it's been working real well for me, precisely because he's been relatively straightforward and tight with me after the flop.

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Does "getting tricky" mean disregarding other factors that might warrant your attention like "limiting the field"?

I've seen this play made by others, not only with A,J but bigger Aces and big pairs also. It can be efective in confusing your opponents and occaisionally result in winning a big pot if you flop good and they can't give you a hand.

That said, I have to wonder why being "tricky" is your goal. I've played at Bellagio. The 30 games are mostly populated by players that play poorly in one way or another. Why, when your opponent is, in your opinion, one of the better players in the game, a player that you respect, and you have position on him would you not just opt to play him straight up? Seems to me you are just wasting a lot of effort unnecessarily and could actually hurt your bottom line if Justin decides to get tricky against you. I believe that if you find yourself in a game in which all of your opponents play as well as Justin, it is probably time to change games, not get tricky. If there is only one or two Jason types play these solid pro's straight up and let them try and figure out how to get tricky against you. Just an opinion.

pokerisme