Interpreting SSHE, Miller, et al, for internet play

[brettthomas]

I'm trying to interpret the authors advice concerning hand selection and play based on the type of game played at Party P (2/4-3/6).

Re: passive/aggressive: The authors define passive-aggressive as a table w/ 15-35% pfr. The range of pfr I find (from PT) is typically 4-7%/player at tables w/ an avg of 9 players. Excluding myself that gives an avg cumulative raise probability for the remaining 8 players of 28-44%/hand, respectively. I believe that the authors would describe this as aggressive.

Re: Loose/tight: the authors define moderately tight as 3-5 players seeing the flop. Over 15K hands, I have 3.5 ASF (avg # of players seeing the flop, 8.9 players/session),which means about 3.1 players seeing the flop/hand. This would be approximately tight by the authors description.

Based on my experience at live tables in CA I would say the book is aimed squarely at them, and describes tables that are substantially looser and more passive than what I find on the internet.

Has anyone seen a reinterpreation of the authors hand selection and/or play that is appropriate for internet?

Thanks.

[ckessel]

I play the tight selection for the reasons you mentioned. Internet players are just typically tighter than live. They still suck post flop though, so the core of the book (which is about post flop play) applies regardless.

[paperboyNC]

Your observations are correct. Thus, your aces are a lot more likely to lose in liveplay. But the games are juicier. I think a lot of concepts in his book apply such as raises with mediocre hands in large multiway pots to thin the field.

[sweetjazz]

The book is tailored toward games that are a bit looser and significantly more passive than what you typically find online. Nevertheless, the underlying concepts in the book have been very helpful for me and others to improve our play in online games, by exploiting the mistakes of others.

Players still play too loose and go too far with their hands online. You have to adjust to their increased aggression. But the general concepts in the book still apply. What doesn't apply exactly are things like the starting hand charts; they are a useful tool for beginners who need to focus their energy completely on postflop play. The charts help you get involved in most of the profitable situations that come up while avoiding most of the trap hands that are actually unprofitable. But in any game, and especially online, you must adjust these recommendations to a certain degree to accomodate your game. If there are a lot of preflop raises, you have to tighten up a bit and scrap some hands that thrive on implied odds. For example, you can't limp in with 22 UTG in a lot of online games because not enough people see the flop on average, and there is a frequently a raise (and sometimes a reraise) before the flop. At the same time, I am much more likely to 3-bet an EP raiser with AQo online than I am in a live game, because many online players have a wide range of EP hands.

You shouldn't be looking for a "better hand chart." Rather, work on developing your understanding of the concepts underlying the game so that you can modify your decisions as the table conditions warrant. The reality is that there is no way to play certain hands online; it depends which particular players are sitting at the particular online table you are at. You can make fairly general statements about players at a given limit, but even that can only get you so far.