[CrisBrown]

Hi poindexter,

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Lately my monster hands have been getting outdrawn by loose players who have no idea what bubble strategy is. Say I have pocket QQ would it be ok to type, "I have QQ" in a situation where I am against an overly protective big blind that will call with Ax in any situation. After the flop comes xxx rainbow I wish I could give my hand away to discourage anymore drawing. How unethical is this play?

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Whether it's unethical is irrelevant; it's simply bad poker. Remember, the FTOP says that whenever your opponents play exactly as they would if they could see your cards, they gain, and you lose. What you've done is to ensure that they can't make an FTOP mistake against you, unless they miscalculate pot odds, etc.

Yes, good hands (like QQ) get outdrawn. It happens. That being said, when you bet with the best hand, and provided your opponent isn't getting the right price to call you ... you actually want him to call. Provided you're betting enough to kill his pot odds, he's making an FTOP mistake to call your QQ with Ax. Over the long run, those mistakes add up to money in your bankroll.

However, one problem that you can encounter, especially at limit games, is the "schooling effect" of fishy players. That is, because so many of them are calling, they end up giving each other correct odds to chase you, even if you're betting your hand. Ironically, because they're all playing badly, they end up playing correctly!

The way to combat that is to revalue your hands. "Edge pairs" (QQ-TT) diminish in value when the schooling effect is in play. Strong drawing hands go up in value, because you'll be getting good odds to play them, and the pots are most likely to be won by "improved hands."

In short, when the fish are schooling, you need to adopt more of an Omaha strategy, looking to make sets, straights, flushes, and full houses ... get out when you can't make a hand ... and charge them like heck when you do.

Good luck!

Cris