[Ulysses]

mike, you know I like this kind of nonsense more than most around here.

But I can't help but think that when guys are willing to go 3 bets w/ you on both the flop and turn w/ less than top pair, well, you're probably giving too much action when you lose.

Sure, that TT hand is cool when he shows you 88 at the end. But doesn't that hand play out the same way when loosey has J9s? That's not as cool.

I can relate to all this, because lots of guys play like your opponents around here. And I used to love getting right in there with 'em. But then I started tightening up a bit while still playing very aggressively. Now, by 2+2 standards, I'm still very loose. And I definitely don't have a rock image around here by any means (any of the Bay Area 2+2ers can attest to that) and get plenty of action. But there's a certain group of guys, the most important group to me - those who can put you to some tough decisions, who now no longer like to put me to the test. And when they do raise the turn, they'll often do things like fold to a 3-bet in situations where they are drawing very live against me. I like that. I like being able to manipulate situations to get people to fold when I want them to fold and call when I want them to call. The less I screw around with marginal hands, the more I get to do that.

And most importantly, I make more money this way.