Two Plus Two Older Archives - Curtains gets frisky in the blinds

[ QUOTE ]
Curtains,

Let me rephrase. It seems to me that you mix up your play depending on the style of opponent you're up against. If it's a weak player who will open limp from the button, then you might react with a blocking bet later in the hand if the proper opportunity arises.

Yet at the same time, it would seem to me that you would never resort to using a similar tactic (ie blocking bet) against Newt in a different but similar situation because he would be able to see it for what it is and exploit the situation.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the past it seems that you've discounted "reads" as a large part of your game. The vast majority of the arguments in your posts are based upon situational factors: stack sizes, blinds, position, strenrth of hands, etc. So I found this example unique because you seemed to be making a play (flop: bluff check-raise & turn: blocking bet) because you viewed your opponent as a poor player. But I am guessing here.

So, how much do you adjust the style of your play based upon how you judge your opponent? When you say "I knew my opponent wasn't a great player" is this based off of his preflop limp or from earlier played hands?

If you adjust your play depending on the "strength" of your opponent, what kind of adjustments should you make when playing a weaker opponent.
I would think at a more straight forward "A-B-C" style of poker would have the best results, since the more subtle tricky plays are often lost on poor opponents. So I was wondering why you would try and bluff re-raise a poor opponent with nothing? I'm sure you saw weakness in his flop bet and tried to steal it from him. But did you take into consideration that he wasn't a good player when you made that choice? Or was your decision based solely on the fact that you saw an opportunity to take away the hand?

Thanks again for allowing people to post your hands. I read everyone religiously and have found them as well as your comments and feedback immensly helpful.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do adjust my play based on the quality of my opponent. For instance if I know that my opponent is weak, I might make a smallish reraise preflop with AA, knowing they might not see it for the obvious big hand that it is. If I know my opponent has been around the block a few times, Im going to simply move allin with AK, AA, TT and whatever hand I choose to reraise with in certain situations. This is just an example.

Just because I use reads sometimes doesn't mean that I don't think that they are the most important thing. Trust me that many of the situations I do get in, I don't have a SOLID read. I sometimes get a strange sense that my opponent is loose/tight/tricky or whatever, but I don't know for sure and generally just play a hand in a default type of way.

Just because I talk about how unimportant reads are doesn't mean I don't use them a lot. I just happen to think that understanding how to play correct technical poker is more important.