Okay, I've been thinking for some time about buying Eastbay's program but I have a question which on the surface might sound flameworthy, but...
Since the hard decisions that this program are designed to help us with are so dependent upon our reads of the other players, how helpful really is the program?
This is not intended in any way as a criticism of the program. Eastbay is a brilliant guy and I get alot from his posts. Also, I'm sure that in the hands of many players that his program is invaluable.
My question is: Has anybody noticed (due to their own fault and not the program) that their play has acually gotten worse due to the fact that they are ignoring their initial "gut" instincts at the table? I know that it is all about the math, but it is so dependent upon what range you put your opponents on.
For example, in this thread:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...mp;sb=5&o=
My gut instinct would be a very solid call. I would just "know" that with the range that the guy is pushing with, AQ would be well worth a call, especially given the fact that if I got a huge stack my chances of winning would be high. But if I don't pull the correct range out of my butt for the purposes of the program, it might come up a fold.
Again, I'm not advocating not going by the numbers (or I wouldn't even be on this site). I'm just curious if anyone, because of a problem with themselves (not the program) has found that their play might have actually suffered as a result of becoming too dependent upon the program.
Are there situations that come up where you have come to realize that the program is less valuable than others? For example, if you push 3 hands in a row, do you think that the numbers given by the program might be less accurate because of the very real possibility of a spite call?
Also, does the program take into account all of the dynamics related to the relative chip counts of all the players? For example, if during bubble time, I'm solidly in 3rd place, the two chipleaders are to my left, and the shortstack has 50 chips in the BB, does the program take this dynamic into account when it considers my action?
What I'm getting at is that I don't want my play to just become robotic, but at the same time, I don't doubt that this program has very real value. However, I see top players such as Curtains who probably call on the bubble far more than the program would advocate, and he is extremely successful. I'm pretty sure that this program is a must buy for me, but I just wanted to get some feedback on these questions. Thanks.