[Louie Landale]

Malmuth made a big mistake in that article about checking Aces after the flop so that the opponents fold for a single turn bet. That's easy to prove to be false.

That Manipulating The Size of the Pot stuff is mostly crap. First, MTSofP means you fail to bet or raise as a favorite or do bet or raise as an underdog. This "mistake" can only be justified if it will [1] cause the opponents to change their behavior later because of the pot size, and [2] this change in behavior is a bigger mistake than the one you made originally.

#1 means if the loose opponent is going to call all bets anyway then you are better off flailing away, even if it gives him the "correct" odds to call due to the bigger pot: if you are a 6:1 favorite when he calls on the turn then you make 5/7ths of a bet when he calls no matter how big the pot is and no matter how many "Sklansky dollars" you earned. (That Sklanky Dollar notion is used to compare reasonable options, but if the opponent is going to call no matter what then he has only one option and there's nothing to compare it to).

#2 means the opponent has to incorrectly adjust for the new pot size. Raising with a small pair figuring the opponent will call with just overcards on the turn against your set is a reasonable example, since you've manipulated him to change from folding to giving you a whole bet, which is a huge mistake.

#2 also means that if the opponent is going to play correctly based on the size of the pot, then you cannot MTSofP profitably. All in all its askying way to much and comes up profitably rarely.

Having said all that, playing "tricky" early (making a cheap mistake) CAN cause the opponent to play terribly later. Not raising the flop to get a double bet on the turn is an example. But that's tricking the opponent into making a big mistake and is NOT MTSofP. His mistake is due to your actions and not due to the size of the pot.

Also having said that, there is sometimes some small benefit vis-a-vis the notion of compounding outs, where you are a little better off getting a couple of the bad calls to fold. But that notion has been blown so far out of proportion to reality in Pop literature (mostly here) that I'd rather not give it more power.

Also having said that its often to the best pair's advantage to narrow the field because its easier to outplay fiew opponents later. Its less because you make more money in show-down equity and more because you make less mistakes later which is typically very profitable. Again, that has nothing to do with MTSofP.

- Louie