[Buzz]

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I think the better player you are, the more marginal hands you should play.

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Bullet Dodger - I wonder what you mean by “the better player you are, the more marginal hands you should play.” Do you mean expand the range of marginal hands? Or do you mean play marginal hands more often from early or mid position? Or both?

I think some who post here are better players than me - but I’m probably a better player than others who post here.

It’s moot because I’m not sure how it relates to me anyhow. I want to be unpredictable and you're less predictable when you play more, rather than fewer, starting hands. In addition, it’s certainly more fun to play a hand than fold it - but you can dribble away a lot of money by seeing too many flops.

It’s easy to predict what starting hands will or won’t do well for low - but before the flop it’s almost impossible to know if a given typical starting hand will win for high.

There are obviously some starting hands that are so horrible you can reasonably predict they will not fare well - but even very nice starting hands you generally need to connect with the flop to continue and then you generally need to connect with the board reasonably well on the river to win. In a loose game there are usually several players who hold hands having some reasonbable connection with the flop. After such a flop situation, assuming everybody involved plays reasonably competently, it’s then a matter of who draws best.

There’s no sharp dividing line between the starting hands I consider “marginal” and “playable.” Nor is there a sharp dividing line between “marginal” and “trash.” Yet I do more or less have starting hands grouped into these three categories.

I mostly reserve hands I consider “marginal” for late position play at loose tables. I also play some marginal hands in the unraised small blind and in the big blind even if raised. (I also play them or don’t play them at various other times, depending on circumstances).

Let’s use a set of hands I cite elsewhere in this thread,
K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img],
<font color="white">_</font>
K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], and
<font color="white">_</font>
K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

In a typical game in which I play, I’m probably going to see the flop from any position with the double suited version. I’m probably going to fold the single suited version before the flop unless I’m on the button or in the small blind. I’m probably going to fold the rainbow version even on the botton or from the small blind. I write “probably” because there are a number of various considerations, including table image and how I think the way I play the current hand will affect the action I’ll get from opponents on future hands.

At any rate, I consider the single suited version to be a “marginal” starting hand for me, and as such, a hand I’ll generally play from the button or the small blind, but not generally from other positions in a typical game.

It occurs to me that we may not be thinking of “marginal” hands in the same way.

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But if your rather new, tight if right, no matter what game your playing.

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When you’re rather new, playing tight seems safer than playing loose.

Just my opinion.

Buzz