[Zag]

[ QUOTE ]
(I can handle myself well heads up or three way, and when there's nine+ people around the table, I excel... when a few people get up though, is when I start floundering... can't quite get the hang of re-valuing hands, etc. etc.)

[/ QUOTE ]

I am totally with you there. I feel that my best game is 3-way, with heads up and 4-way in a close tie for second. I also can play well on a full table, as long as I leave when I am feeling impatient (which I almost always have the discipline to do). However, 5 to 7 players seems to mystify me. I never seem to beat that game.

I think it is because I use two very different skills. In the full game, I am just patient, I wait for good cards, and I pound with them. There is always somebody who catches well enough to come along, and it makes up for the few times that I have a very good hand but someone else has the nuts.

In the short-handed games, I am basically playing the players, and my cards are much less important. I shift gears well and seem to be able to keep my opponents off balance consistantly.

But in the middle games, either I run into an aggressive player who keeps pushing me off my middling hands, or I get a good hand, bet, and win just the blinds. I can't seem to take advantage of the over-aggressive players like I can in the short games, because there is too often someone else playing along, as well, who likely has a real hand.

Any advice at all is appreciated. Does anyone find these games to be their strength?