[StellarWind]

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I suspect expert players may make moves that are -EV for a given hand when they have legitimate meta-game considerations to do so. Other (non-expert) players make such a -EV move because (1) they don't believe it is -EV, (2) they understan that it is -EV but "have a feeling" they'll be able to outplay their opponent this hand, or (3) have succumbed to tilt and play on anyway. I think this is simplifying things a bit, but probably has some validity to it.

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I think perhaps you are givng expert players more credit than they deserve.

Expert players have:

1. Excellent preflop and postflop skills.

2. Well-developed understanding of the game.

3. A style which works well for them and makes them comfortable. I am not speaking of style as it is defined in Al Schoonmaker's book. Rather a good player's style is his approach to making decisions that have no clearly correct answer.

Expert players do not have a mystical EV micrometer that enables them to determine that preflop play X has EV = 0.01 BB while play Y has EV = -0.02. The easiest way to see this is simply to observe how much expert players disagree on correct preflop play.

The thing about poker is close decisions don't matter. We all constantly win and lose tiny slivers of EV on borderline decisions. It just cancels out. All you need to be the absolute best player in the world is to never make a mistake in a situation that isn't close.

That's where having a comfortable style comes in. It really, truly doesn't matter whether you steal with JTo from cutoff in a typical Party 5/10 6-max game. It's just too close a decision to make a difference. But a good style will allow you to make this decision without undue effort, without emitting time tells, without creating stress, and with awareness that sometimes game conditions are such that the decision is not close this time. It's important to save your mental resources for recognizing and making the truly important decisions.

Fashions and peer pressure are not the road to preflop perfection. The mere fact that this forum swings back and forth on this issue proves that there is no real truth underlying it. Contrast this with opinions on what it takes to call the flop with a gutshot. In that case you will find that expert opinion occupies a narrow range and is not subject to fashion. That's a clear indication that the opinions being expressed are primarily objective instead of largely a matter of personal taste.

You shouldn't make preflop decisions that are wrong by consensus. But beyond that you should feel free to do whatever you feel works well for you. Nirvana does not lie in the next update to the start chart.