[Nigel]

So I'm taking a day off from playing and was bored this morning so I went back to read some HPFAP and found some things a little strange. I thought I'd ask about it...

On page 46 they advise stealing from the SB with any 2, when opening, if the BB will fold as low as 30%. I think this fits most players folding tendencies, especially if you follow S&M's own defense recommendations. So should we be raising any 2 in the SB when opening? I am not a fan of playing total trash out of position, so I usually show some restraint in the SB when opening. But like I said, I think most BB's will fold over 30% here, so maybe I need to open up my game in this spot?

Then on page 47, concerning the BB, they go on to repeat that the SB will most likely show an automatic profit if you fold your BB fold's even 30% here. So what does that leave you calling with, 80% or 90% of your hands? Doesn't seem like there is much room for error, so shouldn't we just call with basically everything since we have position and most players are so, so bad HU?

So far no problems, until we get to the shorthanded section on page 185, in which they contradict their earlier advice, and suggest 50% as the minimum number at which you must call with in a HU match. Maybe the BB being out of position is the reason for the discrepancy, but I don't see how position changes the mathematics behind the SB showing an automatic profit from the BB folding too much pre-flop. And, to confuse things even further, 2 pages later on page 187, they steer away from that 50% number and now suggest you defend at least 40% (so folding 60% is ok???) and then give a hand range totalling 39%. All this after they have just told us that folding even 50% (or is it 30%?) will give the SB an automatic profit. What gives?

Lastly, on page 44, concerning SB defense from a steal, they suggest you might want to reraise groups 1-6!!! Since ASB's of well over 40% are now all the rage, we can basically consider any CO or button raise a "steal attempt", and therefore S&M are suggesting we 3 bet hands group 6 hands like 75s out of the small blind? By that logic, if you are going to play 75s, or J8s, for 3 bets OOP from the small blind, what hands shouldn't you 3 bet *with position* on the button when the CO open raises??? Might as well 3 bet with 1/2 the deck!

If I made changes to my game to be consistent with the above advice (assuming I can determine what they are actually advising), my SB/BB defense would go from 85/50 to probably 60/30 and my overall VPIP would probably go up 15%. Were S&M hitting the pipe when they wrote this stuff? This can't be right. Maybe I'm just being an idiot and missing what they are trying to say, but can someone explain this to me so it makes sense, or is there a reason I don't pick this book up much anymore?

Cheers,

Nigel