[elysium]

hi bike

when you have a good aggressive acting behind you pre-flop in the CO, with JTs, and it's folded to you, raising in is wrong.

there is a misconception about how to play against aggressive players. aggressive players are also frequently under-rated. it is not always such a good thing to come into battle against aggressives bumping heads a lot. first though, and perhaps more importantly; and i'm not going to go into how often JTs is over-estimated; JTs works provided that you know how it plays; instead, you shouldn't open with a raise in that situation because it hinders you while helping the aggressive. you have given him the instrument that is his greatest asset; the ability to raise or reraise, and cut down your odds. that is not your asset that is his. furthermore, you don't know what that aggressive is holding, and that's his second most important asset.

he acting after you do; that's an assist for him. what else does he have going for him in this hand? the list goes on and on.

you only have a reasonably high expectation that his starters are trailing yours, but with all his weapons, i have the SB leading you in this hand; JTs or not.

you don't beat aggressives by building big pots. you beat aggressives by outplaying them. in this hand, you actually make this aggressive opponent play better because you have improved his odds while he has cut down yours. your swinging your JTs meat cleaver instead of sharpening it. its a butcher job. the pre-flop is horrendous. not just bad, horrendous.

everyone favoring a pre-flop raise here had better start thinking. your opponents out there will be. the fact that so many of you favor the pre-flop raise-in is not good. you don't play this game that way people. the pre-flop is a clear-cut call.