[sahaguje]

Hi,

I usually play 20% of my hands in tough games online when I first sit. It would be different in live games, where I can buy in for more than 100 BB, giving me better implied odds, or when I doubled up so I have 200, or also when the game is passive and often unraised preflop.
I am not a big fan of maths, but let's give an intuitive shot. Let's say the game is ten handed, so 10% of the time I have the best hand preflop. If the pot is always played heads up between the best and the second best hand, and if all the players have the same level, then I should only play those 10% best hands, then I will be a favorite everytime I play. Now if the hand is played between the three best hands (30% of hands dealt), if I play my 15% best hands, I should maximize my EV. And if 40% of hands are played preflop (average in tough games), playing the 20% best should be optimum. But I dont know at all if it makes any sense...

Let me give another reason : most NLHE experts advocate playing 15-20 of your hands. I think this percentage is not very game-dependant, it should be an intuitive approximation of a mathematical rule from game theory, considering the optimum number of hands you should play when 10 players are dealt random hands that can roughly be classified. I cant explain why exaclty, but I am quite sure the optimum percentage of hands play dont depend on the game played, but on the structure, the stackes, and the looseness of the games. So I play as many hands in every game of similar structure, whether it is stud, HE, Omaha, Omaha 8 etc.

A last reason : I think a good player should always play less hands than the other players at the table. Once again, I am sure game theory could help me understand why, but I havent studied it. Usually, when a friend asks me how many hands he should play preflop, I advise him to play between 20 and 10% less than the oither players, depemding on his level. Since I want to minimize my swings, and I consider myself a poor PLO player, I want to play about 20% less hands than the other players in a tough PLO game.

Considering hand selection, it is very position and game dependant. I prefer playing only the best hands (if I play 20% statistically I play mostly first and second hands dealt), and play them for a raise if I have position. But if you give me precise examples of hands, I can telle you if I play them or not.

Sorry, this post is confused, and I use concepts I dont like (at PLO, tougher to classify hands as easily as at NLHE). But I think it is a very intersting question. If experts could give their answers...