Pre-flop Theory (Long)

[Benman]

I've always wondered about pre-flop hold'em play, thinking to myself that there might be totally alternative strategies that could be just as profitable or even more so than standard expert play, a la HPFAP. Posts that catch my attention are ones that deal with whether it's a good strategy to always open for a raise, or other similar "fixed" strategies of how to play preflop.
What I like about such strategies, and what people overlook about them, is that they give away absolutely nothing about your hand. Playing "expertly", that is sometimes raising or sometimes calling based on the strength of your hand, gives away tons of information to other expert players. What I'm wondering is, is it worth it to give away so much information when, in a game such as hold'em, you really don't have much of a hand after two cards anyway?. If one were to adopt some kind of automatic strategy--for example I'll only play "x" hands, but I'll always play them and I'll always play them exactly the same way PF (either always raise or always call)--could it not be said that the information you are not giving away might be more valuable than the strategic edge you are giving up by not playing "optimally." Take a hand like AK offsuit for example. Most people usually raise with it in limit hold'em. In a situation where your opponents have no knowledge of you--say you only plan to play one hand at a table, or your opponents have amnesia--then there's not doubt it's usually correct to raise with this hand. The reasons are well-known, so I won't state them. The problem is, people do notice your play over time. If you do raise with it, you allow your opponents to instantly rule out the possibility of many of your otherwise playable hands in that situation. The question is, what is the negative value of that information you are giving away, and how does it compare to the negative value of not playing optimally?

[etgryphon]

I give the great 2+2 line...

"It depends..."

I think you need to adjust you play to the quality of people you play with. If you are playing with people who are just there to have fun and are not paying too much attention, you should play straightforward for optimal play. When you start to notice that people are not giving you any action because they suspect your preflop play then you need to change your tactics to "less-than-optimal" play to change up your game.

Poker is a fluid game so if you are not adapting you'll go broke. But you can't stray too too far from optimal play because it really is the bread and butter of your game. I find the more i stray from the optimal strategy i start getting over confident and then in turn play badly.

Your whole goal is to throw off you opponents so to observant opponents that mean play different than the optimal (see Gus Hansen). But only do this few and far between just enough to always have people guessing.

I don't know if this is what you are looking for but its just my two cents...

-Gryph

[axioma]

you raise with AK because it will win more than 1/x of the time, where x is number of players seeing the flop.

why would you want to raise with 52 say, a hand that will win less than 1/x of the time. the only time you would do this would be if you liked your chances of winning the pot right there, for example an attempted blind steal.

i think you over value the 'knowledge' you give up when you raise your better hands.

[Mike]

Google 'Abdul' and go to his web page if it still exists. He beat you by a stretch with this idea. But he was professing to high level play for big $$.

If you are playing low limit, it isn't the greatest way to play. The other player's skill isn't always that honed. Many players see a raise as an incentive to reraise, or they all fold except the strongest hands, and you do not want that either.

At lower limits you should be playing percentage poker, ie, if I raise each time I have AKo knowing five people will come with me, I will profit x% from each hand over time.

You sit down, play percentage poker, then go home. Sometimes you even win because you had better cards than the rest of the table for that session. That's what makes you a good player.

Much better than open raising with a poor hand, having four players calling, and then a reraise on your right.

[laja]

game theory optimal strategies often have you doing something a certain % of the time, like i know in HFAP it says what % to raise a/k, and it know it's almost all of the time, but you have to remember that poker in it's essence is a "fight for the blinds" and by raising you are doing that, you have one of the best hands so you are going are raising for value.

The fact that you are a raising with a plethora of hands also helps, sometimes it is good to steal with suitd connectors and low pocket pairs because otherwise when defenders see rags hit they will automatically bluff you out.

this is similar to the concept of either raising with high cards, or an already made hand like 9/9-a/a.

Your idea is completely true for late position, for most hands there, if you are coming in you are coming in for a raise

[CrackerZack]

Good post.

[ResidentParanoid]

When you play against "good" players you must consider what they think you have. If you can mix it up a little (notice -> little) pre-flop, you may create some better situations post-flop. Of course, if they are better than "good", then they are considering what you think they think you have. If your table is full of those guys, don't start limping with AKo or AA; instead, move on to another table.

[Lost Wages]

I think that this is the link that you are referring to.

Lost Wages