Why charts don't suck, or: Jeet Kune Do and poker

[deception5]

I agree that charts are helpful when getting started. Generally anyone who starts without one finds themselves getting involved in too many pots they shouldn't be by doing things like limping Kxs UTG and raising marginal hands too early. There's no question that a chart is a useful tool.

The problem as you allude to in your post is that no chart can cover "optimal preflop play" if there even is such a thing. The more you play the more you realize that preflop is just another street - part of an overall strategy for playing a particular hand at a particular table. Sometimes it makes sense to just call with AK preflop because you know your opponents are way too aggressive when they hit an ace if no one has raised preflop where they will give up early if an ace flops after a preflop raise. On some tables you can open raise 44 from the hijack and on some tables it's a fold from the button.

Charts don't take into account whether the other players are loose or tight. They can't possibly realize that the player on your left has raised the last 6 pots and they certainly don't help much with your play in the blinds as 2 different players can have 2 completely different raising standards on the button. If you've raised the last 6 hands, it may make sense to fold a marginal hand which you'd normally raise with as you'll get played back at far more often than normal.

I agree that we shouldn't splash around at random trying to figure out a strategy and that these charts can be useful tools when getting started. Just realize that the difference between raising and calling or even folding in many situations is extremely close and what is far more important is your plan for playing the rest of the hand and your reads on the other players. Trying different strategies preflop will make you a better player in the long run as you'll be thinking more about why you should raise or call rather than blindly following a chart. In my opinion there's nothing worse than reading a response to a post which states "you need to raise this preflop because SSH says this is a raise from that position".