Why do people suggest VPIP 16-19 is too low for the 15/30?

[teddyFBI]

my VPIP / PFR has remained pretty steady from my rise from 2/4 up through 15/30 at 18/9 -- a few posts I recently read here suggested that that was too low for the 15/30...that perhaps the optimal range was 20 - 23...why is this?? Is it simply to account for the two-thirds small blind structure??

[gillabong]

My first post here, I'll reply as a fellow ~18 VPIP/10 PFR player.

I belive the optimal VPIP is highly player dependent. The better post-flop you are, the more hands you can make +EV. I started as a 13 VPIP player in my 5/10 days, and have slowly increased my hand selection to where it is now. The more comfortable I got with the game, the better my post-flop play became, I learned to pick my spots better and add hands. More specifically, your short handed/heads up play better be top notch to be a 20-25% player IMO, as many of these extra hands are from late against a blind.

[pfkaok]

Well, yeah, its mostly the blind structure... its very hard to say what an optimal VPIP is, b/c it really depends on your style, opponents styles, and how much better (or worse) you can play than your opponents after the flop.

but for whatever your optimal VPIP for a 1/2 blind game, it will at least be 2-4 points higher in the 2/3 game IMO... its hard to say exactly, but besides the obvious fact that you HAVE to call from SB after limpers, there's also other places that you need to add hands.

20-23 might be optimal for some, but i'm sure there's a lot of players who are in the 15-17 range who would lose money on those extra hands. also, there's probably certain game conditions where even really good postflop players would need to tigheten up.