ABC-TAG play at higher limits

[phuc]

I posted this in the B&M forum, but it was suggested that I post it here for a better response.

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In most any 20-40 limit hold'em game, if you play a straight forward ABC-TAG game(nothing fancy, just tight aggressive and only occassional bluffs at the right moments), you will have a pretty decent win rate.

So I've been wondering...how would this plain vanilla strategy hold up in a 75-150 game or higher? Let's assume that the players you will be up against realize that you are playing this ABC-TAG game. Will you be able to make 0.5BB/hr? Will the opposition be so good that you will be taken advantage of too often because they know exactly how you play, and in effect, make your strategy a losing one? How about higher stakes no-limit ($25/$50 blinds)?

I'm guessing that in no-limit, you will be pushed around and eventually be a losing player unless you can adjust (which means you won't be playing an ABC-TAG game anymore), but in limit, there is only so much pushing around that can be done. Besides, at every level there are some fish that will pay you off.

Just as a clarification, I'm not at all thinking about moving up, I'm just trying to get an idea of how much "creative" play and adapting to game conditions really matters.

[Paluka]

I think you are making things more complicated than they are. You will win in a game where you play better than your opponents. You will lose if you play worse.

[2ndGoat]

I think the implied and generally accepted definition of ABC changes a little as you move up. At 2/4, It's just play tight preflop, bet your top pair or better, and fold if you don't have odds to chase. Move to 30/60 and ABC will include such things as taking that top pair and automatically checkraising a player that almost automatically bets when checked to after raising pre-flop (on either flop or turn). I would still call this ABC because most all winning players realize its usefulness and employ it as part of the standard winning strategy, though a more complete "A-Z" strategy includes betting out when appropriate as well. As another example, "play tight preflop" needs to include appropriate blind stealing as well as understanding what early position raises mean you're not welcome in the pot. Playing basically the same sets of cards in every position and for any given action ahead of you might still win at 2/4 if you still chose roughly the right percentage of hands to play, at higher limits ABC means more like playing straight out of the first 40 pages of HEPFAP.

At least that's how I see it.

As for getting run over as an ABC player, well, it depends on how exactly we definie ABC (which clearly we can't do precisely) and what the lineup is on a given night. People tend to treat a given limit at a given site, live or online, as if it has the same characteristics every night. We've been getting a fair amount of posts here lately asking questions about what it will be like to move up, etc, that seem to hold this belief. It's just not the case. But rest assured, if a player fails to adjust based on table characteristics, despite playing a solid game, he can be a loser at a terrible 20/40 table, and he might still win plenty at a juicy 200/400 game.

2nd