Fish take to books like a moth to a flame!

[DcifrThs]

if you've ever wondered, however briefly, why the NL games just get better w/ the increasing sale of poker literature, here's some food for thought.

of course there will always be the unread fish. but some of them will hear through the grape vine that x, y, or z is a "good play" that a "professional player/writer" advocates.

but it seems that those who have read misapply the knowledge on such a vast scale it dwarfs mt. everest.

here is a small example:

i've taken to playing PL 100 on party sporadically now-a-days...maybe more in the future as the play aint to great.

first hand at the table, absolutely no reads. post in the CO.

3 limpers, i check button folds. bb blind calls sb folds.

i have 75o.

flop comes 9s8h2s. all check to me and i bet 11.xy into the 11.xy pot. 1st EP limper calls. all else fold.

turn 6h. 2nd nuts. not bad for a semibluff. he checks and i bet $20 into the $30 pot. he c-r's me all in. he had $125 at the start of the hand and i had $100(-$2 posted). i call he tables QJo and i obviously take it down.

turn checkraise semi-bluffing in NL and PL has for somereason become the rage and i don't think its that good a default play by anystretch of the imagination. of course every once in a while perhaps but this is just a small example of what a little info does to the majority of players who hear/read it.

and i'm still talking about fish here. they learn you have to play tight but don't b/c its not fun. then they learn some plays and think they are to be applied self weighted-like, all the time.

i went on to watch the above player raise semi-bluff the flop against a KNOWN caller, who at this point had rebought 5 times. and he just kept at it. little knowledge is a dangerous thing to a select group of people. much like the entranced moth is drawn to his doom, the fish are schooled by the literature in a way that only ensures (disposition favorable) their eventual increased loss. and bigger ST.DEV.

more testament to the fact that study is massively different than reading.

posted to just air thoughts and trends. i'm sure lots of folks will disagree but counterpoints engender conversation and understanding.

so flame on.

-Barron