Re-inventing the wheel: a blind play strategy

[Surfbullet]

I wanted to comment more on this.

The danger in just going to war with showdownable hands and check-calling while drawing/unsure(as others have posited, and I have discovered through trial and error) is not necessarily that they will start folding - they won't, just semibluff a little - it's that they start to make the most ridiculous value-bets. They may not realize that they are value-bets, but that's what they are.

I had a hand where I flatcalled A7o in the BB Vs a nutsolag on the button. flop was raggy + paired, I c/c. Turn a relative blank, I c/c. River a non-pairing blank, totally nonthreatening. C/c again (villain has history of firing multiple barrelS). He's got A8o. He just made the most ridiculous value-bet, and i'm pretty sure he was trying to bluff me since i've called-turn, c/f-river a few times.

So, we have to mix it up a bit. Once in a while c-c, c-r, top pair, or even wait until the river! fastplay some monsters, fastplay a gutshot + over. get him used to you giving action, then shift gears and tighten up and attack with made hands once he's used to you hammering the flop. But it's important, nay, necessary, that a flop call doesn't mean the same thing every time...your peeling with a probable 6-outer and are weaker than average, most likely folding to a turn bet.

**Note, this applies to at least semi-aware opponents, ones who you encounter over and over. If you play 15/30 and like to sit 3-4 handed with a fish and a lag, this applies to you. If you 12 table 10/20 6max and don't see the same players for more than 20 hands you may be giving up EV by mixing up your play or even trying to apply this stuff while massively multitabling. IMO this type of thinking is critical for success at higher limits.

Surf