ABC poker vs Deception

[kenny]

Recently I've been through a bad run of a couple of thousand hands with no improvement (and no substantial loss either) in my bankroll.

I play .25/.50 on PokerStars (http://pokercrack.com/go/pokerstars) and noticed that I was playing pretty much ABC poker and forgetting all about deception plays like limping with strong hands and raising with weak ones. I think I was in a bit of a rut.

Anyway, I started to mix it up again and found that I got a lot more action.

How often do you guys mix it up (e.g. limp with AA and not with the aim of reraising), and in what situations?

[Mad]

I usually like to establish one type of image and then play the opposite way later on. For example, I will often play aggressively early on, raising a lot of hands particularly if I feel that the table is too passive. Once I do this a few times, I will slow down a bit and wait for the better hands to raise with. You will usually get more action this way. Or if you have noticed that you are not getting enough action because you have been folding the whole time, you can try a few low-risk bluffs PF and on the flop, raising with less than premium hands from LP and then betting the flop. This of course has to be done carefully as you usually want a weak-tight opponent to play against, not some calling station.

[haleylawrence]

This seems to be a very interesting thing to have and to do. I just hope that everything would work out fine and well in the long run for this one. Thanks!

[ohmesohrny]

Dont get upset over a few thousand hand sample size. A standard downswing or breakeven stretch can last 50k + hands. this is totally normal. I play around 2-3k hands a session and winning or losing 5 buy ins is completely standard.

To your main question, I usually do what is working best. I dont mix it up just to mix it up. If playing ABC is winning me money and I feel is the best strategy for that table then I will play ABC. If raising a ton of pots and running over my opponents is working then I stick with this.
Point is do what works.

[ohmesohrny]

This seems to be a very interesting thing to have and to do. I just hope that everything would work out fine and well in the long run for this one. Thanks!

Perhaps my best advice would be to this guy. I see this same generic post all over the forums. If you cant participate anything then dont post just post. sorry for being a dick here, but this stuff irks me big time

[PokerCrack]

Perhaps my best advice would be to this guy. I see this same generic post all over the forums. If you cant participate anything then dont post just post. sorry for being a dick here, but this stuff irks me big time

2ohmesohrny: Thanks for this info and for your interesting posts!
2haleylawrence: Sorry but I have to ban you for 2 days cause I also have noticed affiliate links inside your posts. The next ban will be permanent for you.

[Mark Jacobs]

Saw this post and wanted to add that, while I think some degree of deception is always important in any kind of poker, I think the need for it is slightly less in low stakes, online games, at least if you are trying to set up later plays. The reason I say this is the way people constantly pop in and out of online games. By the time you have crafted an image as a loose or tight player at your table, it's possible you may be facing an entirely different group of opponents than you started with. Also, unlike live play where, even if you go to a casino, you may be facing the same opponents more than once, there are so many players playing small stakes on a site like Pokerstars, you may never see any of them twice and even when you do, I don't know how many of them will remember you (I always made use of the notes option to try and recall what players did but I don't know how many small stakes players bother with that).

[smailas]

The reason I say this is the way people constantly pop in and out of online games. By the time you have crafted an image as a loose or tight player at your table, it's possible you may be facing an entirely different group of opponents than you started with

[yanka50]

People don't usually pay attention how loose or tight you are. They just play their style and watch their cards. ABC is the way to go, there are too much fish out there that don't know what they are doing.

[bitspirit]

Deception is definetly a big part of poker but in online games its harder to put it to use but if you want a more fun game thats the way to go.