Quote Originally Posted by Thunder
Chopper, I understand the process of elimination and was referring more to post flop. So you've narrowed his range down yet he's firing or calling your bet on a blank flop. Are you losing QQ to KK or ahead of his KA? Or if the flop comes down with overcards, has he took the lead with AA or is he miles behind with JJ?
the thing is, you need to KEEP NARROWING DOWN THE RANGE as each card peels off and each bet/check/raise flies in. you dont make a preflop read, and stick with it throughout the entire hand. you are constantly making adjustments to what you think your villain has....narrowing and widening possibilities along the way.

you will find, as i'm sure you have, that you often find yourself in a situation where you feel you are 50/50. but, you will also look at the possibilities of your opponent and see that you beat 13 of the 18 hands he could have. (see spoon's geometrics thread) its not, "he has JJ or AA and i dont know which." its, "i am ahead of 2/3 of what he could hold. so, 13 times out of 18, i am very likely to win here. so, since its a good bit more than half the time, i should strongly consider getting some money in this pot."

the math says, "go" because you narrowed his range, and that may change dramatically on the next card, but you make your play based on the math of the situation....and let luck take over from there knowing you will come out on top most of the time.

i hope that helped a little, but someone way more qualified probably needs to articulate this better.