Quote Originally Posted by zenbitz
Kicker strength. If opps are loose and you play A8 - where do you stand when a A falls? If you play AJ+... now you know. Plus, you should not be raising/reraising loose players with crap, since they will call and your never get the blinds (not the the blinds are worth squat in a 1/2 200 BB game.
In general, the more passive your opponents, the more hands that are playable because you will be allowed to see more cards for a lower price and take free stabs at inducing folds. More aggressive play requires you to make a strong hand faster, but the reward is greater as you will get paid off more often.

If every pot is 10 way, there is a big difference in playability of hands depending on how much of the money is going in pre-flop and on the flop.