Quote Originally Posted by Blinky
Very interesting thread. I'm still trying to digest everything in Fnord's post (esp about the random blind table) but now I understand why playing low and microlimit NLHE should be so basic - ie, DTFH.

my interpretation:

In small stakes NLHE, your opps make so many mistakes that you can simply profit off them by beating them with cards (ie, opps chasing a draw without odds; opps calling a large PFR with absolute trash; limp-calling with SCs OOP). You can give up "edges" of deception because these people won't see the deception, and the fundamental card edge you have over them is so easy to exploit.

At higher levels, I guess there are fewer exploitable people so you have to help your opps make errors, or fundamentally disguise your hand. Your cards are no longer your edge as disciplined, skilled opps will know when their cards are good and when they're not...

I'm just regurgitating Fnord's post really, but I'm starting to understand. .. Theoretically anyways - why at higher levels "you play your most profitably when you play opposite your normal style". You have immediate deception due to your table image, which could make your opps make false assumptions about you - helping them make the wrong decision about your hand. They probably won't be making the wrong decision about their cards, so your edge has to come from somewhere else.
This is something I've been thinking about a lot as well. In HOH, Harrington states that in an online tourney, he would ALWAYS raise with AA preflop. In a game-theoretical sense, always raising with aces preflop is the correct, optimal strategy. In most online arenas, you just won't run into the same opponents as often, and there is not as much need to mix it up. Against a really good observant opponent however (like those at the big live events), Harrington suggests open raising with big pairs like AA KK QQ 80% of the time and open limping 20% of the time.

Although Harrington's strategy applies to tournament play, it's easy to see the relation to this "deception" issue we're talking about. Most opponents at 25NL just aren't paying enough attention to warrant mixing it up. At higher levels, deviating occasionaly from the "correct play" is essential for longer term EV and directly correlates with the Fundamental Theorem of Poker. At 25NL though, I'm always popping PF with rockets.

Fnord-> to answer your question: I'm not sure, because it's 2:00 am now lol and my brain isn't at full power. I'm going to guess that playing only insane hands would be correct? Other players, on average, would be posting higher blinds than yourself, so getting invovled with marginal or even speculative drawing hands would seem to be -EV. The average of 1-20 is 10.5, which is a little bit over ten times your blind. I'm assuming this would mean playing a certain percentage of hands, but I fail to see where I'm going with this rofl. I have a hunch though...