Quote Originally Posted by Fnord
Not me! If idiots are raising 10x pre-flop and morons are just calling, then going 40-50 deep and pushing a reasonable range kills the game. If your range is wider than QQ+/AK, the blinds aren't a problem. This will also make you really unpopular....
I've done this too, but rarely. I say rarely, because I usually just move to a more pre-flop passive table when I find myself at a table like this. The key to why this tactic works in the games you described obviously is that you are pushing your smaller stack with a range that's wider than QQ+/AK, while bascially representing a relatively narrower range. You are forcing your opponents to make important, non-trivial $$-wise decisions before the flop.

I 've found this approach useful as a means to basically "train" an out-of-control table and bring them back in line. It turns the game into one that's more focused on pre-flop holdings and instrinsic hand value compared to one that's more about playing poker and deeper stack decision making. I think that's why you call it "killing the game"; this tactic tends to take alot of the poker out of the poker game. In deep stacked games, where relatively more chips are going in on later streets, hand value normalize; post flop play becomes much more important.

I don't enjoy these so called pre-flop type games because the very nature of how to play well in this type of game runs counter to my preferred style of play which is to play selectively laggy and see lots of flops where I get to make lots of good post flop decisions and force my opponents to make lots of bad ones. Same sort of thing holds true in fast paced tournaments. You are forced to pick a hand with intrinsic pre-flop/showdown value and go with it. In slower tournaments (the ones I strongly prefer), where you have lots of chips relative to the blinds and the blind levels escalate more slowly, you can actually play some poker.

The kind of game you describe are definately out there in ridiculous abundance, but I try to avoid them because I feel that they tend to blunt my post flop skill edges which I know to be the ultimate source of most of my $$ success. As always, the key to success in big-bet poker is knowing how to profile a table, and its constituent players and then making the necessary adjustments to play in the most exploitive manner possible.