I was going through Super System for the last few days, and I underlined this exerpt from the Draw Poker section.

Mike Caro writes:

"The question every good poker player asks himself before putting his money in the pot is: "How much can I win and what will it cost me?" Obviously, the larger the total of antes is in proportion to the opening bet, the more favorable the pot odds. The more you stand to gain, the less certain you need to be of winning the pot. Therefore, if the ante is large and the bet small by comparison, you can open on weaker hands. You can afford to lose more often because the times you do win will compensate. Also, you can theorize that other players tend to open weaker, so you can call and raise with less strength. This is why it's important to weigh what is in the pot against the amount you're betting."

I like this explaination as to why we are able to play looser if the odds we are receiving from the pot are good enough. It is a good basic explaination for things such as how to play against min bets and raises, weak leads, why we set mine, why we bet to deny proper odds, and more. There are other things that go into these decisions, but I am typing on my phone. It's annoying to write with my thumbs. So, lets get some discussion going, and hopefully help someone understand the reasons behind this important concept.