[scrawnybob]

hi

also and this may be a bit contraversal all these % are a bit relative ... definately useful but by the book TAG players are generally the ones who will moan most about loosing, bad beats and why they hell did that player do this is that

there are alot of very good (winning players) now playing much more LAG small pot poker (especially in cash games) - think Negreanu or Hanson

but the killer and most crucial factor is their post flop play ... and this IMHO is when you get it right the difference between having a frustrating TAG grinding game and having a more flexible LTAG (made that up) game

ie. if you think you can limp in to see a flop cheap in a multiway pot or a pot with a player you think you can out play and / or get to pile into the pot ...

then you play those more marginal hands (not talking 68off 72 off etc but 2nd tier hands) - see the pot cheap and then either decide ...

a) I have not chance to steal / out play or win the hand

b) I have a good chance to steal a small pot here cheaply

c) I have got "lucky" cheaply and hit my hand well enough to semi bluff / win the hand legitimately or most usefully ...

d) I have hit a massive hidden hand no-one (including TAG monster hands) will be able to spot and therefore will pay me hansome (and bitch)

This is not to suggest that you have a %flop rate of 100% on the off chance - that isnt LAG that is just stupid play

but if you can confidently open up your game a bit with alot more thinking going on then you are no longer only playing AA KK etc textbook and moaning at BB's you are playing poker with thought and contextual thinking and strategy - which is

a) more enjoyable - if you like to challenge yourself

b) more profitable - if you can do it correctly

I personally will be happy seeing 35% of flops - IF and only if I am sure that as a result I am ...

a) seeing more flops and "getting lucky" I can extract value over the cost of seeing additional flops

b) seeming like a loose either passive or aggressive player ... enabling me to get pots much bigger when I have very decent hands or take down more small pots because of a tricky image

eg. if you have a very tight image the implied value of a pot if taken to the river is going to be smaller (because people know you only play good cards and therefore fold because even they can figure they are beat) if you have a loose image and are playing genuinely loose players ... you can be sure that a few extra speculative hands per hour will have potential to reap big rewards

also as a side effect if being pecieved to be loose - they will payoff your AA etc early when you want them too ... then is the time not to limp in pots etc

I wouldnt recommend this strategy to a newer player as I dont think without playing textbook TAG for a while its easy to really spot the implied odds of hands on all streets and play accordingly

but IMHO alot of BB's recently are coming down to a better player seeing cheap pots and playing better than its just terrible players with no clue

the most dangerous players can look like the worst players ... however you will spot which are which by who has the most money / profit as a result of playing in a "similar looking" yet fundamentally different way

cheers scrawnybob