Quote Originally Posted by Fnord
Pushing people off hands is over-rated.

Out-playing to me means:
Getting maxium value. Can you find river bets with one pair? How good are you at manipulating the size of the pot to play a big pot when you want to play one?
Getting away from good second best hands.
Taking down pots when the other guy(s) miss.
Actually on second reading thanks for this reply. I know that I'm answering it for my own benefit, but thanks for the question.

Pushing people off hands - is a bit illusory. I sometimes think I can do it, but what happens is that they don't have a hand and fold it, or do have a hand and I give them all my chips. I can be too mindless when I've decided to be aggressive and need to stop and think more. Targeted aggression is more effective than mindless aggression.

Can I find river bets with one pair? Not sure exactly what the question is - can I make myself bet on the river if I only have one pair made? Too easily, I'm afraid. Unthinking aggression (bluffs) is probably my main leak at this time. Manipulate pot size - I more often fail at this than do well at it. I'm beginning to incorporate it into my play though.

Can I get away from second best hands? Most of the time yes. Maybe even playing too weakly. I tend to throw away any middle/low pair to any aggression on the flop or later if I don't have a strong drawing hand also. Probably I'm too weak here because I'm overcompensating for my impulse to throw in a healthy big bluff if I decide (not always rationally) that my opponent doesn't have a made big hand. Sucks when I'm right that he's weak, but his middle pair still beats my low pair.

Taking down pots when the other guy(s) miss - I tend to do this. But what I do wrong here is base it a little too much on guesswork (ok he checked on the flop - he missed the flop) than a solid understanding of which range he has played.