Lowriders,

The central problem with your musing is that it fails to account for the fact most players suck up into the middle limits.

Winning poker is unnatural. I see it first hand when I'm coaching my father, at the card room and heck watch Celebrity Poker!

It's natural to want to play lots of hands. You came to gamble! You want to see just "one more card" and "keep people honest."

It's natural to see the monster under the bed. You see that guy raising you with his made flush draw. What else could he have? So you crawl under a rock and call down. When that just bleeds away money, you then learn to fold.

It's fun to raise every other hand, raise at random and "run over the table." With a hot run of cards it will make you a lot of money in the short run.

ABC poker is tight. ABC poker is aggressive. ABC poker picks its spots to run with middle pair and fold top pair. ABC poker can lose you a lot of money in the short run, but makes money in the long run (if you don't go on tilt during the rough times.) These things are not natural, they must be learned and fine tuned.

Also, consider that many of the best players have solid core of ABC poker, then augment that with opponent specific plays. As you gain more experience you make fewer ABC mistakes and find more opportunities to exploit your opponent's tendencies.