Quote Originally Posted by Fnord
I agree with where you're going, but I don't see how raising a lot in the early levels is the best way to get you there. How does jamming lots of pots pre-flop heads-up allow you to win the max and lose the least?
Early on if i hit something good i play it strong. If im weak i either bluff or simply cave in. Idea is too create the typical image so to speak of ill bet if im strong ill check if im weak, i ll bluff if your weak. The problem for opp comes when this no longer is the truth. If im now raising random hands and flop comes nasty looking he bets a good hand and i push (he knows i could have anything) what does he do fold every time? I only have to persuade him to all once behind when hes pretty strong but behind to take his chips. Early on is about creating an image, then changing it when hes bought it (if he ever does) then make him totally unsure of what i have, or thinking im still playing to the image i created. The idea is that if i raise ace high hands for 10 mins all the time then stop it but he doesnt notice and start raising leeser hands like 63o say and flop comes 45A i have an oppertunity to get a number of chips off him with a better hand than he may think i have. He might call with Aj against my 63o here and think hes ahead. What im getting at i guess is to so confuse the opp or to make him think i have something that i dont so much that when i really have got the best hand and get him to commit a good number of chips behind ill have him beat. I may have to oe a few pots with crap at first to do this or tell him i had crap.

edit: also consider that by "mixing it up" you're making small mistakes to induce bigger mistakes. Against some players this is just wasting chips.
Very true.
Our aim though is to take opps stack. If we want to play abc poker and outplay him with the best hands thats fine and it will possibly work. But when we are readable (raising preflop with aces etc) opp is not going to commit stack when he can read our hand unless he has us beat. But Once we tell or show him we could have anything then when our anything flops hard and he has us on something else we have oppertunity to destack or steal more if he thinks hes ahead.