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It's becoming more clear to me that I need to understand the actual value of each hand combo in their respective position rather than memorize charts.
There are a ton of variables at work here that cannot be easily summed up. First, there's a particular hand's innate ability to win pots, which is directly related to absolute hand strength. Then, I think the next most important factor is a particular hand's ability to win bets postflop. These first two factors almost always combine to make a hand such as AQs more powerful than 22, even though 22 has more absolute showdown power unimproved. Then, you must consider the possibility of being isolated by a 3 bet. The higher this probability of a 3 bet is, the worse your starting position is. I think that Captain R is the best in the forum at recognizing which hands to fold because of this very important factor. This 3 bet factor is related to the probability of being coldcalled, mostly because your opponents will often call with hands that they should be 3 betting. However, this factor can be affected by players that will coldcall hands that they should be folding. How do you feel about A8o in the HJ when you have nothing but 60% coldcallers behind you and in the blinds? Also related to this factor is the probability that your opponents will fold hands that should be 3 bet. If this probability is high, which is unlikely in small stakes games, then your starting position will be significantly improved. Let's say you're in the cutoff, where you open 32.35765% of the time as a default, only this time you have a very tight player behind you that will either 3 bet QQ+ and AK, or fold everything else. Your position is actually much better than one seat off the button because of the probability that you can play heads up or 3 ways against the blinds. I'd loosen up significantly in this spot from the cutoff with a very tight player behind me. I wouldn't play any looser than I would on the button as a default, but I think that if you're sticking to your default cutoff opening range, that you're leaving money on the table.
I think postflop considerations deserve a paragraph as well. Sometimes the game gets very wild postflop, even though it may be a preflop coldcall or limp fest. Suited connectors and pocket pairs rule this game, while hands like QTo will be significantly weakened, despite the ability to make top pair. I'd expand my opening range in such a game to include more suited connectors and pocket pairs, but I'd tighten up with the offsuit high card hands. With a hand like KJo in middle position, much of your ability to win pots and money is tied up in catching a pair on the turn or river, but if the game is wild on the flop then you won't be around to catch that pair on the turn or river often enough. On the other hand, if the game is passive preflop as well as postflop, then unsuited high card hands go up in value, while suited connectors go down in value because the postflop implied odds are diminished.