Hey everybody,
Why do people say you should tighten up against the fish? This might be a dumb question but I have a hard time understanding it. If you're a good solid player and you know you have an edge vs 2-3 limp/stations post flop wouldn't you want to play more hands against them?

If you tighten up sure you might get a couple premium hands per 100 but you're going to get blinded down and it seems a good amount of time the premium hands don't hit the flop or turn and aces get beat by some weird 9/7 two pair or something.

I know there is merit to tightening from what I've read but I can't seem to understand why someone would want to play less hands against players who are playing TOO MANY hands. Say my vpip is normally 25 for a 6 max table. Why would I go to 15 and lose so many blinds waiting for JJ+?

Thanks in advance guys. I know the answer is probably obvious but I can't seem to find it. I appreciate the help

Nobody says to tighten up against bad loose passive players.

I think the issue is you are categorizing all fish as the same however there are many different species of fish which require different strategies.

1. Station Fish. These guys tend to play a lot of hands and not fold any piece of the flop. But generally they prefer calling rather than betting. You want to play hands with them and value bet relentlessly.

2. Fit-or-Fold Fish. These guys tend to limp in and like to see a lot of flops, you can play more hands with them and c-bet often as they will fold if they don't connect with the flop.

3. Whale. These are the craziest kinds of fish who will raise all sorts of hands and play very aggressively postflop. You are better off waiting for a hand to battle with these guys. And be prepared to stack off lighter than usual as your range will be much stronger than theirs.

4. Nit Fish. These guys are super tight preflop and only like to play premiums. Postflop they usually don't bet unless they have the goods. So you want to play hands that have potential to make strong hands (e.g. pocket pairs for sets or suited connectors) so you can stack their overpairs.

In a vacuum, hands that would be unprofitable against a tough table can become profitable against a weak table.

This issue is that a lot of players take it a license to play garbage hands oop against a short stacked weak villain. The amount of skill advantage most people believe they have over the field is much less than they actually think. Therefore, it may be that hands like KJs could become profitable. However, no amount of skill is going to make 72o a profitable hand.

OS, who said this? Specifically. You read this is a poker book? You read it in a 2+2 thread.....or some other theory/training website? Specifically, where did you hear/see this EVER ????? Because........