so my question is quite simple. well maybe not. idk. i have come to realize that quite a lot of recreational players really dont care how much they have to call to see a flop.

so lets assume Villain is willing to pay up to 10 BB with a very wide range (35% for example).
I open a tightish EP range of 15%...

V is IP and other players are disregarded.

do i want to create a low spr on the flop with a marginal equity advantage oop against a more or less unknown villain or do i want to keep the pot small because he will probably make way bigger EV mistakes postflop ??

If you stay with your tight range, then open to 10x and be aggressive post flop.

The alternative is to widen your range with suited combos that flop lots of draws. You would lower your RFI to the standard 3x and expect multiple callers.

This wider method I prefer in full ring or against multiple loose passives at 6-max.

When it is 6-max and you just have the one sticky loose passive fish to your left, the first method is preferred.

If you have a bad player you are way over thinking this very specific spot.

how can you say that in a theory forum ?


seriously...i know what you mean, but still. I mean there should be a reason why we use a range and a raise size...

My habit against an unknown is to try to play smaller pots until I figure out what kinds of mistakes they make. (We'll ignore that we should probably know something about him if we know he calls big preflop bets with too many hands.)

What kind of mistakes does he make post-flop? If he folds too much after the flop, then you would want to make the pot bigger pre-flop. If he calls too much post-flop, then maybe you should keep the pot smaller pre-flop because you don't need to build a pot that early to get it in for stacks post-flop when he makes something decent and you have him beat, so you can keep your implied odds high. You use different types of strategies against different types of bad players.

Let me clarify my answer a little bit.

There is nothing wrong if you just want to look at this out of curiosity and find an answer that satisfies that curiosity.

But if you're looking to become a better poker player, I think focusing on very specific scenarios like this can be detrimental to your progress.

You will begin to over tailor your strategy to specific spots and become exploitable yourself.

Also there is already so much to learn, study, and remember to become a good poker player this wastes valuable time and "mind space" that would be better served doing something else.