I was thinking about this thread this morning and was going to say the same thing. Table dynamic can make such a big difference.

I've been in a six handed, 100bb deep game in which a 10bb raise pre got four callers. I've also been in a full ring game 150bb deep game in which a 4.3x raise usually got me HU. Part of this can be based on hero's image/how good hero has been running.

And really a huge part is based on how loose the player to your direct left is/what kind of cards that player wakes up with. If it goes limp, limp, limp, you make it 7x from the CO, and BTN wakes up with 77/AJs/JTs, he probably calls. If the SB is pretty loose and thinks he's now getting great odds with his 87s, then he calls. Now the cascade effect has started and you end up going six ways regardless of whether or not you made a big raise/had a tight image. This is the aspect (very bloated pots preflop) of LLSNL that can add variance, even though a lot of other aspects (lack of Vs betting draws aggressively, many Vs playing their hands face up, many Vs failing to extract value and play premiums as aggressively as they should, etc) can make it low variance.

OP, big takeaway I think is to remember the reason you raise pre in the first place. I look at it as two main reasons:
1. Getting value. If you're a 9:1 favorite over player A's hand and player A is still willing to go even money with you at up to x dollars, we need to figure out what that magic number is and maximize our value by demanding the max.
2. Thinning the field. This ties in with Morton's Theorem and contrasts a bit with the Fundamental Theorem. While the Fundamental Theorem would say we want players to make incorrect decisions (i.e. call a raise against our AA with 72o), in multiway pots we don't want third and fourth parties to provide a good overlay for an opponent with a legitimate draw. Also makes our life a lot easier from a playability standpoint to be HU or 3way rather than five ways.

This is what worried me. The villain to my direct left had been involved in almost every pot. He basically could have been holding anything, which ended up being the case. When he showed down 10-8 offsuit I almost spit my drink out; even with his range of hands I was astonished he called a $16 bet in EP with such a crappy holding.


And I totally agree with the premise behind pre-flop raising: my intention was to thin the field and I felt a 4xStraddle raise would do it, but apparently I was wrong. I know Aces hold up best HU or at most in a 3-way pot, but with myself and 4 other players in the pot and the villain who could be holding anything I just didn't feel confidant that my Aces would hold up. Sure theres the slight chance I could make a boat on the river but would that reason alone be enough to continue with the hand when you're pretty sure you're already beat on the flop and the turn?

difficult to get called by a better hand here.