Quote:
Originally Posted by BDHarrison
I could make a case for fold, call, or raise in this spot and I have done all three at some point. For a player in your exact personal situation, I think folding is probably for the better, if you are the sort of person who is going to go home, study, and try to figure out what you should have done.
As stacks get deeper, implied odds matter more. Preflop, that means you care less about your immediate pot odds and more about how much you can win post-flop. That isn't a license to play garbage against bad players, however. One way you increase how much you can win is by deception. People usually understand how playing non-premium hands as aggressively as premium hands can trick your opponents and lead to a big pot. They don't always understand why playing premium hands as passively as non-premium hands is also a valuable trick in the right spot. So, calling with AK or even hands like AA/KK can make sense.
With deeper stacks, you should become more concerned about protecting your stack, which means that bluffing becomes more important, because you have more reason to be afraid of being beat. So, you don't want to play in a way that turns your hand face up and makes you easy to bluff. Of course, your opponents should be equally afraid, so you need to find situations for bluffing at this level.
You learn how to play deep-stacked the same way you learn anything else. Through the experience of playing and through study so that you can anticipate situations you have never been in before. Have you felt uncomfortable 400BB deep at 1/2?
Racking up after winning a big pot can lead to opponents grumbling about hitting and running. Of course, you won't be around to hear it, but getting a reputation for hit and run can lead to you getting less action against other regs who are familiar with your behavior. It's up to you to determine if this is a problem for you. I don't see it as a problem, but you do tend to look foolish if you try to deny that you are doing what you are obviously doing.
One of the best, well thought out posts I have seen in here in a long time.
Well done!
