Quote:
There are 2 kinds of balance. There's balancing your range, and there's balancing your play.
To me, those are both balance, and they aren't really separate. Balancing what you open with and to how much, balancing how you play when going for value, and how often/how you play bluffs. They are all forms of balance. Further, I would argue that you aren't "misrepresenting your range" when you make an odd play for balance. You are actually changing your range. If you open 92o, even occasionally, from MP, guess what:
92o is in your MP opening range.
And this is the danger of making plays just for balance. They are usually -EV in a vacuum and are only a good idea because they are supposed to generate more EV in the future because they keep your V from having a lock on your play. When your V isn't paying much attention to your play, or is paying attention, but isn't changing his play in response, these balance plays don't generate future EV, as he was already going to do that anyway. So why waste EV now?
Now if you are doing weird things to exploit your V(s)
now, and they
also cause confusion later, hey, bonus! You're not doing with a goal of balance, but it might end up giving you a similar effect without sacrificing any current EV.