OK here's an example. Last night I pretty much crushed, playing a mix of 2/5 and 1/2, up $2k over 10 hours. Of that, less than $100 was from playing absolute, unadulterated trash. I played random crap hands a handful of times, each time specifically to adjust my pre-flop bluff tendency. Sometimes you get into a thing where you are running over the table so hard, people start freaking out and folding as soon as you start cutting out chips for a pfr. The only thing I won with these trash hands was the blinds and a limp or two. As soon as people start calling, I drop the trash and go back to playing quality hands.

This isn't to say I wasn't bluffing. I was bluffing a lot. Here are two plays, against the same chick:
1. Bombed a Qc9cQd9s turn with TT.
2. Float-bluffed from oop, got snapped off (guess she wasn't open-raising as light as I thought she was) and then inadvertently spiked the nuts otr runner-runner style.

The latter play was the only fancy play I ran the entire night, and I was damn glad I pulled that stunt with a decent suited connector. Note in the first instance my read was spot on; and in the second I was way off. The reason you don't play trash is because your reads aren't always accurate.

Make sure you understand the tempo of the game. Out of the ten hours I played, I as only active for about two. I went two straight hours at one point without playing a single hand. And even so, I went through stretches where I had too many quality hands for optimal play. That is when, and why you play trash.

I had a friend, an airline pilot, who says flying is 90% pure boredom. The other 10% will definitely get your attention. Poker is the same way.

1. there was a interbiew with galfond a while back that asked him about micro stakes. he stated he would probably play a 25/10 type style.

2. IMO playing trash is fine but its like a balance between pre and post flop skill. The bigger disadvantage you give pre you need to make up for post flop. So playing trash is fine pre if you are a beast post. sometimes we end up at a great table and we can do this, lots of other times we cant without spewing.

3. Problem with this is if you are a beast post you wont be playing 1/2 or 1/3 or even 2/5.

Unless you have bankroll restraints or are like me and just love the ego boost of embarrassing lowly 1/2 fish.

By the way, I won the Q9Q9 hand because I play a range that is uncapped and balanced. She knew, or should have known, that I could be on AA or AQ. Alternatively I could also be on T9s. But I could not be on 72o. She was on a polarized range of premiums and flush draws, and I had a good enough read on her to know she wouldn't felt with either one. It's not that I couldn't have done the same thing with 72o, I could have. But only if she is absolutely certain that I don't. And the best way to make her certain of that, is to not.

So one of the lessons learned here is that if you're going to play absolute trash, you have to understand that others will start to include that in your range. Thus, you'll get called more often when you do bluff since your range is so wide. So this is one of the drawbacks of playing trash.

Most of your opponents can't think that well which is why it really doesn't matter I you balance most of the time. I play in a very steady pool and there are some who I have to keep track of my image for. That's it. Just a few. And that's over a out a three year period. So, just randomly sitting down at a table doesn't mean you have I balance anything. It's important to note that Dave wasn't playing ANY trash. He's doing it with a plan in mind with a certain type of hand. And hopefully, he's doing it in very specific spots against ver specific players. It shouldn't be just to "balance" or "widen your range" or be more "unpredictable."

Just to finish up here, above is why OP question at the beginning makes little sense. We can give you a couple of plays. However, they will be counterproductive for you without a detailed discussion of when and more importantly, when not to use them. Many people these days go to a coach to get that level of instruction. A good coach will introduce a couple of concepts, spend time on the does and don't and review your knowledge of identifying when to do it before you go practice it for a week or so. The more arcane the situation, the longer it will take to master it.

I don't want to spend much time going over it, but one thing I do is call a PSB on the flop with a straight draw on a two tone board. However, there are a lot of conditions in front of that.

1. I have position.
2. It is heads up.
3. Villain can recognize that his TP is beat on certain boards.
4. He can fold TP in those situations.
5. My image to the villain is one of a straight forward player that doesn't understand odds. In addition, he knows I'm not going to be auto raising on that board with a set.

There's a few more things, but that gives you a flavor of it. It is trash on a simplistic level because I've only got 6 clean outs. However, I've got three ways to win. First, I can hit my straight. Most people don't recognize straights and will keep betting. I can probably get his stack. Second, the flush card hits and I just bet to get the fold. Finally, he might be on a FD himself and will fold on the river when it misses. I'll leave up to you on what you need to do on the turn for the various boards and just note that if you make a mistake on any of these conditions, especially on the turn, you'll likely lose a lot of money. That's where the coach comes in.

Great analogies by you and venice.

I have just started reading The Mental Game of Poker and one of the first things it talks about is if you improve your weakest skills you can focus more energy and brainpower on learning new concepts while your unconscious will handle the more trivial thoughts. This sounds a little like autopiloting but this relates to a high school QB who is still working on fundamentals where a NFL player can focus on more in depth plays.

NFL QBs are better than HS QBs because their fundamentals are much better, not because they do more trick plays. You are far more likely to see a trick play in a high school game than you are in the NFL, because NFL players are less apt to fall for it.

Exactly. Arguably, a negligible amount; I posted an example over in BBV if OP is interested.

You are correct, but the NFL playbook is much deeper and nuanced than the high school playbook, in part because the players have the skills and understanding to execute more sophisticated plays. So while you won't see the "Statue of Liberty" or "Hook and Ladder" play much in the NFL, you also won't see WRs running pass routes in HS that rely on both the QB and WR making the same defensive read, or complex screen plays that are dependent upon the lineman making multiple blocks and getting down the field.

I appreciate all of the feedback. I opened this topic up to get opinions on playing unconventional, out of typical range, or "trash" hands. Is there an appropriate situation? Am I missing out on potential profit by not seeking opportunities to play where my cards don't matter? I realize that this is a small (very small) subset of the overall game.

What I take away from this discussion is the following:

1. A players win rate and skill set is more likely to improve by becoming more fundamentally sound. Until then, explorations of this type are probably not worthwhile.
2. If you're going to play trashy hands anyway, do it in position against weak-tight, fit-or-fold type players who don't think about what your hand is anyway.
3. If you're going to play trash, don't be surprised when you get called down because they thought you had a trashy hand.
4. Little, if any, of your long-term profit is going to come from playing trashy hands and playing them consistently is going to put you in some very difficult spots.
5. High School QBs aren't very good compared to NFL QBs.

I realize I may have missed a few points, but thanks again for all the comments.