Having had some more experience with live play I can better comment on the 2/5 game you're in. It sounds similar to mine. Most of the players are decent.

From the posts you've written lately, I think you are too concerned with the cards in your hand. Examine each situation on it's own merits and make the best move possible with the given information.

Sometimes I'll 3 bet with crap... even against a tight player. It's all situational. At least once or twice a day I'll raise my BB with any two cards to steal the money in the pot. If I feel weakness in a situation I may checkraise a bettor and a caller. These are all just random examples.

Your play seems grounded by the cards you hold. You'll never be able to graduate to a higher level of play if you stay on this course. Imagination and heart will up your winrate substantially.

IE: when you're in a situation and this LAG makes it $20 to go (or whatever he does)... if you sense weakness you pounce. It doesn't matter if you have suited connectors or an overpair or 23o. Take advantage of the situation, the prior knowledge of the opponent, and attack! If he's weak, odds are you will either take it down preflop or on the flop.

Obviously you don't do this against a calling station. But that's why it's all situational.

This is your second post in a row that has come close to infuriating me. Not in a bad way... I just want you to get up to that next level already! The cards don't matter nearly as much as you currently believe they do.

Hmmmm...

It seems like every time I try that, I get into big trouble. Over the past couple of years, I've had a few losing months, and I think ALL of them were due to trying too many plays of this sort.

Also about a week ago: I have A7o and limp in CO. Flop comes Q72. Loose player who routinely raises any PP bets pot from UTG+1. I raise. He re-raises, and I fold (obviously, I think). Ok, this isn't huge, but the $80 or so loss was unnecessary and is actually pretty noticeable in terms of overall win-rates.

However, most of the tight 2/5ers with some game are indeed picking up some pots on junk raises and stuff like that. I just fall flat, it seems, every time I try it. True, there are some exceptions, but I really don't think the money I've made doing that compensates for the money I've lost doing it.

I just seem to do it a lot at bad times.

What hand ranges do in any case is give you some fixed percentages. I do think the SC raise (not always) is good in this game and debatably on some PPs (on both, I like percentages rather than an always).

On the 87o guy, ok, I sensed weakness and didn't put him on that specific hand--but I was wrong. I also didn't quite realize his raising range. If he had a hand at all, I at that point would have expected more KQ-ish, possibly a split pot with another AK.

Bottom line on the "don't play the cards" suggestion: I just don't think I'm ready for it right now. I need to be able to put them on hands more accurately in order to do that.

I definitely do think expanding the re-raise range is a good idea specifically against loose raisers. If they have a hand capable of calling, I need to have a decent range of boards that I hit (like on the KQT board, I definitely call with KK or QQ after re-raising, but I can't call with AA).

Here's another possible re-raise strategy against the loose raiser (assuming I don't know if he's weak or strong): Re-raise fairly sizeably always on AA-KK and AKs and 1/12 of the time on 99-QQ as well as any SC and AKo (I get the 1/12 simply because I do the randomization with my watch).

To ice: I appreciate the kind words, and I do think bad luck is part of it. But I also think it's time for a more aggro and refined re-raise strategy.

And I guess back to Kenny's suggestion: I think this depends on more reads than I currently have. Harrington thinks 18% TAG is just "correct" for cash games (and that's pretty much what I'm playing), and even Negreanu, according to his book, is about where I'm at.

Here's a read I'm working on anyway: Suppose the $15 (or $50) raise just means medium PP (there are a couple of players where this is close to a definite, although almost all mix it up some) from a particular regular. How do you play what here? Sure, you can re-raise every time if you want and they theoretically can't call, but I don't think that's going to be viable in the long run. Moreover, you have the rest of the table to deal with.