Captain Obvious - Some Low Limit Poker Idears

I have a friend that hates the way I play poker, he tells me, you play the hands so obviously and so straightforward, but everyone still pays you off.....................I read a lot of poker books that tell you to vary your play, mix up your play, blah, blah, blah....................this advice is only good in very specific situations that include 1) You are playing with the same group of people on a regular basis 2) They are good thinking players that pick up on patterns of hand play 3) You know how to play hands differently than optimally and still make money......................most of us do not run into these 3 things falling right in line........................the solution. Play every hand, the best way that it can be played, no matter how transparent you think it looks.................I remember early in my poker career, trying to play lots of hands tricky or to vary my play with the same hand......................Soon, I realized, that 1) I was playing a lot online and rarely knew my opponents 2) In my home game only about 5% of people would even notice I played a hand differently 3) my trickiness was not optimal and was losing me money................

This is when I came to the realization, that I should just play every hand optimally (or what I thought was optimal), that meant, if I flopped top 2 pair in Limit Holdem, I lead right out, no checks and mysterious check raises, just lead right out......................if I have split aces in stud high and a J raise and a K 3 bets, my split aces cap, no playing too tricky, just play it the best possible, you have the best of it, get more bets in................................this is not to say I don't play hands tricky, sometimes that is the best play, like flopping quads in PLO, it is best to play this hand slow and let someone make a fullhouse, so you can stack them.............................this is even more important with bad hands, just fold, no tricky bluffs or ridiculous 3 bets, just make the best play, which is usually folding.

Remember in low limit games, playing the hand the best way possible is always the goal, leave the donk that doesn't know any better to be tricky and then you can use it against him.