F Balance/Cover, Play Optimally!

I just listened to a great podcast on DeucePlays which is on www.deucescracked.com

The show is hosted by Bart Hanson and is a spinoff of his old show on PokerRoad, called Cash Plays. This podcast is from September and features a professional poker player nicknamed Limon on 2+2. He is mainly a live player in LA and he discusses many informative issues for the advantage player (even though currently his main focus is poker). One particular item struck a chord with me and it is something it took me a long time to figure out. A lot of podcasts, books, articles tend to talk about deception as an important part of any advantage play, whether it be balancing in poker, cover plays in blackjack or sportsbetting, etc..........but Limon has a different take.......

(Paraphrased)......I don't worry about my image and I don't have a set preflop raise amount either, I just make the most optimal play everytime, assuming that the play will never get exploited.........if the play does get exploited, then I figure out what adjustments I need to make........but most people you play against won't be able to figure out what you are doing and your play won't need any adjustments.

This is an important concept, in poker, blackjack or sportsbetting.........its probably best to make the most optimal play, until it doesn't work anymore because your opponents, the pit or the bookmaker figure it out and stop you from doing so. In all of these advantage plays, there are work arounds after you are figured out, so why leave money on the table in these situations when there is a chance you may not be figured out.