Sloe Times

So a week or so ago I started mulling over the idea on card rushes and their occurrence. Should you play in a manner that may or may not induce them, or should you just ignored such obvious nonsense and play your normal game and enjoy the occasional streak?

I really have given this a lot of thought, but I suspect that what I am about to write is just going to sound very Brunson-esq. Perhaps that's appropriate since one of the main thoughts on trying to take control of a table through rushes comes right from his book Super System. The strategy, if you want to call it that, is that when you have a winning hand, you play the following hand (cheaply if necessary) regardless of the cards. The result being that you can capitalize on the times when the deck is slapping you in the face no matter what you play. I believe there's also a psychological component that applies to higher limit and no-limit games in that when a person is on fire, you're less likely to tangle with them without a great hand.

When I first suggested this as a valid playing strategy I mostly caught a lot of comments to the effect of playing any two cards(ATC) after a winning hand only has a negative expected value. It was never my intention to imply that no matter what you should play a hand after winning. Frankly, without a little luck, you're not going to catch great cards hand after hand. What Brunson suggested, and I support, is playing the hand if you can do it cheaply. After a lot of reflection, my reason for doing this is less about creating a card rush, and more about giving a little action. If I make a loose play cheaply and getting away from it quickly when it doesn't work out then I'm giving some action so that later on I get action when someone believes I am playing a little too loose.

I've been playing this concept for a couple of weeks now and at least online (the only place I can get accurate records) I have been gaining about 8 BB/hr. The frightening statistic is that my flops seen % floats around the 40% - 50% range which makes me look like a bloody maniac. Prior to playing ATC after a winning hand my flops seen was around 30% - 35% and honestly my gains were about the same 7 or 8 BB/hr. So, while I have not really been able to play enough hands over a long enough period of time to definitively say that this is a viable strategy or not, my earn rate hasn't suffered and I sure get to play in lots of hands.

I would be interested to hear some feedback from anyone who seriously attempts to employ this strategy. My own results could be skewed from a combination of factors so any other input would be appreciated.