More callers is bad for our equity, but good for our EV.
Equity of AA with 8 callers is ~35%. EV = 0.35 * 800 - 0.65 * 100 = 215
Equity of AA with 5 callers is ~48%. EV = 0.48 * 500 - 0.52 * 100 = 188
Equity of AA with 1 caller is ~85%. EV = 0.85 * 100 - 0.15 * 100 = 70
It’s not good for our win rate.
Agreed, but in the long run the percentage of hands we win is almost entirely determined by the cards we are dealt, which averages out in the long run. Aggression will push it a little bit in our favor, but it’s very difficult to ever generate enough folds to make a huge difference. We can make a massive difference to our EV by manipulating the size of the pot though. Also, if we get too focused on just winning the hand, then w’re going to miss a lot of thin value bets.
I think your response is from a Ring perspective where you can always reload.
I think in MTT play, one is focused on accumulating chips, knocking out as many players as you can or crippling their stacks. One example is when you have a sizable stack, and a smaller stack covers an even smaller stack, and you go over the top with the intent on winning the side pot.
You are making a sacrifice of chips to eliminate or cripple the stack of another player.
Your point about image and table dynamics is also spot-on. When you play tight, balanced, and rarely show your cards, you’re projecting strength — which can sometimes backfire online. It invites opponents to get creative or reckless just to try and crack you, especially in low-stakes or play-money environments where there’s no real downside for them.
I agree that taking a more aggressive preflop line with strong hands can be a useful adjustment. It denies equity, punishes loose limpers, and cuts down on multiway pots where junk hands hit weird two pairs or bottom sets. Sure, it may reduce value from medium-strength hands that would’ve called a smaller raise, but the tradeoff — avoiding coolers and preserving mental energy — can be well worth it.
In online poker, protecting your mindset is as important as protecting your stack. Playing rational poker in an irrational environment is a constant challenge.
Thanks for putting this into words so clearly.
I read somewhere that 90% of new car sales in Norway are EVs, but I’m going to keep trying to isolate my opponents. Also, your fourth-grade teacher would cluck her tongue and tell you to simplify your work.
eg, 85-15=70
When you were a child, did you and your siblings or friends get loud and reckless while playing in the house on a rainy day? Do you remember your mother taking it silently for as long as she could before finally screaming at everyone to behave? You all went quiet immediately, at least for a little while, didn’t you?
Similarly, when you play a tight controlled game and only show when necessary, you do project strength, but when opponents start to get crazy to put you off your game, you just may have to show them that they don’t know what crazy is.
Sure, you can keep trying to isolate. What do they call it again when someone keeps doing the same thing expecting different results? 
I love the analogy! I can definitely relate to that feeling — it’s almost like you’ve been keeping the peace and playing by the rules, and then suddenly, the table turns into chaos.
It’s a fine line, though, between letting loose and turning into the kind of player who’s just reacting to others’ chaos rather than controlling the action. But I get what you’re saying — if they’re trying to make you doubt your game or push you around, sometimes showing them you’re not afraid to get a little wild can be the right move.
I think the key is knowing when to switch gears. If they’re targeting your tight image, you can let them make mistakes against you by staying disciplined — but when they start pushing you around or getting reckless with their bluffs, that’s when you flip the switch, show some aggression, and remind them that you’re still in control.
It’s that balance of projecting strength and knowing when to push back. I think the biggest challenge is doing so without letting it throw off your overall strategy.
(btw im using a translator so the grammar might not be the best)
There are only two possible results, and, despite my recent misfortune with the best hands, I am largely getting the desired one. Besides, if one player keeps finding cards against me, I can’t imagine multiple ones will improve my chances.
My mother would agree. Once we quieted down, she went back to her crocheting.
My entire point is that there isn’t only two outcomes. Poker is scored by how many chips we win or lose, not by how many hands we win.
Of course your strategy is working, you’re playing against people who call with 94 and J2 or whatever. That doesn’t mean it’s the optimal strategy, and it’s going to get you into big trouble against stronger opponents. If you’re fixated on isolation, then you have no framework to decide when a really large open is good or bad.
Focus on thought process over results, especially when you’ve played so few hands.
So you agree that the stakes matter and change how we play.
And what kind of stakes are on Replay, a play money site?
Why would we make an optimal play in a spot like that on a play site full of fish who love to limp garbage? The exploit here is to get them to fold out their garbage. If fish really wants to stack off with J2o let him do it pre, because he won’t do it post if he whiffs so you won’t get paid anyways, but he will if he flops 22 or J2 and we will felt. If we raise pre appropriately and get 2 callers, that J26-rb flop tells us that our AA is ahead of everything but JJ. If the flop is KK8 and Villain bets the flop at least we can believe that he has a K here. We have info to make a decision.
If everyone is in, we have no idea who hit what and chances are that SOMEONE hit it hard is actually quite likely. more often than not, we will get a lovely ribbon for finishing 2nd out of 8 and that ribbon will cost us our stack. We don’t want everyone in.
I’ve seen people call humongous raises with some of the worst hands and hit here. Expecting people to play like there is money at stake on a play site is hilarious and insanity. Everyone plays how they play. You play how you want and everyone else will play how they want. This site has more pros than the WSOP
That’s not an exploit, that’s just letting fear drive.
If you want to win, you have to get all those chips at some stage. What’s more likely, you beat them all in one hand with a premium holding, or you win 8 separate hands heads up? Even assuming you get dealt premiums 8 times in one tournament, the chance of winning 8 separate hands is lower than winning one hand against 8 opponents.
That’s true regardless of the stakes or how good or bad our opponents are.
I was speaking in the context of an individual hand.
Oh, u would be surprised-they do the SAME thing at cash games—not a casino usually----i think because just pushing a button and not having ppl. look at you like your awwwww stupid is VERY easy online-----tonight, had someone put me all in pre-flop with 8-3 off suit ( i had KK ) and i lost lol:)…In the long run they go broke–i see it all the time–very frustrating though, losing with pocket k’s to 8-3 off suit lol…Ohh, it was a small cash game
I’ve had players celebrate after similar hands, as if they were the next Tony G. Always a pleasure to bust them or see them bust shortly thereafter.
You folks give good insights for sure. For me the problem often is that I recognize team play. Whipsaws etc…then the normal rules go out the window. I will have to gamble. ie…go all i. preflop with my range cards. Pair of nines…not go na soft call against teams. Im goj g to make them commit and risk at least as much as I will. It works often. But sometimes it just hurts.
If you recognize them, just report them and leave the table.