Preferring to play with "good" players...

[Talking Poker]

Someone mentioned this in another thread and people though he was crazy. He eventually came around and decided he was crazy too. But I'm not so sure.

For what it's worth, in big tourneys, I prefer playing with good players too. Why? Because it takes just ONE lucky suckout and I'm out. Yes, I realize that most of the time, I will accumulate a lot of chips in those hands, but I won't win them all. And after than inevitable one big suckout, I'm out of the tournament (see my WCOOP, for examples). Against pros, it's much easier to get in their head... maybe not to read them completely, but you can at least rule out the ridiculous stuff (he likely didn't call a PFR with Q4, so I know he doesn't have such and such).

More importantly, I can make moves on pros and actually have them work. I can represent something and get respect for it. Bad players aren't capable of realizing what I might have, so it goes over their head and they call with their Ace high or whatever (which beats me when I am on a stone cold bluff).

It really all comes down to that "Levels of Poker Players" thing I wrote about ages and ages ago. Here's a quick refresher of the 5 Levels, as I see them:

1. Knowing what you have.
2. Knowing what your opponent has.
3. Knowing what your opponent thinks you have.
4. Knowing what your opponent thinks you think he has.
5. Knowing what your opponent thinks you think he thinks you have.

In theory, it goes beyond this, but Level 6 is literally beyond my comprehension. At least today. Against very bad players (Level 1 players or in theory, Level 0 players), it's not possible for me to play at even Level 3, because my opponent would have to be at Level 2 for me to do so. See?

I'd say I'm a solid Level 4 player now, honestly. Well, maybe not "solid," but I'm definitely beyond Level 3, and against good players in the right circumstances, I am capable of being at Level 5.

For the sake of simplicity, let's say I am a Level 3 player. Because of this, it's going to be easier for me to play with Level 2 players than it is Level 1 players. If my opponent doesn't even know what he has, how in the world am I going to be able to figure out what hand he's putting ME on, when that thought hasn't even crossed his mind? It's just not possible, and in a big tourney situation, I think that's very important.

Regarding limit cash games though, I'll play with the fish all day long. Yes, they will hit their miracles here and there, but I will pound them in the long run by making less mistakes. This goes for NL too, but it's less clear and requires more reloading. In the long run though, it's still true.