Not sure if it’s just a weird patch or if the games have genuinely shifted a bit, but the last few weeks have felt different to me. Online especially, even the smaller buy-ins aren’t giving away as many cheap spots as they were not long ago. More decent 3-bets, less pointless punting from early position, more blokes actually putting pressure on capped ranges instead of just firing because they feel like it.
I’m guessing all the free study stuff getting around now is finally filtering down. YouTube hand breakdowns, preflop charts everywhere, solver clips chopped into 30 seconds for socials... sounds silly, but I reckon it’s had an effect. A few years back you could sit in softer games and print just by value betting hard and staying out of trouble. Still works plenty, sure, but it feels like the average punter has cleaned up the obvious leaks a touch.
Where I’ve felt it most is late position steals not getting through as often, and flop c-bets into one caller not working for auto-profit like they used to. Even live, a couple local games I play in have gone from limpy and loose to weirdly cagey, then someone wakes up with a proper squeeze and now you’re actually playing for real. Bit of a change from the old Friday arvo splash-around stuff.
Curious if the rest of you are seeing the same thing or if I’ve just landed in tougher pools lately. Have you tightened up pre, started checking back more middling hands, gone thinner for value, what’s been working? Keen to hear from cash and tourney players both, especially anyone grinding the lower to mid stakes in Aus.