Preflop discipline

Basically not at all. 1) These players are playing a very limited group of people, so they need to be more unpredictable. When playin 1/2 randos, almost no one notices your disciplined range or adjusts in the unlikely event that they do notice. 2) These shows are often edited to show the edge cases because it makes better TV.

I get your point about the fact they need to be more unpredictable, but I was watching an unedited live stream of a high-stakes game from only a couple of years ago, not a highlight reel, and I saw some opens and 3-bets that looked very loose, which made me wonder how much of that is specific to those lineups and dynamics.

Wonderingthose pros still play that way against unknown/random players, and also if it would make sense for me playing in that way, as sometimes I think people get the idea I can be nitty.

Don't try to emulate what you see on streams.

If you ever watch a vlog where the vlogger is commenting on their own hands played on a live stream, you will very likely hear them say that they feel pressure to play looser than normal, if they want to be invited back to play on stream again.

Many streams will post VPIP stats as part of the entertainment. Even if they don't post those for viewers, they can track stats and correlate to views and view time.

Additionally, people behave differently when they know they're being watched. I guarantee those same players are less wild when the recording stops.

Any stream on which people are playing somewhat close to correctly is likely to be very boring. The tighter players on streams get scorched in the comments and become villains on social media.

People hate Señor Tilt for playing tight while accusing opponents of being nitty. Ditto for Nicky P. After watching the first HCL million dollar game episodes with Huss, I wanted to murder him for his incessant table talk while VPIP'ing less than anyone else, and calling Wesley a pu**y, when Wes gives insane action.

If you want to play like Keating, you should have Keating's ability to range his opponents correctly and his stoic tolerance for variance.

If you think people see you as nitty, you're probably playing too face up in most spots. I'd bet you're mostly playing passive with a wide range, and only getting aggro with strong hands.

Rather than imagine yourself trying to LAG it up, which probably isn't realistic, because you probably wouldn't be comfortable, consider cutting out most, if not all limping and cold-calling pre, and instead just play your entire range as raise or fold from most positions.

Stop limp-calling with all your speculative hands. The times you get a little OOL making a light open will get you paid when you're strong.

There are very few pros allowed on high stakes streams. A lot of the players you actually may think are pros are actually fish. Also the lineups are curated such that actual good players cannot get on unless they are implicitly willing to play too loose in order to please the recreationals or game runners. These streams and high stakes poker shows are a terrible place to get an idea of what good poker looks like

There’s always a metagame going on that may not be obvious to an outside observer.

Especially in tournaments, you can’t fold your way to victory; you have to keep up with the blinds. To counter card dead, you use the fact that you haven’t played a hand in two orbits and run a bluff.

When you see this or think about this, understand that the mediocre hand is not betting for value. You don’t have to use a hand with no equity when you bluff.

Heads up, in position is a huge advantage in information, but it doesn’t matter if the info points to a bluff and you’re still folding. Make sure you’re not leaking ‘fit or fold’ tendencies.

Guess what I’m saying is some players think they can outplay others, so they lower their standards. When they only do this occasionally, they have a lot of fold equity and it can be hard to read.

Should you do this some? Maybe, but don’t get carried away and back out quickly when facing real aggression.

My advice is don’t go looking for trouble. Play tight ranges aggressively and let the bluffs come to you. For example, you open with A5 suited from the CO and the flop brings you a 4Flush - that’s a bluffing opportunity. Or you call an open from the BTN with 55 and the flop comes 467.

Many of the pros on these shows have been quite candid that you have to play loose to get invited back and they will play some -EV hands in order to stay in the game with the whales. This makes sense, it's entertainment and it would be boring to watch everybody folding a bunch of hands and not much action.

The best players spend time constructing special ranges for these games and adjusting their strategy accordingly.

For regular live games with no cameras rolling: tight is almost always still right. Play boring poker and print money.

I feel like I learn something every time Nick Schulman is the commentator on a stream.

I enjoyed watching Garrett.

Enjoyed, maybe.

Feel like at best he put in a lot of work and somehow studied his opponents, and knew their ranges better than they did and street poker 1100%, not sure how much you can learn from watching.

At worst he was just another scumbag thief crybaby.

I think Garrett's a strange dude. Clearly a skilled player, but his in-game manner and reputed efforts to bum-hunt are off-putting.

No doubt Schulman is likely among the few exceptions to what is typically commentary that adds no value.

Most live game commentary is just someone announcing the action, without any opinion or explanation. Just meaningless chatter. I miss hearing professional insights. I wonder if the producers decided to go that way to make the content more "accessible" for a broader audience.

I love watching Keating play. IMO, if someone is looking to emulate a high stakes player with a high VPIP, he's the best example of someone who is good for the game, but also skilled enough to win despite VPIP'ing trash.

Gazzy B is very good, and his vlog is informative. He doesn't often play trash off-stream, unless there are side-games going. I think Mariano is also good, but not as fundamentally sound compared to Gazzy. He'll sometimes play trash off-stream, just to give action and be good for the game. I recently started watching Leigh Bets. I like that his vlog includes snippets of hand reviews from his coaching sessions. He's often playing trash because of all the side-games happening, but otherwise he's usually playing pretty solid.

To append what I don't think has been mentioned yet:

My guess is that in all of those games you are watching everyone is sitting massively deep plus rake is effectively meaningless. My guess is that in your run-of-the-mill LLSNL game you'll mostly be sitting way shorter plus rake will be devastating, all of which leads to tight is right / tighter is righter.

GimoG

Pros on TV - lots of difference including the advertising value so when you play live with randos, ppl will remember that big bluff you ran on Ivey.

Small stakes live- rake, shorter stacks, opponents who like to call... Doesn't suggest you should be raising 96s utg as a general policy. But I do think you can mix it up in late position (within reason) that both helps you in the immediate hand and makes an impression that gets you paid off later.

E.g. vs a fit or fold predictable limper I would say you can isolate with a hand like 65s and do ok