Let’s see what some had to say. I will refrain from printing their online names to protect their existing bankroll; you can form your own judgments.
• “Loose play can be very profitable at times. My thought is if a flop is affordable based on your stack take a chance and see it. When everyone is playing tight and you feel that they are playing at least painted cards or when there are many limpers into the pot it is a great time to limp maybe even raise knowing that the deck is rich with small and medium cards. There is a better chance of hitting a hand.

Playing lousy cards are also easy to fold when they do not hit so the trouble you can get into is limited and the reward can be high.”

• “I can agree on playing those SMALL cards at certain points. To me that is not loose that’s thinking poker. One example is if I have good control of a certain player and it’s folded to me I might get in there with any 2 cards. Instead of blowing him off a hand sometimes I hit the flop and have to showdown a real crappy hand. To that player and everyone else at the table I’m loose as well as clueless.

To me loose is when you play just to play and not having intentions when you enter the hand. Only thought is "I have an ace rag and who cares that he raised" or "they were suited". Stacking off on a draw and other assorted prayer type hands are to me loose. Even the loose players who are wannabe Gus Hansen’s get lucky. Case in point Jamie Gold a loose downright HORRIBLE player that couldn’t miss a flop this WSOP. Is he good because he beat 9000+ players?”

• “Tight predictable play rarely wins tournaments.

As a friend of mine likes to say, you play the top half of the deck, I’ll play the bottom. Early in the tournament, it’s about implied odds against over-zealous players. Later in the tournament it’s about playing the player (and the cards are unimportant).”

• “There’s "I hope-I hope!" loose and then there’s "I’m doing this for a reason" loose. The person who plays Ace-rag and goes nuts when an Ace hits the board is "I hope-I hope!” The person who plays it and folds when they don’t hit two pair or better is doing it for a reason. Today I called a 5x raise with 7-9 and flopped a straight. The call was loose, but I was calling someone who had been stealing pots for half a dozen hands. He claimed not to have been bluffing at all, and maybe so, but I wanted to catch him unprepared and of course did. I checked the flop and he came back hard and lost. That’s loose for a reason.”

• “I play these types of hands a lot early in a tournament, and not so much later in the tournament.”

• “If I was at a table I knew I was able to limp in with speculative hands, even in early positions without being raised I would try to limp. Those are often the hands you make the most chips on because often no one will figure you got them.”

Don’t misunderstand or underestimate the main issue/style here by writing these players off, some may actually have poker talents and might even be providing you (the wise poker sage at the table), with a misguided impression of their poker skills. Could they in fact be counting on defeating a number of these players with post-flop skills? Are they baiting these new players who are looser than the waist band of a successful Weight-Watcher? The answer is clearly: “In some cases this is very true, but often not, it’s just the lowering of one’s standards that create an atmosphere for chaos and often times, retaliatory play or comments!”

Let’s look at a few more pointed comments:

• “What really prompted me to write this response though was a hand last night on the WPT between Doyle Brunson and Patrick Antonius. Doyle, FTA with 3 or 4 players left, JJ Lieu folds, Doyle limps with pp33. Patrick thinks for a couple of minutes then goes all in with A2o. Pedersen folds and Doyle calls all-in. The 3’s hold up and Doyle wins the pot. Patrick says: "How could you make that call? Doyle responds: How could you make that bet?" I almost fell out of my chair laughing and reminded of a chat box online.”

• There is a difference between good loose and bad loose. It centers on post flop play.

Bad loose – They play any two and catch a small piece of the flop such as bottom pair or a small middle pair. Many of the “bad loose” will continue thinking the other player missed and their small pair will hold up. Sometimes they continue calling hoping to hit the 2 outer for trips or an additional 3 outs for a second pair. Sometimes the “bad loose” will flop a gut shot straight and continue calling hoping for the magic 4 outer. The bottom line is that if they hit they win a large pot, if they lose they leak off a lot of chips. They experience large swings in their bankroll.

Good loose – They do not have to hit to win. Their reads on the other players are good enough to know if their meager holdings can win them some chips.”

Convincing you or me that playing just about any two cards, or a hand that is semi-suited (wink), is a tall order and a strategy that is certainly flawed from the outset. We can all agree that any two cards can win, however, in poker, it’s the “likelihood or frequency” of success that rewards players for their investment over a long period of time. Some might correctly say that “luck” can be a factor in the “short-term” and can be frustrating to those who see this type play more often and especially online. But more importantly, how do we combat these “tactics” (and we are liberally giving them the benefit of the doubt calling it a tactic, but for this discussion, let’s assume it really is)? Part II will be related to how online players are taking aim when players play this way and wind up in their “sights!”