I know that to improve my game to the next level, I need to start learning to mix-up my play, but have a mental block trying to do so.
My table image is that I am tight-semi aggressive, and I feel I'm fairly easy to read. By changing gears I want to try to use that image to my advantage, and also lose the image. I have been doing all-right, but have noticed that I am generally winning small/medium pots and more often losing the large pots.
I tend to group the phrases "mixing it up" as "slow playing" as being the same thing. Thus, my mental block is that I'd rather win a small pot than take the chance of losing a larger pot by giving another player the chance at a cheap card.
An example would be I have KK and the flop has a K with 2 spades. My nature is to bet big now and win the pot instead of betting smaller and giving someone a cheap card at the flush. I'm thinking that to mix it up a bit, in a simialr situation I should once in a while go ahead and make the small bet, taking the risk, and then make my move on the turn. This play would have two affects, I might win a larger pot, and I would also start to lose my "tight" image and be more difficult to read. But it is just difficult for me to do because of 1)my thinking that $50 is nice, but $20 is better than losing $20, 2)it seems whenever I have a big hand, the flop is 95% of the time scary.
Mixing it up is very important, and in even more ways than you mention. I like to mix up my preflop play as well as my post flop play, including cards as well as betting.
What you need to keep in mind is that poker is a long run event and the numbers will work out long term. If you hold KK and flop K-s-s, you are at least about a 70% favorite, sometimes much greater than that. If you have a sufficient bankroll, why would you not want to get your opponents money in the pot with those odds. If you can get him to call, 70% of the time you win a big pot. The key is being able to withstand the times where you are drawn out on. If you can do that, your overall results in situations like these will be much greater than if you were to just take it down on the flop. I am not saying whether or not you should bet out on the flop, likely you should,
Anyway, my poiint is...you should not be playing trying not to lose hands...instead maximize value when you have the best of it, and minimize your losses when you don't. Simple as that. Mixing up your play is one very good way to keep your opponents guessing. You would be surprised how profitable a caught bluff can eventually be in the right game and circumstances.
Sometimes you want action on your hands, and sometimes you want fear and respect at the table. You need to be able to determine which of these is going to be the most profitable and aspire to creating the best situation to attain those results. This can change from week to week, table to table, and even player to player. If doing these "different " types of things are uncomfortable for you, I encourage you to step into this zone of discomfort occasionally until it is not longer uncomfortable.
