Tricky openings, traps and other

@wornaki I am that 1700 mentality player who goes for "suspect openings, traps and cheapos." Your post is a great encouragement for me to continue.
As @hypeprofessor00 said, the Englund is a truly bad gambit. The first time I faced it, I lost. I found a book, read a chapter, and since then I have won against every Englund I met.
you want people to play 'proper' correct chess. that way you won't need to do the hard work of discovering how to refute the 'suboptimal' lines. suboptimal is based on practical results in the range where one competes. if you don't know how to handle a line, and run from it, of course I'm going to keep using it.
there is also a subjective reason. I like wild complications, with risks for both sides. that's where I find the pleasure in the game.
a solid 'correct' maneuvering middlegame bores me to tears. I lose concentration and I lose. (don't tell anyone!) but I don't block people who play the London system, which I hate, I try to discover how to combat it.

There is an old story, who knows if it is true, of two women playing in a tournament in England in the 1930's. After a half dozen games, one woman asks the other: "Excuse me, I am trying to play the Ruy Lopez. What in the world are you playing?"
To be successful, one needs to be 'universal'

On one hand I agree with @wornaki in that Englund players often give me the impression of playing for tricks and traps and having close to nothing else. On the other hand, for the same reason I'm quite happy to play them: after falling for these traps a couple of times each I studied them and I generally do great against them. Also, after the opening traps have failed, these players tend to double down with even more suspicious middle game play. I have to say, at this point, the temptation of counterattacking instead of playing solidly, defend and just get to a +5 endgame sometimes gets the better of me, but nobody's perfect...

Another cause is the promotion of these bad openings in videos. Recently a video was released claiming that the Stafford Gambit gives easy wins, so the players try this line hoping for the easy wins. Soon a refutation video will emerge, and the variation will lose it's popularity as more people know the correct lines.

@sparowe14 I can understand that, but I'll continue blocking those who play the Englund or other suspect trappy lines. I don't care about the results at all. I do the same with those that attempt to flag me q+k vs K o r+k vs k (against, regardless of the result of the game). I want my online chess life to be about chess, not about tricks.

Dear @wornaki - let me answer your question in #3.
Yes, they do. They do play Englund-Gambit against me.
But I have learned to defend against it - especially after this game, one of my worst rated defeats:

Since then, few others have tried to get me there and I can proudly say that I didnt play 6.Bc3?? but remembered the move that refutes it: 6.Nc3!!
Feel free to block me, I guess I perfectly qualify to be one of those "cheapo loving flagger". :0
I think the best way to learn is through experiencing failure on own skin - it might be painful, but it sticks better.
Blocking people whose style is not comfortable to play is just stupid.
You will get no better doing so. You have to face them, all over again - until you can beat them, until you dont fall for their tricks, until you got faster, until you... RULE!!!
Happy chessing and all best. :-)

@jonesmh I think we could call this the Rosen paradox. On the one hand, more and more people play these gambits, hoping for easy wins and sometimes getting them. On the other hand, as these traps become enormously popular, players are basically forced to learn the refutation and a line that last month could have maybe fooled a master (in a quick game, of course) now is basically useless with anyone who has played some games recently. If you see it this way, the popularisation of dubious gambit ultimately serves the purpose of their progressive demise.

@Funkmaus I like your spirit and I don't intend to block you at all, Englund gambit or not. My decision is set, though. Any player who goes for that opening at my level doesn't deserve me as an opponent. :)

It's all about my peace of mind, in the end. This is online chess. I don't come here to learn and get better, that's secondary. I come here to have a good time and play chess and I will not let people take that away from me.

Thank you. We think similar, but also totally differently.
I dont play Englund. I dont play any other cheap openings. I dont rely on tricks. But I do (dirty) flag.
See, I am also here to have fun, to relax with some meaningsless blitz or bullet games (I dont play rapid) - and I think that dirty flagging is a part of the fun, it belongs to non-incremental time controls.
I dont care about ratings, I play everyone and I do bad against lower rated opposition because they have nasty styles.
I am the worst farmer ever. :0
I wish I would get better, just by playing (I dont study) but I arrived at the point where I consider it as an improvement not to get worse. On same level for at least 10 years. Aaah... Whatever. :-)
Still, I do quick-check blitz games after getting into opening traps by players from your rating range.
Hoping there will be no "next time" when I face them.
Its your choice: feel free to do whatever you are comfortable with. If trickser ruin your fun - block them.
But I strongly doubt you will be able to block them all. They are everywhere in any rating range.
All best. :-)

@wornaki I've played the Englund against a 2000 player, OTB with a 90 +5 time control. I however don't play for the cheap trick, but I play the Zilbermints Gambit. Of course, in my wilder days, I relied on the Albin Countergambit, so this gambit is calm to me.

@wornaki I agree with you about the flaggers, who play beat the clock with a lost endgame. That's because I am not quick at all, so I lose against them. I agree with @funkmaus it is part of the game at fast time controls, so I just don't play those.
Unlike most online players I love books, chess history, discovering obscure lines, and all the forgotten openings of the past. Morphy and agadmator are my dessert.