Aggressive poker is winning poker so, naturally, all poker players try to be aggressive. Some players, however, go a little overboard. They raise too much, bluff too often and try to steal every hand they’re involved in. These are the players you should target.
Here’s how to land a table bully.
Tighten Up
When someone is constantly raising and re-raising pots, the value of speculative hands and draws goes way down because you won’t get be getting good pot odds most of the time. It’s true that you could win a big pot from the overaggressive player when your speculative hand hits, but that’ll be a rare occurrence. First, you have to get your speculative hand when you’re in good position; second, your speculative hand has to hit; and finally, your opponent has to get a second best hand that they like enough to play for all their money. You’ll lose a lot of cash waiting for the perfect situation.
Don’t Bluff Out Of Position
Overaggressive players will bluff frequently when they’re in position. It’s what they do. So if you’re out of position, expect your bets to be called or raised.
When you’re dealing with someone who will frequently call or raise you, bluffing becomes a lot less profitable. Stop trying to bluff your opponent out of the hand and start betting for value without mercy.
Slow Play More Often
I’m usually against slow playing because it can get you into more trouble than it’s worth. However slow playing an overaggressive player can win you big pots. The reason is that hyper-aggressive players pride themselves on being able to “smell weakness” and win pots by outplaying their opponents. If you act weak, there’s a good chance that your opponent will try to take the pot away from you by throwing money at it.
However, slow plays generally work better when you’re in position. You can smooth call your opponent’s bets as if you were drawing and he’ll keep feeding you chips.
Float More Often
When you’re in position with a decent hand, float your opponent. Drawing hands have less value when you’re out of position, but if you get a strong drawing hand in late position like Queen-Jack suited or King-Queen suited you could win a lot of money from your overaggressive opponent.
When you have a draw and/or a couple overcards, call your opponent’s flop bet and see what he does on the turn. If he makes another feeler bet, raise him on a semi-bluff. You could win the pot on the turn and you have several outs if you’re called.
Be careful not to overuse the semi-bluff on the turn or you risk getting caught and if your opponent re-raises you, you’ll have to fold unless you’re pot committed.
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Overaggressive players can terrorize a poker table, but a smart player knows how to put them in their place. Try these tips the next time you face a bully and get the respect (and money) you deserve.
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