Playing Against Aggressive Players

One of the questions I'm most often asked is how to handle the bully. Usually it is a solid, conservative player in a game in which one player seems to be running over the table. The bully raises everybody off their hands, taking down more than half the pots without challenge, and just when somebody stands up to him, he shows a legitimate hand and takes down the pot again. It can be very frustrating to play in games like these, but also very profitable. But there are a couple of things you need to know.

Get Position. If possible, get yourself in position so that the aggressor is sitting on your right, rather than on your left. The closer to your right, the better, as it will mean that you can act after he does in as many hands as possible. If a better seat opens up during the game, don't be ashamed to ask for a seat change. In a home game, you might get some short-term stares, but believe me, you will be in much better shape financially at the end of the night.

Watch and Learn. No matter what position you're in, you are watching every move he makes. You need to find out the answers to these three questions as soon as you can.

1. Is he an intelligent player with an aggressive style, or is he an "action junkie" who doesn't really care about the money? The way to tell this is if he backs down when he thinks he is beat. When someone raises into him, does he fold, or at least slow down? Or does that just trigger more betting and raising from him?

2. When he gets a big hand, does he bet it out, or does he slow-play it, trying to suck in bets from his opponents? If he plays mediocre hands aggressively and big hands slowly, he should be pretty easy to read. But if he pushes his chips with both great hands and nothing, then it is much harder to put him on a hand. You will need a big hand to comfortably call him.

3. Finally, how does he bet his draws? Normally, aggressive players will bet or raise their drawing hands, knowing that even if they are called, they have a chance of winning the pot if their draw comes through. But often you can spot a pattern in how they act when they have a draw. Some players will only check-raise on a draw. Others will bet smaller amounts, since they are not as afraid of a call. Watching how they bet when they are on a draw will help you enormously when you are up against them yourself.

Get the Cards. The best strategy against a player like this is to get a good hand and make your money from it, rather than bluffing back at him. This is especially true if he is an "action junkie," as in Question 1. You will need to wait for good cards to play against him, and that means a lot of folding. If you have position in front of him preflop, you should think twice about playing hands that you cannot call a raise with. If you are behind him in position, and he has already raised, you may lower your standards slightly for hands that you will play, but don't lower them too much. And if the flop doesn't help you, your best move is probably to fold.

In No Limit poker, you make your money from just a few hands in a session. Especially against an aggressive player, your most profitable strategy is to wait for a good spot, and get as much as you can out of him at that time. Butting heads with him on every single hand may be profitable for you occasionally, but you will go broke this way too.

Remember, There are Other Players Too. Keep in mind that besides yourself, there are at least five or six other players in the game with you, and all of them are looking for a way to topple the bully, just like you are. At least some of them are employing the "Get the Cards" strategy above, so be careful with these guys as well. When you're focusing on extracting money from the bully, you can sometimes forget about the other players, but they can take your money too.

Don't Assume. Another mistake players make with an aggressive player is to assume that he has nothing. When he makes a pot-sized bet into you, you assume it is a pure bluff, and call him with second pair and a weak kicker. When he turns up top pair, it can be an expensive surprise.

So, don't assume that he has nothing when he raises, just because sometimes he raises with nothing. If he habitually slow-plays his monsters (as in Question 2), that should tell you something. Aggressive players get good hands too, and one of the ways that they make money is by being called when they have a hand. Don't be the guy who calls with hands that can only beat a bluff. It will cost you in the long run, and probably the short run too.

Don't Get Frustrated. Finally, don't allow yourself to become frustrated by aggressive players. This is another way that they make money. They push and push and push until they are called by some player with a mediocre hand who is just tired of folding. You don't want to be that player either. Keep you head about you when others are losing theirs, wait for the right opportunity, and push your chips into the middle. You may not walk away with the most chips at the table, but you will walk away with more than you started with, and your chances of going home broke are kept to a minimum.

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