[stu_ungar]

How should you play against aggresive players who are raising every pot they play. I tried to wait for hands but I keep getting blinded out so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to deal with these types of players.

[chips1234]

hey man im new here this is my first post

i think the best thing to do is start raising him before he raises you start pushing/re-raising when you think he has nothing once he see's your not afraid to put all your chips in the pot he might relax on his raising on the otherhand make sure you pick the right spots to push all in on cause sometimes he will actually have a hand to call you on ?????

main point is have the courage to call his raises if he starts doing it repetively
and the more you play against people like this the better you'll become at handling them

good luck at the tables

[callmeastar]

I was wondering the same thing on what is the best way to play them. Most of the time when I see a player rasing every hand I figure that most of the time he doesnt have anything. I try to be patient and wait for the right cards and then the right time and then try to take him out. Does anybody else have any ideas?

[chips1234]

i also found these articles on another website that might help both of you ???

first one is about trapping table bullies

In previous articles, I have discussed methods of fighting back against poker table bullies. These pesky semi-maniacal players in your no-limit cash game or tournament accumulate chips by sheer aggression. They don’t like to show down a lot of hands, they put immense pressure on other players every hand they’re involved in, and they occasionally get lucky and/or have the best hand in order to stay in the game.

Table bullies capitalize on both weak players who don’t have the heart to put money into the pot, and tight-aggressive players who don’t like to put in their money without what seems to be a lock hand. I would probably classify myself into the latter description – as I’m sure many of you would also. I’d like to outline an example hand that I recently participated in to give you an example of how to use their aggression to your advantage.

Slowplay the maniac and trap him for all his chips. Let me set the stage for the following hand: an online casual late-night $2/4 no-limit hold’em cash game. The player directly to my left decided to play table bully by making every hand expensive before the flop and then not hesitating to shove in the rest of his chips on the flop, turn, and river if necessary.

While the counter-strategy to this style seems obvious (wait for monster hands and call the big bets), he sucked out on a couple of big hands against other opponents. Not wanting to turn it into an expensive coin flip, most of us are praying, “PLEASE let me pick up those pocket Aces before this guy dumps his money off to someone else”. Unfortunately for me, the Aces didn’t come. However, the following hand came up:

I was dealt Ad-8c from the small blind. Certainly not a powerhouse, but with the maniac and two other limpers in the pot it seemed worthy of another $2. The bully in the big blind checked to a flop of Ac-8h-4d, giving me top two pair. Of course, table bullies love to take control so I decided to check and let him do just that. It was an unconnected, unsuited board and I didn’t doubt that he was going to bet out. To my chagrin, he just checked.

Play moved on to the early position limper who made a $16 bet. The late position limper folded and I just called the bet. Without delay, the table bully goes all-in! Jackpot! The original bettor thinks for a while before finally folding. The bully had more than I did (about $300) so I already had the checkbox on “Call”. Normally, I might hesitate and worry about a set in this position but rarely (if ever) will I lay down top two pair on the flop with a board like that. I make the call and the bully is forced to show his 7-2 offsuit – the worst possible starting hand in hold’em. I have a scare when a 3 came on the turn, but the river with a K to give me a sizeable pot. That works for me. Our table bully was crippled and busted out shortly thereafter.

I like this hand for its comedic purposes and the awful bluff the bully tried to run, but there is a lesson in its workings. Such players are not uncommon in no-limit hold’em cash games or tournaments, especially online. When a player tries to take control every hand, you should let him do the betting for you when you have a monster hand. If you bet out big to try to build a pot, these bullies will often be scared away. Remember, they like to dominate the action and win pots without showdowns.

This strategy echoes a sentiment Doyle Brunson shared in his book Online Poker: if you’re playing heads-up against a highly aggressive player, let him do the betting for you, fire a second bullet, and then get him for a raise on the river. If you aren’t fortunate enough to get in all your opponent’s money on the flop as I did, you definitely should consider slowplaying table bullies on a harmless board.

[chips1234]

here is the second article its called defending against maniacs

I recently received an e-mail from a player that I thought was particularly poignant. Let me post a snippet of it here:

“I have trouble coping with some of the very aggressive betting in the ring games, and would appreciate any advice on how to deal with it. It seems that in the games I play in, every 2 or 3 hands someone puts in a big raise pre-flop - anything from 5x up to 20 or even 30 x the big blind. There are frequently 3 or 4 players of this type at the tables I play on.

OK, some of the time they've got a premium hand, but a lot of the time they don't, and it's almost impossible to know what they might be holding unless you're prepared to call them (and then again on each subsequent betting round). Even a raise of 5 times the big blind is usually enough for me to fold all but the very best starting hands, and I've lost count of the number of hands I would have won if I'd stayed in against the idiots who raise with A6 offsuit and win with ace high!”

This is a great issue to bring up, and certainly can be a frustrating experience if you’re a naturally tight player. While it still is true that you want these types of players at your table, it doesn’t always feel that way when they suck out on you left and right or raise you out of the best hand. I’d like to recommend two main defensive strategies against overly aggressive players in no-limit ring games and tournaments, and they begin with one important piece of advice: continue to be selective with your starting hands.

When you see maniacs taking down big pots with trash hands, you might be tempted to sink to their level. Hands like suited connectors and small pocket pairs play great in this situation if you’re getting the proper pot odds to call, but you often won’t be getting the right odds if the rest of the tables tightens up against the lone aggressive player. When you start calling with garbage, you’ll inherently connect very little on the flop. The maniac will most likely continue to hammer you on the flop in which case you’ll probably fold and cost yourself money with a weak hand. A better choice is to:

1) Fight back before the flop. Overly aggressive players thrive on taking control of the hand. Hence, they don’t like to be re-raised and lose control of the hand. You know that he can’t have Aces or Kings as often as he portrays, so most of the time you’ll catch him with a mediocre hand at best. If you have position on the raiser and pick up a better-than-average hand, consider throwing in a big re-raise. Most of the time, you’ll pick up the pot right there. I was at a no-limit table last night against this type of player, and I’d raise him 4x his bet every time with any pocket pairs higher than 9-9 or with any two face cards. I never had to see a flop.

This type of player doesn’t want a fight – he wants to stay in control and quietly take down lots of pots. Aggressive players usually excel by sensing weakness and capitalizing on it. If you’re going to take on a seemingly wild player, don’t play weakly into his hands; dictate the terms, play your own game, and make him pay before the flop when you have a strong hand. These players will often outplay you on the flop with their sheer aggression, so try to define your hand pre-flop if you have a tendency to fold to pressure.

2) Trap aggressive players with your strong hands. Slowplaying your big hands against loose players can be a great tool to extract great profit. Let’s say that you’re on the button with pocket Aces and the resident maniac makes his standard raise from early position of 5x the big blind. If there aren’t any other callers, I might just call in this situation. Since this type of player usually continues his aggression on the flop, I’ll just call him again or if I’m out of position I might check-raise him. If you’re confident that you still have the best hand, just keep value betting or calling and build up a nice pot that will soon be yours.

Of course, you always risk being outdrawn here, but you should keep a close eye on the board for possible trouble. If you see an obvious straight or flush draw, you can throw in a raise. However, if the board is seemingly benign, I’ll often save the raise until the river. This allows me to take advantage of his blind aggression and extract more money from 3 additional betting rounds rather than chase him away before the flop. Usually you should reserve this play for your premium pocket pairs, or if you hit a monster on the flop. Let him continue to make mistakes and show him what will happen if he continues to bully you around.

Even with your premium hands, bad beats are going to happen – especially against players willing to play anything. That’s simply a part of poker that you’ll have to be able to manage psychologically. It happens to all of us, but what distinguishes winning poker players from losing ones is the ability to pick oneself up, play the best possible game, and mount a comeback. Keep in mind that you don’t have to win it all back the same night. If you’re really going on tilt and you can recognize that you aren’t playing your best game, be strong enough to leave the table and come back tomorrow or the next day. The game will still be there waiting for you – especially online.

As I’ve tried to describe here, the worst thing you can do against overly aggressive opponents is play passively. As the player said in his message, you have to be prepared to call their bets on every subsequent betting round. If you know that you’ll be facing another big bet on the flop, don’t make a weak call before the flop. Instead, throw in a big raise to take control of the hand. Unless he is holding premium cards, you’ll at the very least take him out of his game. At the same time, consider slowplaying your Aces or Kings (less often with Kings because of the risk of him holding a weak Ace) and then raising him on the turn or river to get more value out of your hand. Of course, if there are multiple maniacs willing to call big raises with anything pre-flop, you’re better off shoving in your chips and thinning the field. If you win a small pot, that’s okay… YOU WON THE POT, DIDN’T YOU?!


if you wanna know the name of the website pm me for it cause i dont know if im allowed to post it up on the boards or not

[N0NI81]

its a gamble.. but i find it to my advantage.. bigger pots!

[gillytexas]

I got trouble with aggressive players or betters when I am in middle of playing poker online. I had 78k chips but others had 200k they always aggressive bet that made me very tight until I got good hand like qq but they had a8 busted me out of the game. I should fold if they call all in then or I should keep call. what your advice or suggest. I would appreicate if you give me good suggestion. Thanks

[kayimbo]

punish them with reraises preflop when you got your AK suit, ect.

[lukeyboy135]

go with the check raise. if you know the player is going to bet the flop when you hit a hand then check when he bets raise him. it works perfectly

[lukeyboy135]

my personal favorite situation to check raise is when you have a hand like j 10 and flop comes k 10 10. you check it and good things happen