05-17-06, LearnTexasHoldem:
Playing Against Tricky Players
Top 3 Beginner Rooms
Sometime the following situation comes up. I'm in first position and i bet on the flop top pair(with not a great kicker), and the second player raises me 3 times.If you know that he is a tricky player, able to raise with a draw should you reraise?The problem is that being in first position if you call and then check you are finished. Maybe is it better to call and bet again on the turn?
In other situations against tricky players raise you when you have raised preflop and bet the flop (maybe with AK,AQ) with all low cards showing. Should you reraise once in a while? The problem is that the pot builds up very quickly, and one mistake you lose all your buy-in. One other variation is that the check-call the flop and then check-raise the turn, so that you think they have a set. I also think that if you let them do this play to you once they will try it more often (which can be a good and a bad thing) Any thoughts on this? Thanks a lot for a great site.
Regards,
Pit
Answer:
Ok...
1. When you play against an aggressive or tricky player, you can go on tilt more often. What makes up their style? What this type of player does well is to get you off your game. It's easy to get frustrated and start making plays that you wouldn't normally make, because you think that the guy is getting more than his fair share of the pots. Then you pick the wrong time and zing, he has a real hand.
These players build big pots. The weakness of this player is card strength. If you play too many hands, you may go on a rush for a while, but eventually it will come to a screeching halt. My advice for you is to not get flustered and try to make a stand when you don't have much. Say you have the AK and flop nothing. You bet and a tricky player now raises you. What do you have? Is he stealing a lot from you? Not really. He won't be able to win much by doing this and when you catch him once, you'll get it all back and more. Don't be afraid to be bluffed out of small pots when you don't have a hand. That's fine. Realizing that even if he is stealing from you, he isn't stealing a lot take the sting out of it. You'll make a stand when you have something.
2. As for bluffing or semi-bluffing to mix up your play, make sure you pick the right opponent. The cardinal sin of bluffing or semi-bluffing is doing it against a player who isn't capable of folding. You might find that some of the tricky players are also calling stations. To try to make a big move against them might get a call and frustrate you more. Another tip I can give you in regards to bluffing besides picking the right opponent is picking the right flop. A flop that is seven high and below might look appealing to bluff into, but it's the opposite. This appears to be a bluffable flop, so it isn't nearly as good. The point of the bluff is to be taken for a big hand. You'll do much better when an opponent can put you on something reasonable. Another example of a bad place to bluff is the paired board: JJA. That looks like a good place to bluff, so don't do it. (Likewise if you have the Jack, you can play it more strongly.)
3. You asked about the top pair and reraising... There are a lot of factors that play into this: your hand strength, the flop, the opponent, etc. There is nothing wrong with calling the raise and then either betting the turn with the intention of folding if you get raised or checking and calling the turn. Calling is sometimes the best play. There are times when you are way ahead or way behind, so raising doesn't suit either. An example might be if you have a hand like AJ or AT on an unconnected Ace high flop. Either you have the guy really badly beat, or you are really badly beat. The best solution is to call his bets down.
4. The counter to the tricky player is the trap. You knock him out, not jab him to death. He'll be jabbing, taking little pots from you, and then you'll nail him on one. I would suggest you work on this part of your play instead of trying to make more happen with less card strength. See if you can extract more money with your good hands by playing them deceptively. Remember that each style of play has strengths and weaknesses and when you play against someone, you want to gear your play in such a way that it exploits their weakness to the fullest. If you are against a very aggr
essive player, you would let him do the betting (slow play him more).5. Position matters. Ideally you would like to be to the left of the aggressive or tricky player. That way you have position on him in most hands.
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