How to deal with really loose/big betting player?

[thormx53]

Hey,

I play NL Hold Em once or twice a week with friends, and they consider me one of the better players we play with (consistent, don't win every week but in the money almost every night). I've played 4 or 5 times now with my friend Rick, and I can't get a read or betting pattern on him. He is a rather goofy kid I know he doesn't have good poker instincts but I can never tell if he is bluffing or not. We usually start with about 30$ in chips, and he will often raise it 4 or 5$ preflop (with blinds at 25 and 50 cents) regardless of his position to the button. He will raise even bigger on the flop/turn/river (sometimes up to 10 bucks) regardless of what kind of cards (face cards, straight/flush draws, pairs, etc) are showing. So far my strategy has been to just call with marginal/good hands and get out of the way with anything else. I never tried to bluff him because when people push him he comes over the top all in.

The problem is although he oftentimes holds complete crap (went all in with 6 7 off suit, community cards were J K 4 8 2 with no flushes, I called him with J 2) but other times he has good cards (a few weeks ago he went all in with 2 2, community was K A 2 5 J with no flushes, I called with A J). How would you guys play a kid like this? He plays with reckless abandon, and often times builds a huge chip lead then loses it all. In a 16 player tournament (2 tables of 8, top 4 from each go to final table) that I won on Saturday I had to act before him all night and probably lost about 15$ of blinds and raised raises (he'd come over the top of me) before he broke down and went from 150$ to nothing in a matter of 4 or 5 hands. Am I playing him correctly by calling when I have good stuff, or is there another way to deal with a player like this?

Thanks, Bill

If there is a time that you think he's bluffing, raise him. (about double or triple of whatever he/she bet) It usually works, unless that same person happens to be on a lucky streak.

[HPG ADMIN]

My opinion is this: although he probably is the kind of player who isn't afraid of playing any 2 cards, he probably is smart enough to know when to do it - i.e. what players to do it against. It's possible he is looking at you as a tight-weak player (wont play many hands and folds to aggression). If you want to beat him I think you may want to change your table image. The next question would be - how do i do this?

For the most part you can re-raise him whenever you think you have him beat. But I think you may have to increase your tolerance for risk. If you sit back and have that wait-for-the-nuts attitude you'll just end up waiting so long for that monster hand that by the time oyu get it your stack will be so small (from him stealing pots from you) that even if you beat him, it won't matter much. You may have to get into some battles with him.

[thormx53]

Hmm.. I don't think he pays attention to other people's table images because he does this to everyone he plays against. Like I said, he is pretty goofy so I don't think he knows any better than to raise a ton. He learned hoe to play on the play money games at Party Poker so maybe he is just carrying his strategy over from there (since everyone there plays super aggressive)?

I'll try getting into more hands with him. I'd just hate to get into a big raising war with him and get 50% of my chips in the pot with a marginal hand since I really can't tell when he has a good hand or not. I don't even think he knows half the time. At that tournament I mentioned in my first post, he went all in when he thought he had a straight. When everyone folded he showed his cards and said "Straight, 7 to Jack" but was missing an eight. Thats what scares me about him. Having known him for 5 or so years and knowing his personality and demeanor, I honestly don't think he knows what he is doing at the table.

I think you're playing him absolutely correctly. You dont ever want to bluff someone like that cuz they counter aggression with more aggression. Be a calling station, nothing is going to irritate him more than having every one of his big bets cold called. Check calling in hands he's in will allow you to begin to pick up on his bluffing habbits so that later when he makes the same play you can come over the top. This is just how I handle bulleys, do as you wish.

[HPG ADMIN]

I get pushed around by those players all the time. I usually wait until I havea good hand. The problem is that I am usually afraid to see the flop with marginal hands (AJ, KQ, etc) when he raises. Usually I felle good because I avoid crazy hands that can kill me, but I know deep down I am afraid of players like that, and the key to playing NL Hold Em is not having fear so I know my conservative strategy is not the best route.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think you're playing him absolutely correctly. You dont ever want to bluff someone like that cuz they counter aggression with more aggression. Be a calling station, nothing is going to irritate him more than having every one of his big bets cold called. Check calling in hands he's in will allow you to begin to pick up on his bluffing habbits so that later when he makes the same play you can come over the top. This is just how I handle bulleys, do as you wish.

So, what if he throws more in? Would you bluff him out then?! How?! Unless you have any kind of hand to begin with, or you plan on betting on the next round, you have no business check/calling.
If you check/raise on the inital bet and you seem like a conservative player, he will be scared and fold unless.
A) He actually has a good hand. OR
B) He has a good tell on you.

[Soyuz]

When I encounter hyper-aggressive players like that I let them establish their preflop betting momentum by ditching the chaff until I come into a hand. Okay they may pick up a bit in the blinds but at the end of the day if you play you're hands right you'll sting them for a hell of a lot more than they pick up with their overly aggressive play. Players like this never prosper as they are much too reckless.

What I usually do with hot headed, loose aggressive players is play with their heads a bit. I'll do a lot of chip tricks as i play them so they can see that i'm an experienced player, they usually get inmtimidated from that. The best thing to do is to play calculated aggressive against them cuz they usually like to be the agressors.

Sit to his left and be patient.

The more he bluffs and gets away with it, the more he will bluff.

When you get a hand, make him pay.

[Engine 2]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sit to his left and be patient.

The more he bluffs and gets away with it, the more he will bluff.

When you get a hand, make him pay.

I agree. You cant bluff so just play your cards if you cant play the player.

It does not matter how big his chip stack gets. Normally over time these players will lose it all in a few hours.

Dont let it bother you that he is geting a big chip stack by playing like crap.

All that matters is that he increases yours when you have the best of it.