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Learn to put up a good fight when there's a
bully at the poker table |
It can be really frustrating to have an
extremely aggressive player at your table who
just won't seem to leave you alone. No matter
what you do, the bully keeps coming after you,
especially if you aren't getting any good cards
of your own.
Hopefully, after reading this column, you'll
have all the tools you need to fight the good
fight and start pounding back. If you know
anything about a bully, you know that if you
stand up to him, he'll usually run away and
hide.
Let him run, but get his chips first.
To accomplish that, the first thing you need to
understand is the bully's biggest weakness. The
most common weakness is that he likes to play
lots of hands and play them aggressively. Sooner
or later, he'll cross the line between good,
solid, aggressive play and become a maniac who
bluffs too much and plays wildly.
What you need to do is exploit his aggressive
tendencies so that they work in your favor.
When you sense that a bully is crossing that
line, take a deep breath and give him as much
rope as he needs to hang himself. By that I
mean, trap him with your good hands and let him
bluff off his money to you. There is actually a
poker term for this maneuver: collecting
bullets.
Collecting bullets is an excellent way to keep a
tyrant off your back. Try slow playing to trap
your opponent. This passive and clever tactic
will win pots from the bully that had you
otherwise bet, would likely have prompted him to
fold his cards.
Remember, a bully looks to pounce on perceived
weakness, just like one of those hooligans did
in grade school. On the playground, you'd
eventually need to stand up to the tormentor to
get him off your back. In poker, though, you
want to let him feel like he can run over you
all day. Indeed, when you have a monster hand,
your greatest desire is that he will pounce all
over you. Let him do all the betting for you.
It's very important to recognize situations
where slow play checking will win you more money
than betting. The bully who bets when you check,
but folds when you bet, is the perfect target
for bullet collecting.
Now, I don't want to leave you with only one
anti-bullying strategy. There is more to it.
There are times when you don't want to appear to
be a pushover by letting the bully run the show.
The advice I've given thus far works best when
your opponent has position on you throughout the
hand.
However, when you have position on him, then
it's time to stand up and show him who's boss.
When you're in position, meaning that you are
seated to the bully's left, be a thorn in his
side by raising and re-raising to take control
of the hand. He usually won't have a strong
enough hand to play and will fold.
Here's the most crucial concept to master:
Always make the bully think twice about stealing
the blinds. You must make him believe that he
could run into a buzz saw at any moment -- that
buzz saw being you! Once you've tamed the
aggressive opponent, the door for you to become
the bully has just opened.
Since you're now the bully, your opponents will
be leery of you and won't want to mess with you
too often. Take advantage of this situation by
stealing their blinds. If the other players
don't stand up to you, keep being the aggressor
and punish them until they do.
And once you become the bully, beware of those
motivated players who will try to take you down.
By Daniel Negreanu |
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