Exploiting Your Opponents Part 2 : Nits

Ok, so now that we know the why of exploitative play, let's get in to the how. We'll start with something very basic and a player type that is becoming more and more prevalent in todays micro stakes game.

First off, what is a "Nit"? Rock, set-miner, nit, whatever you wish to call them. Very tight players that don't play anything but premium hands. Generally will have stats like 9/7 to 12/10.

Their Gameplan :

1. Only play premium hands. Usually only PP's and AK/AQ and sometimes AJ and KQ.

2. See cheap flops with smaller PP's and look to flop sets.

3. Only value bet, never bluff.

Their Weaknesses :

1. Plays too few hands.

2. Doesn't adjust to increased aggression.

3. Very straight forward and predictable.

Our Basic Gameplan :

1. Steal excessively when they are in the blinds.

2. Isolate extremely wide when they limp. (And look for spots to double/triple barrel)

3. Play a lot of implied odds type hands in position when they open if stacks are deep.


Breakdown :

1. Steal excessively when they are in the blinds.

This is pretty self explanatory and I don't believe requires any examples or an in depth breakdown. Simply put, they are not going to adjust at all if you are constantly stealing from them. They are going to fold so often that opening ATC is usually going to show an immediate profit. They also are going to fold so many flops that you're always going to making money when stealing from them and c-betting. You should ideally always be looking to sit in spots where you have a nit in one of the two seats to your left since all the steal opportunities are def. going to pad your WR.


2. Isolate extremely wide when they limp. (And look for spots to double&triple barrel)

Now this may seem counter intuitive at first. They are nits, when they limp they obviously have some sort of hand. So isolating very wide seems pretty spewy. And double or triple barreling them seems like suicide. But just step back and think about it for a minute. What hands are they limping? Almost always, it's going to be a small pair, like 22-99.

When you know fairly well what type of hand your opponent is playing, exploiting them becomes a fairly simple task. Since we know they have a small PP and most likely won't continue on most boards without a set, isolating wide and c-betting pretty much every flop is obviously going to show a profit since they are only going to flop a set like 12% of the time.

Now obviously there are some times when they are going to have a small PP and flop an overpair (like with 88 or 99) or just not want to give up a flop unlikely to have hit us, like a 27Tr board. This is where we should be looking to double or triple barrel them if necessary. Look for good turn and river cards to fire another bullet at, like A/K/Q/J/T. Sometimes you don't even need a particularly good turn or river, just the bet alone is enough to convince them.

I couldn't come up with a ton of great examples of this since my DB is still pretty limited but here we go. Just keep in mind, the hero's hand is virtually irrelevant for these examples.

Here's our first example :

http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/392783

This falls slightly in to both of our first two categories here since we're stealing instead of isolating. Villain in BB is 10/6 over 235 hands, so clearly nittish. Since he doesn't 3-bet I put him on either AQ/AJ or a small PP. This flop is great for me vs. that range since almost none of it connects with that flop. My only real concern is if he plays KQ here or if he flats AK. So once he flats my c-bet, there's no way I'm giving him credit for a K and he's most likely just floating me with a small pair. The T is a pretty good card on the turn to fire another shell on since it hits quite a bit of my btn range and is another overcard to his PP. So I fire again, and he folds.

Second Example :

http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/392785

Villain is 13/5 over a smallish sample of 44 hands. Not exactly sure what the villain was thinking here floating a flop like this, but generally when a nit calls a C-bet instead of raising, they are weak. This is a very tough board for them to continue on without a monster and since he didn't raise it's tough to give him credit for a big hand. So turn up the heat.


Third Example :

http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/392786

Really good example here. Villain is 9/5 over 165 hands. There's just pretty much no way he EVER limp/calls with an ace here. So we just pound on him and force him to fold.


3. Play a lot of implied odds type hands in position when they open if stacks are deep.

Nits only open with very strong hands. And generally they overplay them after the flop as well, so playing hands with a lot of implied value in position vs. them is going to make you a lot of money.

A) When you flop a big hand, you're likely to get paid.

B) Using your position, you can also take some pots away when they give up.


Here's a good example of B :

http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/392790

Villain is 12/8 over 600+ Hands. I called here because both of the blinds were very loose and I figured at least one of them would come along. Neither did, but that's ok too. Pretty good flop for me as I flop an OESD on a board that is likely to have hit the villain pretty hard. I get like 2.5:1 immediate which isn't great, but the fact that his overall range is so strong here, I'm clearly getting the implied odds to continue. Now, once villain checks the turn, I'm going to win this pot like every time. It's clear he's not very strong, so I fire and pick up the pot.

Example 2 :

http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/392792

Villain is 11/8 over 126 hands. I normally wouldn't raise this flop here vs. more loose and aggressive players since it's sooooo dry, it's unlikely to have hit them at all. But since QQ+ and AQ make up such a large portion of this guys opening range (like about 1/3 of it), I bump it up and hope to get paid. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a hand this time and I take down on the flop.


Wrap-up

Nits are very easy to exploit. They like to fold, and only put a lot of money in the pot with big hands. Pound on them when they look weak, and stay out of their way when the look strong. Steal from them and isolate them relentlessly, they just aren't going to adjust or fight back at all unless they have a big hand and that's not gonna happen often enough to be a concern. When you flop a big hand vs. them, play it fast. Look for spots to make big hands cheaply and get them to pay you off. They generally over value overpairs and TPTK type hands so small pairs and connectors are your best friends in position. So go out, find some nits, and pound the piss out of them.

http://www.cardschat.com/f11/exploit...1/#post1136807

Exploiting Your Opponents Part 3 : LoosePassive

Question from a donk: What do the fractions like 13/7 and 9/5 mean?

This hand was my favorite: http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/392790

Those are pre-flop stats. The first number is their VPIP (Voluntarily Put $ In Pot) which is a measure of how loose/tight someone is. The second number is PFR (Pre-Flop Raise) which measures how aggressive someone is.

Another awesome post dsvw.
Very well put, clear and structured and I especially liked the examples. They proved your points excellently.

Couple of questions: In example 2 of Steal+Iso why do you not mention you have such a big multi draw (the AxQc hand). Surely this gives us even more of an incentive to bet as we have big odds to hit a hand. So essentially we are only semi-bluffing right?

Second, why do you not mention shortstackers ? More often than not they are extremely nitty and very easy to steal blinds off. Also, since they are short our postflop play changes somewhat as to full stacked nits. Or are you saving that for a later post, which I def hope will come .

Good work !

Well our hand strength here is essentially irrelevant (other than that we have little SD value). Even without the big draw, I'd still be double barreling that board just because he folds so often.

Shortstackers will come later.

B) Using your position, you can also take some pots away when they give up.

The villain play in section B, where he cbet the flop and checks the turn....is a play I will use when I absolutely flop nuts, and it looks like I give up on the hand. The hope in doing so, is to get you to bet into a pot in which I have the nuts or close to nuts. It is a huge huge misdirection, as if the person is calling my cbet on the flop, he obviously either a)hit the flop as well or b) is looking to steal the pot on the turn/river. Why not give him the impression that the pot is stealable?

Im glad deumsac asked that ?Q?
I have been thinking the 2nd # was wins 13/7 would be played 13 won 7.

OK, so follow up ?Q? then. How do we get that 2nd number? Is it a scale of 1-10 or something.
Better yet do ya got a link to a post or lesson that would help some of us newbies better understand this?
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BTW: great post, not only does it teach us how to exploit nits. It also says hey, dont be a nit anymore.



Edit: Thanks for the reply below. I will look search a bit more for it.

Both #'s are a % of total hands played. I.E. someone who is a 10/7 is voluntarily putting money in the pot 10% of the time, and raising 7% of the time.

I know there's a thread around here somewhere that explains what most of the common stats mean. Maybe someone else knows where it is off hand and can post a link.

DSV - Well played dude. I hope your gonna make a full series of these posts to describe all player types. I will then look at a way that we can link in the whole series. Great job m8.

I currently have 3 other player types in the works ; TAGfish, LAGtard, and LoosePassive. I may also do a write up how to deal with both aggressive and passive shortstackers. Depending on how much free time I have, I hope to get them all done before the end of the month.

Because that's not how (for the most part) nits think or play. This series of threads is designed to give information on how to best exploit common tendencies of different general player models.

Will read this later. Looks good though from what little I did read.

You mean because if he does call he likely has us crushed ?

cool.

very good stuff. thx for taking the time to write this.

No, I mean because we aren't only betting there when we do have a massive draw. Most nits aren't going to continue on that board without a monster. Since he has a monster like never there given the action, I'd be double barreling pretty much my entire c-betting range.

Yes I know that's the point of the whole thingymagic but I mean having such draws is gotta mean something right ?

Or am I completely off base here.

Against other players, yes, I might be more inclined to fire two barrels if I have good equity. But against someone who is going to fold so often here, it's not really a factor. We're betting that turn whether we have AxQc, AcXx, 22, or 6h7h. We don't need good equity when called to fire the second barrel because our fold equity is so great. Yes, it is nice that we have such a strong draw, but it doesnt change the decision at all, imo.

This is really really great ds but a few things I would like to add here.

1) Make sure they are a Nit. This means either having HEM or PT3(free trial versions if you cant afford it) or are really playing attention and are 1 tabling. Lucky for us Nits converge rather quickly and we can tell. If someone is 7/4 after 40 hands they are probably a nit.

2) This applies to almost all great advice the first time anyone hears it. Make sure the situation applies. I know when I read MS stuff I usually donk off a stack or two before adjusted correctly. Dont triple air when they limp called on a 2356 board. Nits dont fold overpairs.

3) If you are a Nit now dont change your play too much until you are really confortable. Probably like 1% of players will take advantage correctly, and thats probably rounding up, so dont start changing the way you play because you dont want to be taken advantage of.

Really great posts though ds, keep it up!

In the third replayer example (Hero=Jd9d on a 44AA board), what would be a turn card that would slow you down, if any? Do we just play this hard and fast till the end? What range are you putting him on here?

Also, on the last example, I am wondering if c/ring here would've been better. You say that nits like to play hands fast, so wouldn't that be the better line?

I appreciate the thought you put into these posts, dsvw. Has it occurred to you that you are creating a roadmap for how these exploitable players should play back at you? Or do you think they are just too dumb to be reading here?

Another great post DS, I love the hand replayer too!!! Always good to see what you are talking about in action!!! I look forward to the other player types as well. Really good stuff here, thanks man!!!

I don't think there is a turn card I don't fire. This is a small pair almost always and he just folds so often to a 2nd barrel on this type of board.

I'm unclear on which example you're referring to, can you be more specific?

i learned a lot from this thread. i like the hand eg especially. in the eg when you hit the set. i may of played it differently. i guess this depends on if he double barrels himself. but i like the raise but sometime i fire the min raise. if he does have something he may fire back if not its cheap enough to call. and if the turn is a ace or king and he bet into me then i'll decide if i try to get it in there or the river.

Basically, the point of this forum is to share experiences and knowledge. It's giving back to the community b/c this forum given so much to many players.

If the bad players read this then so b it, you then have to adapt to beat them.

The very last example. It's called "Example 2" and it's right before the wrap up.

Edit: never mind! For some reason I thought you were out of position in that hand, but your not.

Just 1 question: In example 3, why wouldn't he limp/call with an ace? Does he have high postflop agression? I don't see why he couldn't be slowplaying the ace there.

Good original post, this is why my stats at NL 5 are 26/16 and 2.6 at PokerStars. Its full of MT Nits. Looks like I am not isolating the limpers enough, should start raising more then just limping behind a limper.

Nice bump! Good use of the features and information that are available on this wonderful forum.

Very good bump indeed. Even if I read this when it was first posted, I was fairly new to poker and would not have gotten it, I understand alot more nowadays.