Profiling players (and what to do with that profile)

I had a couple of distinct player personalities at a my last 25NL table.

Player 1 had a big stack when I joined; more than the buyin, and had more yet by the time he left. Was average VP$IP of 26 or so, but never raised preflop. The interesting thing was his river betting; 6 times he went to the river, 2 checks, 2 bets, 2 raises. All of the bets/raises were all-in an some of these against short stacks, so it would have only cost them $5 or something to call. No one called any of them.

Player 2 had the misfortune early after I sat down of twice losing with a straight to a full house, once to me . He played to many hands VP$IP of 60 and called far too much, 40% of all hands he went to the showdown. Again, no preflop raises and almost indistiguishable postflop aggression. When he did lead, it was with pot sized or over pot sized bets.


Player 1 I was looking for a good hand to get to the river, but that's rare against any particular player, so it never happened before he left the table.

Player 2 I stayed out of his way the one time he bet when I was in the hand, but didn't get in another hand against him.


What else can you do with a profile other than wait for opportunities? LAG would be tough to pull off against a calling station, or against someone who pushes the river as a regular bet.

Another wierd one I had the day before was another calling station. The odd thing I noticed was that he would call 2/3 to pot sized bets, but folded when I bet 1/2 pot bets.

Maybe it was just coincidence, but after noticing it I used it when I raised preflop w/KQs and missed entirely. Bet 2/3 on the flop, 2/3 on the turn. Since I didn't want a showdown on the river, I shrunk the bet to 1/2 pot, and he folded.


I'm not sure what goes through the mind of some like this. More than 1/2 pot bets are bluffs? 1/2 pot bets are traps?

what was your position vs those players?

I saw a player similat to what you mention. He had more chips then anyone ($0.50-$1) he kept over betting the pot and no one called. I called him on the river with second pair and won $30 he had 10-5os and was just using his chips to steal pots. He left the table straight after possibly because he'd been found out.

Player 1 was 3 to my right, Player 2 2 to my left, kind of triangulated from me.

The guy in the earlier table was immediately to my left, so I was usually OOP to him, which apparently wasn't a problem since he was so predictable.

You mean overbetting on the river only, or all his bets were always overbetting the pot? And was he in a lot of hands? Just curious.

The last time I played someone that pot bet or more every he led, turned out to be a beginner. The next time I found him he was at the play money tables.

preflop vs this guy (since you have position) i would raise almost any 2 he limps into. especially when we have good table position, hijack-1 or later most definetly. wait til he limp cold calls like aa/kk/ak and you raise preflop with a marginal hand and flop 2p+ and he stacks off to you. bet every flop you raise him in preflop and see how he reacts. also keep in mind bad TPP players give too many free cards.


oop vs a LPP idiot just play standard and hope you get a solid hand. open your betting range vs him to 2nd pair and weaker tp's.

Thanks joose. This was a pretty limpy table, he wasn't the only one. Just treat the others as casualties of war?

Are you thinking he'll push earlier if we get aggressive against him, or will he just fold away until he's got his aa/kk/ak?


Ah, with a showdown seen percentage of 40% we should be leading more marginal holdings to the river with him. Makes sense.

this is what we want to find out. his passivity (um sup new word) against your newfound aggression. if he's weak tight enough to chain fold his non-monsters then abuse that. if he starts pushing back, keep pushing til you have a hand strong enough to call his over-shoves with.

Thanks TRex. (was gonna call you just Rex, but someone already gets called by that name). You helped me have one of those little insight moments.


I think I do okay for my level when widening my range and playing more aggressive at the end of a SnG, but that gets switched on by the size of the table and the blinds.


But there's no reason not to play a little more LAG for a hand or two when there's an opportunity to isolate someone that you want to test. Seems a pretty simple idea, but it's not something in my arsenal until just now.