Tips against the loose callin station (Full Ring)

Whats the best strat to play against a loose calling station who is 2 seats to ur left in a full ring mirco cash game (im playin NL5,NL10 ATM).

The calling station had stats: 50/4/2.0. He's only folding his BB 50% time vs a steal. His main aggression is on the river which is obv when he has a strong hand.

Jus for instance the villain would b calling hands in the BB from my BTN raise with hands like 93s/JQo (even in multi-way pots) and making donk bets w/ BP/gut shots. Even re-raised his donk bet and he's still sticking around w/ BP. He's even c/c for gutshots.
I know he likes to c/c his OESD tho (even the dumb ends on boards like KJT, when he holds 98).

Sounds like a gold mine right? But he was a one hell of a heater and crushed sum dude for $14 at NL5. He didnt take much off me as I knew I couldnt vaule bet/bluff him much.

Checking the guy out on PTR and it looks like he's new to poker as he only has 2K hands at the micro levels startin from Jan '10. Sounds like he's in his honeymoon stage of poker and will play and chase with any 2 cards.

Should I jus stick to the old theory of tighten my raising range if he's calling me lightly in the BB and stick to vaule bets only? No need to get fancy with these type of micro players and fold my AKo when he donk bets on a board of 689.

Here's a sample of his play:

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($6.62)
Hero ($8.27)
UTG ($5.62)
UTG+1 ($13.05)
UTG+2 ($6.29)
CO ($6.17)
BTN ($3.84)

Dealt to Hero 7♥ 9♠

fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, UTG+2 calls $0.05, fold, fold, SB calls $0.03, Hero checks

FLOP ($0.20) 2♦ Q♥ 9♦

SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $0.15, UTG+2 calls $0.15, SB folds, Hero folds

TURN ($0.50) 2♦ Q♥ 9♦ J♥

UTG+1 bets $0.35, UTG+2 raises to $0.70, UTG+1 raises to $1.10, UTG+2 raises to $6.09 (AI), UTG+1 calls $4.99

RIVER ($12.68) 2♦ Q♥ 9♦ J♥ Q♦

UTG+2 shows 2♣ 2♠
(Pre 48%, Flop 83.2%, Turn 90.9%)

UTG+1 shows Q♣ 9♣
(Pre 52%, Flop 16.8%, Turn 9.1%)

UTG+1 wins $12.08


Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($5.57)
BB ($18.91)
UTG ($6.17)
UTG+1 ($3.84)
CO ($6.57)
Hero ($8.20)

Dealt to Hero 9♣ 7♠

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.17, fold, BB calls $0.12

FLOP ($0.36) 3♣ 8♣ K♦

BB bets $0.05, Hero raises to $0.18, BB calls $0.13

TURN ($0.72) 3♣ 8♣ K♦ 4♦

BB checks, Hero checks

RIVER ($0.72) 3♣ 8♣ K♦ 4♦ 9♦

BB bets $0.15, Hero calls $0.15

Hero shows 9♣ 7♠
(Pre 61%, Flop 21.7%, Turn 6.8%)

BB shows 3♥ 9♥
(Pre 39%, Flop 78.3%, Turn 93.2%)

BB wins $0.97

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($5.64)
BB ($7.03)
UTG ($7.08)
UTG+1 ($5.85)
UTG+2 ($3.71)
MP1 ($2.81)
CO ($6.72)
Hero ($5.05)

Dealt to Hero A♦ K♥

fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, fold, MP1 calls $0.05, fold, Hero raises to $0.26, fold, BB calls $0.21, UTG+1 calls $0.21, MP1 calls $0.21

FLOP ($1.06) 6♦ 9♦ 8♣

BB bets $0.15, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, Hero calls $0.15

TURN ($1.36) 6♦ 9♦ 8♣ 6♠

BB checks, Hero bets $0.71, BB calls $0.71

RIVER ($2.78) 6♦ 9♦ 8♣ 6♠ T♦

BB checks, Hero checks

Hero shows A♦ K♥
(Pre 64%, Flop 64.4%, Turn 77.3%)

BB shows J♦ Q♣
(Pre 36%, Flop 35.6%, Turn 22.7%)

BB wins $2.68

Just drop your plain steals but widen your value range. Hands like K8 are WAY ahead of this guy preflop. I like making your bets bigger (4x at least) to isolate him and so we can get stacks in when we make TP or better. When you do make TP or better (notice your kicker is irrelevant as he's willing to call with less than TP) bet until he bleeds. Don't stop betting until the smaller stack is in the middle.

Playing him this way may lead to some higher than average variance but should be a higher than average WR too.

Wait. If he is as you describe you should be value betting the daylights out of him.

Hmmm... Actually loose calling stations dont offer a real threat in tournaments.U have to play just more cautiously, i mean u need to ride on some patience and wait for a hand to trap them...
But in ring games they offer more threat than MTTs.I feel tight passive is very successful against them...

Yeah nothing works better than playing loose-passives passively!

They offer absolutely no threat in cash games. Just bet for value at every opportunity.
If you take the flop heads up and flop something like middle pair top kicker, this hand is almost always ahead, just bet and don't be affraid to take it for three streets of value against their range which is incredibly weakened by unimproved AK's, small pocket pairs and all of the possible draws, just keep betting to extract maximum value.

They will occasionally stack you when you run into the top of their range or they hit a draw you didn't expect, but you're generally so far ahead of their range that the risk is minimal.

play tighter...and play strong and premium hands

i say bet hard then push all in calling stations tend to freeze up to a all in from what i been noticing. SO i 3-6 bet preflop and if the flop looks like they didnt hit i just shove all in makes then wonder what your playing and more hesitant to call. I only recommend this for heads up actions though not with othersi n the hand

I think that's actually true, without the eyeroll, when you're talking about calling stations.

The value of aggression is that it makes people fold, right? Calling stations don't fold. So, the value of aggression against calling stations is....?

I think calling stations completely change the game. You're now actually playing your cards. Playing against these people profitably is a matter of controlling the pot size. You're going to showdown if they can't find the fold button, so just make big pots when you're very likely to win, and little ones when you're not.

I read some book years back that made the point poker isn't about winning pots. It's about winning money. I have to keep reminding myself that though I lose more than 50% of the pots I'm in, the ones I win are bigger and thus, over time, I win money.

RF

I didn't say to bluff calling stations, that's dumb. I said to play them aggressively, as in, when you hit TPTK or better, don't stop betting. They will call with worse so you can bet for value.

How to play against calling stations.
Open up your value range alot when IP against them and also when OOP HU.
This means opening basicly any hand that can make a decent TP.
Bet when u hit c/f when u dont.
If u ever slowplay against them u might as well just pick up your wallet and set it on fire since thats is what your basicly doing.
Simple as that imo...

Ah, I see and agree then. I guess I'd just think of value betting any likely winning hand as standard, not particularly aggressive. Thanks for the clarification.

RF