How to beat the bully

I was wondering, how do ya beat people who will raise and play aggresively...they'll raise with hands they suppose to play,and also at times, i know they'll raise with garbage hands, feeding off the fear. Sometimes I'll reraise them with nothing, play back at them and they'll fold. I was wondering, what's the best way to handle those people? I can't blame them for how they play, perhaps i should adjust mines to be like them, because they're always chip leaders. any feed back would be appreciated.

A chip leader should push people around, it's not being a bully it's using all weapons at your disposal. Your chipstack is just as big a component to the game as your cards and your position are. There is no easy way to play against the chip leader as they have the ability to take you out and you can't take them out. Lay back, wait for a premium hand, and push it hard - that's your best defense...

It's a bad idea to try and bluff against anyone who has a bigger chip stack...especially a "bully". Just bide your time like Dave suggested until you can build your stack. When you get in the position of chip leader, use that to your advantage...more aggression and bullying is a good thing in that case. You don't want your opponents to catch up to ya! But as always, you've got to adapt your play to the current situation, factoring in the action at your table.

Dave and Juice touched on some good advice. One thing that makes a HUGE difference is seat position you want him close to your right or acting ahead of you most of the time, reason being you can play off of him. When he bets relatively weak and you have a hand fire over and HOPE for loose calls. The key is getting your chips in the pot with the best hand and then letting the cards fall where they may. The main reason for this is because any postflop rasing is going to mean "Dave" to the phat stack and if you just limp and hope to hit monsters you will be crying to your momma before you know it! Now if the bully is to your left things get a little trickier because you don't have the benefit of being able to play off him. So best to avoid him till the blinds mean something and then take your best shots.

pick good spots

let big stacks help you get your stack let them push they'll put you allin don't tip them off an never bluff because you will get called but my best play with a low stack is go allin with your blind or pick a good hand not low pockets fold those not unless you see trips but conectors an suited cards an high paint aces low kicker will kill you in long run so lay back an pick good spots an play rags early to catch slow play an check out of position an let idoits make you put them out lol cause they will but don't slow play aces no matter what push half your stack or all no 1 way nobody knows play ur feelings at that time an go 4 it cause there another game an another hand ohyeah i'm dragging this out cause for a big reason lay down big hands to make the finale it pays in long run an lol when you make the finale let them move you up an then go 4 it push like your the winner an you will be 1 day lmao ask dave dave irish will rule 1 day :tee: anyway i gtg before i write a book:stupido: well i wrote my heart :nurse: not scared to lose thats how i win:driver: well i am scared to drive sometimes:ciao: gtg sorry i got going again well i'll leave you with a song i sing at finale tables an played 3 at the same time :congrats: :thrasher: DON'T YOU EVER HAVE TO WORRY OOOH DO YOU KNOW THE REASON WHY, IT'S A PART OF ME THAT tells YOU, OOOOOOOOOH DON'T EVER SAY DIE NOOOOO NEVER SAY DIE TO ME :goodnight P.S. well i changed the words to the song it goes like this ooooooooH DON'T EVER SAY DIE NOOOOO NEVER SAY DIE AGIN :ciao: :ciao:

A few weeks ago my collegue Xd demonstrated this in one of our buy-in events. The big stack was playing every hand and being a bully - without the cards. Xd laid in wait caught some premium hands and ended up winning the event.

As he has no skill whatsoever, this was just pure dumb luck - but it does demonstrate how to play against a true bully...

LMAO...GG, IrishDave. NH WP.

bullys

hmmm thats a hard 1 i also play aggressively when i have the chips but as far as a bully i would say wait for the rite hand and hit them hard do that a couple of times they dont have anything left to bully with:afraid:











experience is what you get when you dont get your way:icon_thum

when there's bullies i generally tend to not get too involved with them unless premium like many have said - i shift my focus towards the lesser stacks at the table and then build from them to take him out head to head later.

Also remember that there are other players at the table. Even the most aggresive bullies won't play every hand, so watch for opportunities to play hands that they're not involved in.

patience
wait for your hand dont try and play everyhand you shouldnt anyway. Then after you get your hand, it depends on your chip stack and position, but usually its just an all in situation and hope you can double up.

There are several kinds of bullies:

- Bullies who carefully pick their victims while being aggressive
- Bullies who are just throwing chips around just hoping to push people out and pick up pots
- People who are somewhere in-between.

The hardest bully to deal with is the one that picks on weaker opponents and doesn't steal quite as often as a maniac. Against these types of players you really have to have some sense of if they are on a steal or if they have a legitmate hand. Push back in situations where you are almost certain they are on a steal or you have a better hand than they do (i.e. midrange pocket pair AT-AK).

The easiest bully to deal with is the maniac...you want to take a flop against these type of bullies and check-raise them (all-in) if they bet out on a flop that you get a piece of. This "big stacks" usually aren't around deep in tournaments because they bust on dumb moves.



Since we are speaking of bullies, I will say that the best player to be, especially late in a tourney (in the money or on the bubble) is to be a semi-aggressive bully. You HAVE to steal blinds late in tournaments to have any kind of major success...

:bike:

Bullies - well ive often found once you've spotted the bully (doesnt take long usually) when you have good cards and he / she has re-raised your raise or tried to bully the table again...Attack

Its even better when the flop is to your favour - once they have been hurt by you :boxing: a single time they usually move on to someone else.

Its pretty much a school playground mentallity - show the bully your not scared and they'll leave you alone or at least show respect from then on.

Who know you could even get away with a bluff over them once or twice now :wink:

iANft :icon_salu

I have played the conservative game before and will go go in the future but need to be aggressive more often. I tried to be very patient last week and just got short stacked. There were times I should have been super aggressive but lost the nerve. O well you got to learn sometime.

IrishDave said:

A few weeks ago my collegue Xd demonstrated this in one of our buy-in events. The big stack was playing every hand and being a bully - without the cards. Xd laid in wait caught some premium hands and ended up winning the event.

As he has no skill whatsoever, this was just pure dumb luck - but it does demonstrate how to play against a true bully...

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I have been exposed! :O

xdmanx007 said:

I have been exposed! :O

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Damn, I'm very sorry about that. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to let the cat out of the bag. At least now you can play your game and not pretend anymore...

made 1 reply already but if you play an you can early with rags you have a chance to trap bully's an bluffers so get in cheap 27 can flop the nutz an check the nutz let them put there chips in an maybe reraise a little to get them to go allin if they don't you can get them pot committed. i love cardchat an i hope we all help each other an i know we will learn to be better players an i know i can come here to find friends thats the reason i love the game is to meet an help all the other players i give real money that i'hve won in freerolls to help players i like for we can play together.not to give them a chance to beat me it's a rale thing to help them play the big freerolls an they help me also.so buy my book lol an songs lmao never say never an look me up if you can lol i'm INXS AT TITAN RIVERHANDS AT POKERHOST RIVERFISH AT POKER.COM STREETBETS AT ULTMATEBET RIVERMAL AT ABSOLUTE ... AN LETS LEAVE AT THAT OHYEAH IF YOU DON;T LIKE CAPS YOU HAVEN'T PLAY SO LONG YOUR EYES HURT.

RIVERHANDS said:

made 1 reply already but if you play an you can early with rags you have a chance to trap bully's an bluffers so get in cheap 27 can flop the nutz an check the nutz let them put there chips in an maybe reraise a little to get them to go allin if they don't you can get them pot committed. i love cardchat an i hope we all help each other an i know we will learn to be better players an i know i can come here to find friends thats the reason i love the game is to meet an help all the other players i give real money that i'hve won in freerolls to help players i like for we can play together.not to give them a chance to beat me it's a rale thing to help them play the big freerolls an they help me also.so buy my book lol an songs lmao never say never an look me up if you can lol i'm INXS AT TITAN RIVERHANDS AT POKERHOST RIVERFISH AT POKER.COM STREETBETS AT ULTMATEBET RIVERMAL AT ABSOLUTE ... AN LETS LEAVE AT THAT OHYEAH IF YOU DON;T LIKE CAPS YOU HAVEN'T PLAY SO LONG YOUR EYES HURT.

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Jesus, hey Riverhands, have you heard of a thing called punctuation? Its a little invention of the english language that makes reading a little bit easier to do. And it makes for a pleasanter experiance for the reader overall.

To help you out I will show you what they are. A period,(.), is used to end a train of thought in a sentence. A comma,(,), is used to break up a thought in a sentence. An exclamation point,(!), is used to signify a thought of some excitement. Now I will show you how to use them.

You are a stupid turd,(only kidding). Please punctuate your sentences!!

Your best bet against a Bully/Bluffer is to wait for premium hands. Than just call them down. Let them bluff through out the hand. Than Make your move over the Top on the River.

bubbasbestbabe said:

You are a stupid turd,(only kidding). Please punctuate your sentences!!

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The comma in the first sentence is superfluous. Tut tut!

Riverhands, she's right. You don't have to get grammar correct, but you need to break up post to make it readable. I don't even bother trying with yours i'm afraid!

chiccubs1616 : Thanks on the post on bullies, have to keep it in mind.

Great thread! I disagree on taking flops against maniac bullies but I would really like to know why you like that strategy cubbies? The reason I don't like it is because you can not narrow down whatever hand he might be on and checking gives the guy a chance at a free card to hit his suckout for free. I much prefer to get as many of my chips in the pot preflop when I know I am going to get a loose call. Just wondered why you think it is better to go 4 a check raise against a maniac instead of getting the chips in sooner.