Unusual opponent strategy

Raggamuffin

Raggamuffin

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Hey all :hello:

Recently while playing a 6 seater SnG I came across a player with an usual strategy which I had not come up against before, the guy NEVER PFR's!:confused:

At first I thought,what is this guy up to, he'll never get paid off like that :aetsch: But as the game progressed he trapped his opponents more and more :eek:
He constantly checked & flat called allowing his opponents to believe they had the better hand & then he would either flat call, shove or raise on the river & the showdown would reveal premium hands. :shot:

I tried the strategy myself a bit but found it allowed opponents to limp in with mediocre hands & beat my premium hands too often so I dumped it again :hmmmm2:

I guess I'm just wondering if there are many players that play like this since I hadn't seen it before and also is there a particular strategy best suited against this type of opponent :questionm

Also can playing like that actually be advantageous in the long run? My initial thought is no, over limpers cracking your hands but I'd love to hear some opinions on it. :icon_thum
 
razshahan

razshahan

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limping in with premium hands works sometimes, but doing it always is a very bad strategy. If u dont raise preflop players with spectacular hands will limp in and will make straights or flush or whatever. u would've no idea about their range. the player u described above, is flat calling upto the river and giving his opponent an easy ride to the river which is another very bad strategy. He was just lucky that he won. when u tried this ur hands got busted. so, i think u have a fair idea about how bad this strategy is. and playing against this type of players should be simple.if he checks, u check behind him, if he raises just call if there is a real chance of improving ur hand, fold top pairs with mediocre kickers (just my opinion, others can disagree)
 
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shawkid

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I will do that in MTT's sometimes. It really depends on the flop though. There has to be no straight or flush draws on the board.
 
M

MAX101

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Trapping is part of the game,you just need to figure out when, for me it's usually with premium hands pp A's ( seems to me most people just like to 6 bet just to get this hand out of the way ) or flopping trips, two pair ,flush on the turn with me holding the A, as long as the odds are in my favor, it's good play to me !!! but I've also had my hands cracked by a player who only has 1 or 2 outs and hits to crack my hand, that's the game lol
 
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REALITYPOKER

REALITYPOKER

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I think the passive line is too exploitable by a good TAG or LAG player it is a loosing strategy overall. Dan N. uses a low ball approach to the game which would be great for pot control if you want to keep it small until you have nut hands and press for value in later streets against weaker OP's and you do not have to use an overly aggressive style. Good luck at the tables.
 
Raggamuffin

Raggamuffin

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I trap a fair bit in early position & when I have a good read on my opponents ( like knowing a certain player will raise to steal if I check etc) but this guy was flatting from every position, I just couldn't understand how he was chip leading playing this way. It really got on my nerves when I had a beast hand & I'd raise & he'd just flat call all the way to the river & then either shove or muck. He cracked me 2/3 times before I learned my lesson :rofl:
By the end of the game he had me thinking he was either very smart or a complete fecking idiot :rofl:

I get what your saying with if he checks just check behind him etc but premium hands don't come around all that often & so I like to get paid off from them when they do rather than lose value on each street. Wish I had some of the hands saved so I could show ye a few!
 
suby_rafael

suby_rafael

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to keep limping pre flop is a pretty bad strategy in my book. Once in a while it is ok to limp to change your play but to never raise pre flop and just limp is a bad strategy and opponents can exploit you.

Firstly the opponent's raise will become a little bigger, also when you limp every hand, opponent's raising range might get wider and everyone at the table will know that we are playing pretty marginal hands more often. So i don't think this has any advantage on the long run. They might crack premiums with their mediocre hands but more often than not they will be bleeding chips and their stacks size will often be going down. Then after a while if they get a semi - decent hand they might over play it because they are used to playing so many hands. So don't recommend using such limping strategies at all.

So either fold or raise as they say - "If it is good to play, then it's good for a raise" or something like that. :)
 
TomLeach

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I think its a pretty bad strategy, even if hes a great player and can read the game like Ivey, and able to get away from danger (i assume he was folding to some bets instead of flat calling lol) its definitely exploitable.

What was his reaction to a raise? How often was he limp-folding/limp-calling preflop?

If hes limping early or calling a raise early, hes giving much better pot odds to the rest of table..

I dont think there is anyway this can be a profitable play in the long run.
 
H

hffjd2000

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Well, sometimes you have to add slow playing to your game to throw off your opponents.

If however youre losing high percentage of the time, then time to switch.
 
TomLeach

TomLeach

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This doesn't seem to be about slow rolling though, this looks like the guy is limping with anything he seems worthy of playing.. Giving himself (but worse his opponents) a massive range..

Edit: if he's then not playing aggressively and taking down pots, I can't see it being a winning strategy.
 
STL FAN

STL FAN

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On the surface for the whole free world of poker it is a very bad strategy and not to be attempted because of the high variance plays this approach could create. However, this writer has studied passive play; the good and bad that are the result of this approach. Why? The reverse image it will create at the table is helpful in MTT play. The different gears of play it will create because if a person can appear to be a fish or a donk then the opponents at the table will assume the wrong image or type of player this person must be.

This writer has found out most but not all players will usually label a player TAG, LAG, etc… without much detailed information of why this person is this type of player. This writers approach is much different than the one that is described in the original post but has similarities. Working on areas of poker that can be profitable or to help disguise a person’s play is what is fun for this player even if it is not the best overall approach, but having a balanced game with knowledge of all aspects of poker is what this writer aspires to become.
 
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