Hi! I have doubts about how to play against aggresive players with hands like 77-TT, AJs, AQ..
For example:
I have 77 on the BTN.
Villian on the CO opens X2.5 (attempt to steal 36%).
I choose often to 3B here, but Villian has a massive 10% 4B ratio (on 2500 hands), fold 3B 50%.., CB F 60, T 50, R 45 as normal. How does this stats change my range? Or doesn't it?
Can I choose to have 5B bluffs, call the 4B more often with a bit higher range, OR change my play on the beginning and 3B with a tighter range?
Is the answer much different when I play OOP with aggresive players?

Thanks a lot for your reply, have a nice day! Regards

I hate playing aggro players so more often than not I'll end the hand as soon as I can against them.

BU will have a slight flatting range at equilibrium w/in high rake environments like say 50z but alot perpetuate not having one. You're going to gain the most (albeit slight) EV having a flatting range BU v UTG. Flatting BU v CO the blinds sqz% is a big consideration as when u flat BU v UTG you're protection by UTG's tighter range so blinds can't sqz so prolifically and profit.

77 will be mixing pre at most rake structures and likely call pure vs 4b (unless nitty 4b stats over decent sample)

There is some credence in the fact that CO might misplay the spot somewhat and over-cbet OTF In a spot where he's checking alot!

You have to be careful w/ deviations as the potential to cost yourself more EV than the deviation was set to gain is easily done!

vs high cbet flop strategies you wana verse yourself in xr strategies on different board textures and also do some nodelocking for ip betting range on boards that mix and see how much xr frequencies increase... (also study the follow up nodes)

Educated aggression is a normalized strategy to beat the higher rake environments bc there is such a deficit to overcome wrt the rake and alot of passive nitty "scared money" types to profit from.

I'd also say (although not necessarily directly pertaining to your original Q) that learn solid fundamentals whilst slowly opening up your frequencies and always have a reason why. Learn the concepts to the foundations so that you can answer your own queries and improve your thought process. Also don't over complicate spots as to become daunting. Pokers a competitive game and you need to be diligent

The post above regarding GTO is a good one, worth reading.

I would not be afraid to 3bet someone just because they have a high 4bet. You're +EV calling against such a wide range, and you have position. You could profitably flat his 4bet and then look to play the flop/turn.

5betting here would get worse hands to fold and better hands to call, so that is not a good strategy. Flat the 4bet in position and play the board. Be prepared for some variance.

I would call more and bet less with medium strength hands.

If you aren't gonna go for it, then no point in betting. If you bet with a medium hand and he raises you, what are you gonna do? That's the mistake I see. People try to play back at aggro ppl but don't have the heart to follow through. So they end up building up a pot only to give up, giving the aggro dude mo' money for free.

With those hands with some showdown value, just check/call and try to keep the pot small. Obviously, you will need to use discretion. Sometimes you do have to fold (this is where hand reading ability comes in), but if you kept the pot small, at least you don't lose that much.

Play him aggressively only with bluffs (where you can toss it away if he plays back at you) or with big hands where you do hope he plays back against you. If he's a good player and not just Donkmeister Flex, you will have to mix bluffs with value.

Lineallegacy, Genera, Blueskies thanks a lot for replying! Have a nice day

The easy answer is...... Do you like your hand ?

Then come the stats...... You play or give up

I dont play cash so much and more of a tournament player so I wont say how you should play against the aggressive player but I do have some really sound advise.

Scared money is lost money. Don't played scared. When players play this way they lose more have when they are ahead and fold to the aggressive player as they are afraid they are beat. They also dont win as much as they should when they win a hand as they are afraid there hand maybe behind that unlikely monster hand. I have seen players check behind on the river after a flopped set of queens when the river ace hits and they are worried about the aggressive player having rivered a set of aces. Could it happen, yes but the odds are so small you should not worry about it.

Originally Posted by Kroeska

Hi! I have doubts about how to play against aggresive players with hands like 77-TT, AJs, AQ..
For example:
I have 77 on the BTN.
Villian on the CO opens X2.5 (attempt to steal 36%).
I choose often to 3B here, but Villian has a massive 10% 4B ratio (on 2500 hands), fold 3B 50%.., CB F 60, T 50, R 45 as normal. How does this stats change my range? Or doesn't it?
Can I choose to have 5B bluffs, call the 4B more often with a bit higher range, OR change my play on the beginning and 3B with a tighter range?
Is the answer much different when I play OOP with aggresive players?

Thanks a lot for your reply, have a nice day! Regards

Hey Mate,

Vs players with a high 4bet frequency mixing in some hands like this as a 3Bet to 5Bet is reasonable.

You'll get a lot of folds because of the High 4B frequency, and you'll also be flipping vs AK a lot of the time when the money goes in.

As for the decision to flat vs 3bet though in the first place, I like to look at who's in the blinds to help with this decision.

When the big blind is a fun player who I'd like to play more hands with I'll err on the side of flat calling with the hands that I can mix with.

When the blinds are tough regs who are going to play well and not make many mistakes postflop then I prefer to 3bet with the hands that i'm mixing with.

You're thought process is definitely on the right track, and I think you're willingness to be creative and think of counter strategies will pay off quite well in the long run!

Here are a couple of videos I made on playing vs tough regulars (although they are a little dated now that players have improved quite a bit, but I think you'll still gain some insights!)

You Tube

You Tube

Good luck and Happy stackin!

Thank you for your replies. There is certainly good advice that helps me a lot, again thanks a lot!! Have a nice day, regards

Originally Posted by Evan Jarvis

Hey Mate,

Vs players with a high 4bet frequency mixing in some hands like this as a 3Bet to 5Bet is reasonable.

You'll get a lot of folds because of the High 4B frequency, and you'll also be flipping vs AK a lot of the time when the money goes in.

As for the decision to flat vs 3bet though in the first place, I like to look at who's in the blinds to help with this decision.

When the big blind is a fun player who I'd like to play more hands with I'll err on the side of flat calling with the hands that I can mix with.

When the blinds are tough regs who are going to play well and not make many mistakes postflop then I prefer to 3bet with the hands that i'm mixing with.

You're thought process is definitely on the right track, and I think you're willingness to be creative and think of counter strategies will pay off quite well in the long run!

Here are a couple of videos I made on playing vs tough regulars (although they are a little dated now that players have improved quite a bit, but I think you'll still gain some insights!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Ad7IqeCMA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaDBhyilRU4

Good luck and Happy stackin!

thanks so much learnt a lot
would suggest to everyone to watch these videos

If you are in position, I would just call with hands like middle pair, AJ, KQ and made decision according to flop afterwards against an aggressive players. OOP, I would either limp or min-raise and if the aggro player 3-bet, I would just call or 4-bet (70:30). If he 5-bet big/all in, I would fold (depends on his stack too).

Small to medium pocket pairs I play small ball with. Set mining and getting away from with a bad flop. In your example, you are in good position if you hit the set vs the agro player. I like rope a dope. lol.

Originally Posted by Kroeska

Hi! I have doubts about how to play against aggresive players with hands like 77-TT, AJs, AQ..
For example:
I have 77 on the BTN.
Villian on the CO opens X2.5 (attempt to steal 36%).
I choose often to 3B here, but Villian has a massive 10% 4B ratio (on 2500 hands), fold 3B 50%.., CB F 60, T 50, R 45 as normal. How does this stats change my range? Or doesn't it?
Can I choose to have 5B bluffs, call the 4B more often with a bit higher range, OR change my play on the beginning and 3B with a tighter range?
Is the answer much different when I play OOP with aggresive players?

Thanks a lot for your reply, have a nice day! Regards

I feel like it is important to note, that 10% 4-bet is not massive, the sim I am looking at states that you should 4bet, 15-21% of the time.

So he is 4betting you not enough, so basically I would 3bet this character with a lot of hands, because if I raise him 9, there's 4.5 in the pot, he 4bets his extremely tight range, and I fold, but I am not risking anything 3betting him, as on average I pay 9 to get 4.5 for free. So I will pay 1 extra blind on average to 3bet Not bad.

It's basically the same as cold calling but I get to be the aggressor and find out if he is super strong with his 4 bet and then can make an easy lay down. Like if he is 4-bet 10%, he is 4betting like 2% of his range, so easy fold unless if you are at the top of your range.

Also considering he is folding 60% of his range to a continuation bet, you can literally bet into him 100% of the time and turn a profit.

Now this player, who's playing very tight, I would just muck my hand if he shows any aggression.

But me personally, I would not be scared at all to put money in against this player, as he appears to be very honest with the stats you have given.

I also would not recommend 5-betting this character or calling his 4-bets light, as he is 4betting his hands to infrequently, he doesn't have enough bluffs, probably none at all tbh.

My answer also assumes that his VPIP is between %20-25, if it's lower or higher, my answer would change.

Thank you for posting this question. Really good one.