Joe
99.98% Kiln dried
Bronze Level
Here are two ways to deal with aggressive players:
1.) Be patient and wait for a good spot to trap them.
2.) Learn how to play more aggressively.
There are surely many other ways too, but these are the ones which have worked for me! :smile:
Zapahlohotrona
Visionary
Silver Level
If we see that our opponent is very aggressive, then we can conclude that his ranges are wider than the average player. If our opponent often fires several barrels with bluffs and semi-bluffs, play with a narrower range. Retaliating aggression is not the best strategy. The right way to deal with aggression is to adjust your ranges. If our opponents are really playing too loose and aggressive, then we just need to make our ranges tighter.
Joe
99.98% Kiln dried
Bronze Level
In the interest of clarity, my post wasn't suggesting learn how to play more aggressively in order to 'fight fire with fire'. :smile:
More along the lines of 'know your enemy'...
This will allow you to combat them more effectively when tabled with such a player or alternatively be such a player yourself if at a passive table and/or when the circumstances warrant it... :wink:
More along the lines of 'know your enemy'...
This will allow you to combat them more effectively when tabled with such a player or alternatively be such a player yourself if at a passive table and/or when the circumstances warrant it... :wink:
BlackIce
Enthusiast
Silver Level
Learn to counter his offense. I usually do a 2 bb reraise after giving him 3 blinds. Then keep doing that a few times and eventually they slow down. But make sure your first time you can actually back it up just in case he calls you can prove to him you had good cards. After that just do it with any random cards. So even if he calls Hes not going to expect that you raised 2bb with like 8T. Then when an ace hit the flop, you can actually raise again because Hes going to put you on an ace.
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C
Clutchdenier
Rock Star
Bronze Level
Increase the frequency of your 3bets - also make the raises hard to call especially if villain is OOP - and if opponent 3bets frequently - personally ill 4bet some broadways and good multiway type hands (j10, 98, 79s etc)
Also just try to play in position more often - being an aggressive player myself - I love seeing players become calling stations but try to play more straightforward against players who take tricky lines especially on wet boards.
Joe
99.98% Kiln dried
Bronze Level
Not sure why you quoted my post instead of the OP here... :laugh:
D
daniel888
Visionary
Bronze Level
When you play against aggressive players, you will face difficult situations with your average hands. So you should play with a tight range and you can defend your hand easier. And you also can trap them when they are going to play very aggressively.
BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch
Visionary
Bronze Level
There is selective aggression which you want and aggressive donks.
Avoid playing the aggressive donks. You'll find the aggressive donks in freerolls and low stakes tourns but for some reason they "mysteriously" rarely show up to the higher levels.
Those are the folks that go all in with a small pair with like 50BBs+ or some drawing hand like AK AQ because they're scared to play a flop and for some reason still haven't learned when they're beat on a flop and won't let go of a hand so they just try to simplify the game by going all in or putting pressure on folks preflop.
When I used to play, I knew what levels I needed to play at to avoid these folks live and online so that's the other thing I would look into by doing research by watching a few cash games or tourns before you even sit down at one so you know who you're playing.
If you can, just avoid freerolls and low limit games with those type of players. You're better off if you can pay $20-30 a month and play against bots that can teach you how to play a decent game like at Poker Snowie or Advanced Poker Training.
So avoid playing them if you can and then you should work on spotting them at the table if you can't.
They're easy to spot, I don't even have to see a hand played. If you show up to a table and have a mountain of chips at a certain stage of tourn when you shouldn't its because 90% of the time they put the money in bad and got lucky. If I see you actually know starting hands and what you're doing and I actually care then I'll look you up in sharkscope to see if your profit graph looks like \ or with craters and what type of tourns you're playing.
Freerollers are not winning players in my book because you can't lose lolol, sorry. Then you have to see what type of tourns they're playing. Are they playing everyday regular top 10-15% cash etc or some special online everyone makes the money special promotion tourns or some private tourn, stuff like that.
The only real reason to play with that type of player is to get over your tension, I wouldn't say fear but you have to know how to deal with these types of players but once you get past that then there's no reason to really play them besides maybe as test subjects for studying the game.
I would focus on learning to spot them, you can try the advice of daniel:
that's the ABC123 straight forward approach like if you were at a cash game but I don't know about that if its a tourn with the blinds coming around after you.
In that spot you're going to have to mix it up with them when you really don't want to and you're going to have know their range to have a clue where you are and on top of that there are going to be times where even if you have the best hand, they're still going to get lucky on you.
I saw a hand yesterday where a tight player in the Cardschat freeroll had a aggressive donk to their left and waited for a premium hand and went all in with JJ preflop with like 15BBs and the aggressive donk called with 5h4h and hit a straight flush on them. lol I mean think about it, 5 HIGH. lol.
Do yourself a favor and avoid those people lol they can't win constancy nor last for long playing cash games or tourns that way where they have to put money up, lol.
Avoid playing the aggressive donks. You'll find the aggressive donks in freerolls and low stakes tourns but for some reason they "mysteriously" rarely show up to the higher levels.
Those are the folks that go all in with a small pair with like 50BBs+ or some drawing hand like AK AQ because they're scared to play a flop and for some reason still haven't learned when they're beat on a flop and won't let go of a hand so they just try to simplify the game by going all in or putting pressure on folks preflop.
When I used to play, I knew what levels I needed to play at to avoid these folks live and online so that's the other thing I would look into by doing research by watching a few cash games or tourns before you even sit down at one so you know who you're playing.
If you can, just avoid freerolls and low limit games with those type of players. You're better off if you can pay $20-30 a month and play against bots that can teach you how to play a decent game like at Poker Snowie or Advanced Poker Training.
So avoid playing them if you can and then you should work on spotting them at the table if you can't.
They're easy to spot, I don't even have to see a hand played. If you show up to a table and have a mountain of chips at a certain stage of tourn when you shouldn't its because 90% of the time they put the money in bad and got lucky. If I see you actually know starting hands and what you're doing and I actually care then I'll look you up in sharkscope to see if your profit graph looks like \ or with craters and what type of tourns you're playing.
Freerollers are not winning players in my book because you can't lose lolol, sorry. Then you have to see what type of tourns they're playing. Are they playing everyday regular top 10-15% cash etc or some special online everyone makes the money special promotion tourns or some private tourn, stuff like that.
The only real reason to play with that type of player is to get over your tension, I wouldn't say fear but you have to know how to deal with these types of players but once you get past that then there's no reason to really play them besides maybe as test subjects for studying the game.
I would focus on learning to spot them, you can try the advice of daniel:
that's the ABC123 straight forward approach like if you were at a cash game but I don't know about that if its a tourn with the blinds coming around after you.
In that spot you're going to have to mix it up with them when you really don't want to and you're going to have know their range to have a clue where you are and on top of that there are going to be times where even if you have the best hand, they're still going to get lucky on you.
I saw a hand yesterday where a tight player in the Cardschat freeroll had a aggressive donk to their left and waited for a premium hand and went all in with JJ preflop with like 15BBs and the aggressive donk called with 5h4h and hit a straight flush on them. lol I mean think about it, 5 HIGH. lol.
Do yourself a favor and avoid those people lol they can't win constancy nor last for long playing cash games or tourns that way where they have to put money up, lol.
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Phoenix Wright
Legend
Loyaler
This
We should also note there are different kinds of "aggressive" though. A maniac might be "aggressive" but it isn't the same "aggressive" as a LAG pro which isn't the same as a cash game player who often bets the pot or over-bets.
You get the idea. Different types of aggression should be dealt with in different ways, but whichever the case, you should adapt somehow if what you are doing isn't working too well.
Less founded aggression (like the maniac example) probably has us playing patiently to let them trap themselves, whereas aggression more founded (like 3-betting) should probably be met by use utilizing aggression ourselves in some way (like 4-betting the 3-bettor for instance).
R
Redman1902
Rock Star
Bronze Level
If he has position on you, you can first of all tighten your preflop range and try to use your range advantage. Also especially on turn, your strategy should take into account that you will very often face a bet/all in on the river. I would generally call as little as possible (OOP), especially post-flop, and move more towards a raise/fold strategy. Except, of course, to trap him.
skavenger
Rock Star
Silver Level
play a short stack, if it's cash, then select a slightly better range than theirs alone, and go all in when he's in the hand only against you. Or play in a position later than him.
0
001Jaguar
Enthusiast
Bronze Level
If I see someone really play aggressive then me I wait and watch what he does then wait for a good hand to call never reraise it may go all in your hand so always wait for the flop then there is alot of play style I usually use this strategy but sometimes better to wait for your table to change its kind a hard to play that’s the reason I play usually agresive and dip note on here never play agresive the beginning in the tournament!!
R
Roger1960
Legend
Silver Level
I think you mean the ones that raise every hand?
If so, very annoying, lol. I do like them though, tightens up my game for a short time at least. Then when I get AA, KK, I either double up or bust out swinging.
If so, very annoying, lol. I do like them though, tightens up my game for a short time at least. Then when I get AA, KK, I either double up or bust out swinging.