how to handle constant all-in players

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LOOPY

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I've been playing Sit and Go's at BetOnLine, where the Top 2 finishers come in the money.
On occasion, a player will bet all-in like 5 or 6 times in a row, mostly when he is under 30 BB's. You know that 90% of them are Bluffs, but because you don't want to get knocked out of the money, by risking calling him, you fold.
How should you play against players like that.?
All answers appreciated!!
 
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alien666dj

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Against maniacs, you need to be patient and only fight them one-on-one, if you call their push only with premium hands, push first with premium hands, but only one-on-one to increase the chances, only a tight style of play works against them.
 
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nutself

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If you are afraid of this behavior, then your opponent's strategy is valid, and if you don't want to call the all-in, then you must all-in first when you have a relatively good hand in order to stop villain's attack.
 
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ph_il

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Fold until you pick up something strong enough to call with.

You don't want to open jam with premium hands against this opponent and risk them folding. Better to go limp/call jam or open raise/call jam.

This is assuming stacks are even. If there are short stack(s), then icm factors in unless you have an absolute premium like kk+, maybe even qq but I'm not sure. I don't play sngs.
 
BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch

BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch

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You want that behavior. All forms of poker are about capitalizing on opponents mistakes and those type of players make a lot of them. What gets frustrating is when you're expecting to get a decent game out of folks but they can't play and recognize they can't play so they do that "Kill Phil" nonsense.

Best thing you can do is play against folks that can actually play a solid game where you have to judge a flop and can grow your game. I'm not really playing this week because I've been playing the bots or studying the game since I know its a better way to spend my time this week.

If you're in a tourn and have to play those players you should wait for a solid upper pair (not a baby pair thats easily out drawn with any 2 random cards) and go after them, stay away from the drawing hands like Ak, Aq etc unless the donk gives an opportunity to see a flop but not like an all in situation.

If you see someone playing that way like I saw in yesterday's Cardchat freeroll at ACR that's what you want to do. You're going to be a 55/45 fav if you have two over cards with a AK, AQ example but last night's winner kept taking those odds with the 45% and won, You need to get the odds more in your favor with a solid pair and even then they still might outdraw you hitting some donk 2 pair but again, you want to get the odds more in your favor instead of doing coin flips and especially against those players that have you covered.

YOU ALSO HAVE TO TRAP THEM. Again, last night ACR Cardschat freeroll. I saw tight players actually have the aggressive donk right where they wanted but would bet the pot heavy when they were ahead and wouldn't let the aggressive donk bet into them and they would show strength when they should be showing weakness to induce bets from the aggressive donk.

I was watching and just shaking my head as they missed those opportunities then calling the aggressive donk's all ins with a drawing hand and losing to the donks J9 or some silly hand against AQ, AK. It made ZERO SENSE to me since it was a full table.

But before you even play one of those sngs or freerolls or live sessions I would suggest you get to know who you're going to play. Sit there and take notes on folks if you're online or go down to the card room and watch the 1st 10 mins of a live tourn that you're interesting in playing or sitout an orbit or two if at a cash table to understand what you're getting yourself into before you play.

As for your SNG you have to recognize that they're going after the blinds regardless and need them to survive so they again will simplify the game and go all in and you will have to make judgement calls and should understand the odds.

Moshman's SNG book that you can get a used copy for like $2 then 4 bucks delivered to your door if you live in the states on Amazon (or pick a used book seller) explains situations where you're going to have to gamble and gives reasons for the moves. But I would pay more attention to the pay out structure and see if its even worth it before you even sign up to play. Less spots but a bigger prize means less chances of you cashing. If only top 2 cash then that's usually 6 handed game and you're going to have to be a lot more aggressive in those than in full table so whatever.

Ranted enough.

GL.
 
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fundiver199

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Facing an all-in from any opponent we only have two options, which are call or fold, so its not like, this is a particularly difficult situation. What kind of range, we are calling with, depends on a number of factors including:

* Their stack size
* Our stack size
* The stack sizes of other players
* How far the tournament is from the bubble
* Our position - do we have other players left to act behind
* What kind of range we think, they are showing

What you really mean, is presumably, that these players annoy you, because they take away your option to do anything but call or fold and play "bingo" with them. But thats just part of the game and no different from, if a more normal player moved all-in with a more normal sort of range. The only difference is the frequenzy, with which it happen. And as for, what to do, well if you think, someone is way out of line, then you should call more often than, if you think, there range is only AA or KK.

This is not exactly rocket science, and again the issue is an emotional one. You dont like the fact, that these "maniac" players drive up your variance, but again thats just part of the game. If calling was correct against the range of hands, they are shoving, considering all the above factors, then its ok to bust from the tournament. If that happen, then you just play the next one, and this should not be a big deal at all. Especially not for a SnG player, since SnGs run all the time.
 
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CaptainXL

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Wait until you have great cards, or even Ax if they truly go in every round. Then call. Avoid hole cards without an ace, for all in vs one player A2 has better odds then KQ preflop. This assumes much of their all in is preflop.
 
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Since 90% of all-ins are bluffs, it's best to call starting with a middle card and higher.
 
TeUnit

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Work on your ICM, take notes on the villans, and be prepared to call against their range.
 
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You want that behavior. All forms of poker are about capitalizing on opponents mistakes and those type of players make a lot of them. What gets frustrating is when you're expecting to get a decent game out of folks but they can't play and recognize they can't play so they do that "Kill Phil" nonsense.

Best thing you can do is play against folks that can actually play a solid game where you have to judge a flop and can grow your game. I'm not really playing this week because I've been playing the bots or studying the game since I know its a better way to spend my time this week.

If you're in a tourn and have to play those players you should wait for a solid upper pair (not a baby pair thats easily out drawn with any 2 random cards) and go after them, stay away from the drawing hands like Ak, Aq etc unless the donk gives an opportunity to see a flop but not like an all in situation.

If you see someone playing that way like I saw in yesterday's Cardchat freeroll at ACR that's what you want to do. You're going to be a 55/45 fav if you have two over cards with a AK, AQ example but last night's winner kept taking those odds with the 45% and won, You need to get the odds more in your favor with a solid pair and even then they still might outdraw you hitting some donk 2 pair but again, you want to get the odds more in your favor instead of doing coin flips and especially against those players that have you covered.

YOU ALSO HAVE TO TRAP THEM. Again, last night ACR Cardschat freeroll. I saw tight players actually have the aggressive donk right where they wanted but would bet the pot heavy when they were ahead and wouldn't let the aggressive donk bet into them and they would show strength when they should be showing weakness to induce bets from the aggressive donk.

I was watching and just shaking my head as they missed those opportunities then calling the aggressive donk's all ins with a drawing hand and losing to the donks J9 or some silly hand against AQ, AK. It made ZERO SENSE to me since it was a full table.

But before you even play one of those sngs or freerolls or live sessions I would suggest you get to know who you're going to play. Sit there and take notes on folks if you're online or go down to the card room and watch the 1st 10 mins of a live tourn that you're interesting in playing or sitout an orbit or two if at a cash table to understand what you're getting yourself into before you play.

As for your SNG you have to recognize that they're going after the blinds regardless and need them to survive so they again will simplify the game and go all in and you will have to make judgement calls and should understand the odds.

Moshman's SNG book that you can get a used copy for like $2 then 4 bucks delivered to your door if you live in the states on Amazon (or pick a used book seller) explains situations where you're going to have to gamble and gives reasons for the moves. But I would pay more attention to the pay out structure and see if its even worth it before you even sign up to play. Less spots but a bigger prize means less chances of you cashing. If only top 2 cash then that's usually 6 handed game and you're going to have to be a lot more aggressive in those than in full table so whatever.

Ranted enough.

GL.
Thank you for that very informational post. its greatly appreciated to this newbie
 
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bj999

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patience

I love all in junkies. Just hate I seldom get to knock them out . but when I do I wait. And wait. Then like a snake I attack. Yes even then I get stung but most time I don't. Good luck
 
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Niykk

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Really depends on your position, stack size, number of players in the hand, their particular styles, your actual hand, flop etc.
But generally speaking I use two approaches. I either call-jam a maniac with premium hands only or fold till he gets eliminated by someone else and this usually happens pretty quickly.
 
ACESOVEREZZZ

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Bingo all in players

I know the feeling of playing against these what I call bingo players. Best you cn do is just wait until you have a strong hand and then call and hope for the best. Seen many times that my say pocket Kings will on occasion get beat my some bingo player going all in with 7-8 off suit and he/she hits two pair.
Patience is the key at least for me.

GL ALL :D
 
afecho

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All-inners drive me bonkers! But, if I wait long enough and I get something half decent, I call them. Especially if I have the chips to support the loss if they win.
 
Plut41

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Just wait for a hand and then call, easy chips. Also trapping is a good option, just call UTG with a good hand then then call his all in.
 
ProblemPlaya

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you better hope you're to the right of these players so you can limp monsters and trap them, any pocket pair or a10s+ is a monster
 
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Hopefully someone has the hand to call. If I see a pattern of it and have a good chip count I will call.
 
fedkov

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You wait for a premium hand, you go all-in, and this opponent also has top pair, a classic of the genre.
 
infonazar

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I think the best tactic against such players is to be patient and play only when you have strong cards. I follow this tactic and generally have quite good results.
 
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TomCj

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Wait

Just wait for AA or KK

or, if you want to risk a gamble,
the coin flip - any pair (the HIGHer, the better), AK, AQ, AJ

Obviously, this could take a while


TC
 
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Just make sure when you have a strong hand that the Pot is worth the risk. If you go only head-to-head with the big bully stack you probably will not win enough for taking the risk. And the online software will favor the Big Stack 92% of the time.
 
Sergei 9417

Sergei 9417

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Привет всем
Hello everyone Я сегодня играл с одним игроком который часто шёл алл-ин
.
Here is the result of his failure, on the turn after my call he goes into the pot
 

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Niykk

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All-in maniacs could be owned by any pair at the right moment, i.e. 1 on 1 or even with other short stacks in the mix
 
Stringy

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basically only fight them with something strong and without others in contention
 
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