Strategy for playing LAG players

[StealTheButton]

Half of the players I run into are loose aggressive. The are way too lax with their range for calling and raising preflop as well as frequently over betting. Their frequent pot-sized C bets mean some tough decisions on the flop. This scenario gets particularly tough when you are down to 3 players and 2 are playing LAG style, especially in turbo mode. What can often be counted on is one of the other players eliminating the other.
It can be especially frustrating when you get a long run of crap card and the blinds are coming around FAST.

I am selective about hands I enter with- either calling or 3 betting and will most often be the favorite to win. I have to be selective about button raises too since villains will be calling too wide- blinds steals with hands like K5s do not work often enough so I let these hands go. What kind of strategy do others use in this situation? Mentally it's exhausting and is the reason I cannot play 8 hours a day.

 

[Alex70793]

In cash games, LAG players are phish).
In tournaments, this can be useful only at the final table when there are 4 or fewer players left, in the other stages of the tournament LAG players are also fishy).

 

[daniel888]

It's really tough when facing LAG players. I often avoid playing against them when I am out of position and don't have good hands. But when I have to play against them, I will figure out in which spots they have a lot of bluff in their ranges and with hands like top pair, weak kicker, second pair, I will prepare to call them down even if they keep barrelling at me.

 

[lyki67]

I think as always in poker.... The Key is PATIENCE !!!!!

 

[Rob Hobson]

lose tight tight lose lose lose tight ag lose ag lose tight tight tight lose lose lose lose tight that's the way we all should play poker




:thrasher:

 

[Danieleli]

well.. its really hard to play vs agressive players but not so much against loose players.. i think you will need to make your rangers wider than normal, for example if you believe that this player is going to open A9o being on UTG you should 3bet AJ , that normally you would call or even fold depending the situation.

When you have great hands you should try to get as many chips as you can, maybe dont keep on 3x or 2x .. you can bet pot or overpot too.

Keep in mind that's not easy to anyone to have great cards so probably if the player vpip is high most of the times he wont have a good game just like you.

 

[77ecos]

adapt to his range quickly, there are no good cards to play and that is the difficult thing because maybe at the first moderately good one we try to win chips, before the flop the bets are essential because I consider that those players on the flop are very aggressive, it is the ideal let them be like that but you don't want several players on the flop, it is essential not to get frustrated even if we see that several players are exploitable, in the end you will catch them

 

[EmptyHouse]

As the name suggests, Loose Aggressive (LAG) players have a habit of getting involved in a lot more hands before the flop. Much of their strategy involves finding spots that will allow them to punish their opponents' mistakes despite having to play with weaker starting hands. Having a wider range than usual gives LAG a better chance of beating their opponent. Not surprisingly, this can be a very profitable style in the right hands.
What do LAG poker players primarily do? They exploit the two main mistakes their opponents make in postflop play. First, they take advantage of players who fold too often, especially medium-sized bets on the turn and river. Second, they take advantage of players who check too often, especially large bets on the river. At first glance these two situations may be mutually exclusive, but in reality they go hand in hand.

 

[zipocool]

Half of the players I run into are loose aggressive. The are way too lax with their range for calling and raising preflop as well as frequently over betting. Their frequent pot-sized C bets mean some tough decisions on the flop. This scenario gets particularly tough when you are down to 3 players and 2 are playing LAG style, especially in turbo mode. What can often be counted on is one of the other players eliminating the other.
It can be especially frustrating when you get a long run of crap card and the blinds are coming around FAST.

I am selective about hands I enter with- either calling or 3 betting and will most often be the favorite to win. I have to be selective about button raises too since villains will be calling too wide- blinds steals with hands like K5s do not work often enough so I let these hands go. What kind of strategy do others use in this situation? Mentally it's exhausting and is the reason I cannot play 8 hours a day.

well, here you need to adapt to a specific player, of course, if this is a turbo tournament, then you will have to play loosely and accept pushes quite widely, especially if bounties are provided for players

 

[ADRI7HO]

With tight play, you can catch such players, but if you turbo and don’t have time to wait for the right card, it’s uncomfortable.
you have to take action with a card and hope to win with it.
Have must to take action with a borderline card and hope that can win with it.

 

[P86]

Well opening up wider range in final table last 4 or 5 is standard play only way to counter is to 3 bet a wider range

 

[YuriSLopes]

I would recommend being a bit more LAG also. Taking advantage of position. Having a good knowledge of odds and EV might be a good approach to beating these LAGs. But I don’t find them easy to play either and drives me crazy when I end up in Bad Beat with these kind of players.

 

[JCSmith]

Good LAG players are the toughest to play against. Your instinct will be to loosen up your range and play back at them, but that is often playing right into their hands. When you are playing loose and aggressive what you want is to steal as many small pots as you can and to frustrate your opponents into playing back at you. Because that will usually come in the form of a check-raise, a 4bet bluff or something of that nature, calling with a weaker hand to see a flop, etc.

While all of those actions can be effective against LAGs, it's cheaper for them to 3bet you than it is for you to 4bet them back. It's cheaper for them to cbet than it is for you to check-raise them. They have the advantage from the initiative and a good LAG player is going to be positionally aware and will try to put themselves in a position where they make more plays when they have position. So your move is costing you 2-4x more than their move cost them. Because you will be folding more often than you are playing back at them, they are maybe betting half the pot and only need to be successful 1/3 of the time, where you are betting larger amount and need to be successful more often to make it profitable. And on top of that if they are in position they have the option of floating and seeing what you will do after the next card. More importantly good LAG players probably will have more experience in those situations than you do.

I also think that in order to be a high level player you need to mix up your game. It's important to experiment with playing more loose yourself to get a better understanding of it. But in general the best way to beat a LAGgy player (imo) is to try not to make big moves against them. 3bet them when you are in position. Take advantage of them if they are out of position. But don't make 4bet bluffs or check-raise bluffs from out of position. Because if they float against you or re-raise you then you are going to put yourself in a bad position. Pick your spots.