You can crush bad players in Texas Hold’em by raising strong hands against them, building the pot when you are ahead. The traditional TAG approach when teaching someone how to play poker is stats first, but they begin with the best hit hands. Then play very securely until feeling comfortable and then some semi-occurs (exact timing depends on the individual) before really turning up the aggression.
Identifying Common Weaknesses
Playing Texas Hold’em, exploiting the weaknesses of other players is what will bring you a big victory. To do this effectively, you need to correctly pick out where these weaknesses exist.
Playing Too Many Hands
This is perhaps the biggest trap beginner and inexperienced poker players fall into. For example, a player who is often calling pre-flop raises with 7-8 offsuit or K-4 suited does not have respect for the chips being wagered.
Players who limp too much: a limp in this context is someone who is entering the pot preflop with no raise. If you see this happening from a player multiple times, they do not have a good grasp on their preflop starting hand selection. As Mike Sexton would say: “That is always a loser’s limp… if you’re calling, you just don’t win.” This essentially will always lead to a limp-passive style, which is generally bad.
Calling Stations: Any player who calls you down whenever you raise, irrelevant of their position and the sum of the initial stack; A calling station might limp in early position with Q-10 off-suit, call a raise from a late position player, and then check-call all streets no matter what the board texture.
Failing to Fold
Most weak players refuse to get out of the way, even when it is patently clear that they are crushed. So, for example, they can chase draws that are not getting proper odds to make them call or even if they got middle pair they will call down.
Chasing Draws: If you have players who call bets on a gutshot or backdoor draw with odds always against them, these are players that can be exploited. For hold’em, Daniel Negreanu has said it best, “The secret of no-limit hold’em is to put a man to a decision for all his chips.” Charge them to play their draws. For example, if it is 7-9-K with two spades on the board and you hold A-K, a rusty player who would not fold Q-J offsuit after facing a pot-sized bet might just call since he can hit a ten for the straight.
So in the case of when a player is calling a ton on the river with weak hands, good luck value betting them to death. For example, if on the Q-7-2-9-4 board you have A-Q and somebody calls your respectable river bet situating a Q-5, they simply do not fold enough.
Predictable Betting Patterns
Betting patterns: Weaker players usually make flawed betting patterns which disclose the real strength of their hands. For example, they might:
Bet Big with Strong Hands: Players who only bet big when they have the nuts on a board can be made to fold by folding to their aggression and betting big yourself when they check. Whenever a player tends to bet large with top pair or better you can confidently fold your other hands and preserve your stack. When they check, you make a strong bet with every two cards in your range.
Watch the Loose checkers: Players who often time weak checks can be pushed off a pot fairly easily with bigger more aggressive bets. For example, if a player checks three times (on the flop, turn, and river) on 5-5-8-K-2 board you can assume that he has nothing and make a big bet in order to take down this pot.
Lack of Positional Awareness
Position is one of the most crucial areas in Poker! This type of lesson will have come earlier in the novice poker lessons. Not only do we teach you to play preferential hands when in varied positions, but we also go into poker table position, top and middle section hands to carry focus much more. So off we proceed onto No Cost of charge card gambling lessons on Position for Beginners throughout far better actively playing. They might:
Middle Raise Out of Position: Raising middle can get you in tough post-flop spots with hands that are hard to play. The most really bad example is a player who opens from under the gun with A-10 offsuit and drives up facing a button three-bet, almost always playing out of position for the rest of the hand. As Doyle Brunson said, “Position is everything in poker.” You want to take advantage of this by three-betting light in position and winning pots with continuation bets.
Limp in Late Position: When players limp in—i.e., call the big blind—in late position, they are missing a golden opportunity to take control of the pot and apply pressure on the blinds. For instance, if a player limps J9s on the button, you can open-raise the small blind with a tremendously wide range to claim the pot and compel them to call and play out of position post-flop.
Emotional Play
Emotions in weak players have a significant influence on action. It is possible they tilt and play like a maniac.
Overly Aggressive Post-Loss: Look for players who start limping all hands and become overly aggressive post-loss. So if a player loses a big pot with Aces getting cracked by a straight and all of a sudden will start raising every hand then they are on tilt.
Players Going Passive After a Lose: Passive Play After Losses – Some players tighten up dramatically after losing a big pot. Players that used to be eagerly playing but now they start checking & folding are generally trying to stop the bleeding. As Phil Hellmuth once said, “Luck had nothin’ to do with it — I’d win every time.” This is the poker mentality piece.
How To Exploit Loose Aggressive Players
Loose-aggressive aka LAG players – these are the ones who will bet and raise lots of hands. It can be intimidating playing against this, but knowing what they are going to do and how to exploit it can turn these players’ aggression into your profit.
Understanding Their Strategy
The loose-aggressive player loves to pounce on the table, bet and raise with plenty of holding credit hinging on fold equity. They play lots of hands and use their aggression to scoop pots – regardless of the strength of holdings. Aggression wins in poker, but only if you know how to use it – Phil Ivey Your aim is to weaponize their aggression to your advantage and play the game more calculated, with thought.
AGGRESSIVELY PLAYING STRONG HANDS
Playing Your Strong Hands Aggressively against Loose-Aggressive Player You should be willing to re-raise and go all-in if you have premium hands (AA, KK, AK etc.) For example:
Pre-flop: You hold QQ and a LAG player raises, you put in the 3bet. And if they re-raise again, do not hesitate to move all-in (unless you have them well covered) as their any possible range will include a lot of weak hands.
If you have a strong hand on the flop like top pair or better, continue betting big. Loose-aggressive players will call with weak hands or draws, looking to turn their hand into a bluff on a later street.
Trapping with Strong Hands
Loose-aggressive players are bluffing and overplaying their marginal hands with spades. Trap them you say, well yes if you want to. For example:
Trap big hands like set or a flopped straight by slow-playing them and checking/calling their bets. If, for example, the board reads 8 5 2 and you are holding that pair of eights (88) while in a pot against a LAG then feel free to check-raise. So, call or make a tiny raise to get them to continue playing.
Check-raising: This is also good for the flop and turn. If you have a big hand and the LAG player bets out, check to him/her and then pop it when s/he fires.
Taking Your Position And Running With It
One of the Keys vs Loose Aggressive Players is Position. When you are in-position against your opponent, you can choose the size of the pot and will have better information with which to make decisions based on their actions. As Doyle Brunson famously said, “No-Limit Hold’em is the Cadillac of Poker but the best player will flop a good hand more often than their opponent.”
Using position to Your Advantage
This does not mean that you should fold when a LAG player raises preflop, but if you have an average hand and a call is only required, feel free to observe their actions postflop.
Floating – Calling a bet with the intention to bluff or to steal on the turn. Call against a LAG on the flop with position and bet turn if checked to.
Exploiting Their Wide Range
Loose-aggressive players are known to play a really wide range, so do you guys want to be constituents supported by their often very weak holdings.
Three-Betting Light – Three-betting light refers to re-raising with hands that are not usually great, but can work effectively post-flop (e.g. Suited connectors [9-8 suited] or small pairs). If the LAG player is a frequent raiser, then try to re-raise him with these hands in order to control the pot size.
Bluffing on Scare Cards: If scare cards come on the turn or river, making a straight, flush, etc., they are great opportunities for you to bluff the LAG player. For instance, say the flop comes 9-10-J with two hearts, and then your turn is a Q, you might drop some heavy chips out there representing a straight or a flush.
Staying Disciplined
It can be frustrating to play with a LAG but you have to keep your discipline. The temptation to play too many hands or get into a lulled emotional state will be strong. And, as Tom Dwan said: “Patience is a massive virtue in poker.”
Tilt Avoidance: You will tilt! Don’t let their aggression make you worse. Concentrate and enjoy hands that you know are better than average.
Selective Aggression: Strong hands aggressive, weaker hands patient.
Now, based upon that information, how can we exploit those tight-passive properties of his?
Tight-passive players, typically called rocks, hardly participate and if they do get mixed up in a hand they will play very cautiously. Even though it may appear that these players are less profitable to extract money from, learning how to take advantage of their tendencies can increase your winnings greatly.
Understanding Their Strategy
Tight-passive players do not like conflict and only bet or raise when they have the top of their range. You get a lot of calls where they should be 3-betting, and bet away too many holes types when met with long-term resistance. David Sklansky said it best, “You cannot be afraid to lose; that makes you easy to manipulate.”
The best way to exploit tight-passive players is to bet aggressively. You will take down a lot of pots with just pressure because they fold so frequently and continue primarily with top hands:
Retirement Raises: Raise a lot if they just limp into wrong (wow okay, I promise I’m done doing bad jokes). If a tight-passive player limps from early position and you hold something like KQ, J10s, or a small pair, feel free to raise. They will fold a ton of the time – free chips.
Continuation Bets: When you raise pre-flop and they call, a continuation bet on the flop is usually a successful way to win the pot. If you’re in position and the flop is a ragged 7-3-2, they usually have to fold to a continuation bet unless they somehow hit a set or overpair.
Bluffing and Semi-Bluffing
Taking free cards and bluffing works well against this type because they aren’t inclined to call unless strong. As Phil Ivey famously once said, “You don’t win tournaments by folding your way to first place.”
Flop and Turn Bluffs: When a tight-passive player checks to you on the flop or turn, a good-size bet tends to win the pot. Obviously, if the board is 9-5-2 and they check, a hand that you bet it strong will usually simply fold.
Semi-Bluffs: Semi-bluffing with your draw hands (flush, straight) can be very profitable. That is because when you have the 8-9 suited and the flop comes 6-7-K with a couple of cards in your suit, if you bet hard here you either are going to win the pot outright and right then or if not, there are potentially other cards that might be coming on later streets which allow some outs to improve after here.
Value Betting
Thin Value Bets: Tight-passive players often call with things like weak top pairs or even middle pair. For instance, if you hold AQ on a Q-10-5-2-3 board and those have QJ, they are likely to call your bets.
In the Previous Hand, you may have Noticed Different Bet Sizing When it Comes to Value. If you know that the other player is definitely going to call, raise for more profit. If you are bluffing, you want to bet enough for them to fold their draws; on the contrary, if they may call with a poor hand, betting too small encourages a fish call.
Positional Advantage
Playing this way from a position against tight-passive players is one of the best ways to control the pot and to maintain leverage on your opponents. Daniel Negreanu says, “Position is the single most important factor in poker.” How to use your seat at the table
Bully the Limpers: Raise and isolate with a raise when a tight passive player limps in to take it heads up. That often puts them in an off position and this makes it more difficult for their hands to materialize the equity they possess.
Pressure post-flop: It allows you to float their c-bets in position and bet when they check the turn. A good example is when they raise pre-flop, bet an 8-4-2 flop, and you call with a wide range, betting the turn when they check often takes it down.
Folding to Continuation Bets: If a tight-passive player ever folds on the flop to a continuation bet, they are making too big of a mistake and can make your life and opponents fold-equity better fairly easily. For instance, if they fold 80% of the time to a flop bet you should be able to continuation bet almost any two cards.
Also Bet For Value More Aggressively: If they call down light, you should bet with your value hands much more often. For example, if they are calling with second pair too frequently it is clear that you need to start to extract value from your top pairs and better hands.
Leverage On Position
One of the most important reasons as to why position is key in Texas Hold’em, and exploiting it can help improve your win rate, especially live against weaker competition. When you have position, you get to act last after your opponents and each of your decisions will be more informed as a result.
Your position is simply where you sit in relation to the dealer button. In other words, the later your position, the more knowledge you possess of your opponents’ actions. Position is power – Doyle Brunson Here’s why:
Early Position: The most disadvantageous seats to the left of the big blind. These seats, known as early positions, must act first post-flop and they are at a disadvantage.
Middle Position: For example, 3 seats to the right side of a big blind, so this position offers less information than EP but more than LP.
Late Position: Cutoff & Button: Get the last pre-flop action, so you get the most info.
Pre-flop Strategy by Position
If you are playing very early position, also tighten up, only enter pots with very strong hands. For instance, always play only top hands like AA, KK or QQ, JJ or AK and AQ.
Middle Position: Tighten up slightly but you can start to include hands like AJ, KQo, and suited connectors down to 9-10 suited.
Late Position: Even more aggressive here. Besides top hands, you could mix in some small pairs, suited connectors, weak aces, etc., and raise. Raising with hands like 7-8 suited or A-9 offsuit from the button, for example, is going to make you money because of your opportunities to steal pots pre-flop and outplay opponents post-flop.
Post-flop Play in Position
Continuation Betting: After you raise pre-flop and get called, putting out a bet on the flop can frequently win you the pot. If you raise with AQ and the flop is 8-4-2, a c-bet will often get your opponent to fold more hands than they would otherwise fold.
Floating: This refers to calling a bet on the flop with little or no hand at all, but with the intention of making a move for the pot later in hand. As an example, if you call a bet in position with 7-8 suited on a flop of 9-5-2 and then your opponent checks the turn, as he will only have been able to hit this board right with a few hands (sets and big pairs), and also will most likely check those, along with they are the exact kind of hands that they would most likely fold to an optimal double barrel.
Pot Control: When holding a marginal hand, use your position to keep the pot size under your control. If you, for example, have QJ on J-6-3 and your opponent bets into you, you can merely call when you are in position to keep the pot small and reassess your hand at the turn.
Recognizing Trends in Your Opponents’ Bets and Tells: When playing poker, it is essential that you pay careful attention to how much your opponents are betting because it can inform your decisions. For example, an opponent that bets little when they are weak and big when they are strong can help the same opponent make better bets.
Observing Physical Tells: When playing live, you should observe your opponents’ behavior because players tend to give themselves away when strong or nervous. For example, a bad player might shake when they have a strong hand while a player that is bluffing may avoid eye contact.
Extracting the Most Value with a Strong Hand: When you have a strong hand, use your position to get as much value as possible out of your opponents. Value bet for each street and raise. Extract the most value. If you have an example, say a set of eights on an 8-5-2, and your opponent checks, you should bet to get value from their weaker hands. Control the pot if you sense that they have a weak hand from the previous play.
Continuing the Bluff: If you have a sense that they are a weak player, you can check behind again and call his bets because he is more likely to bluff.
Player Conversations and Psychological Tactics: Start a conversation with an opponent — How long have you been playing poker? Depending on his answer, you can determine how much experience he has. Apply psychological pressure — If you have been raising out of position more often, they will keep folding to you.
Adjustments to Particular Opponents
Aggressive Opponents: If your opponents are playing aggressively, rely on position to call more and allow them to bet into you. If an aggressive player raises and you have a hand like AQ, for example, just call and let them bluff at the flop and at the turn.