Dealing With Bullies

Bloggers / Chris Edwards / 03 February 2009 / Leave a Comment

If you are ever going to succeed in a poker game then confidence is one attribute you need in abundance.

"On the button I looked down at Ad 10d and would usually fold this hand to this action, but decided this time I would take a stand and see a flop. "

However, there is a fine line between confidence and over confidence. If you suffer from the latter, then you might be described as the table 'bully'. A bully in poker will hammer on opponents weaknesses, forcing them out of pots usually by bluffing.

While of course this is a great strategy, I have found many of these players can't play this style optimally, meaning they cant mix it up occasionally because their ego gets involved. If you feel like you have the run of the table, don't try and win every pot. You will soon get trapped or played back at from a frustrated opponent.

A great example of this came when I travelled to Estonia two years ago to play in a tournament. We arrived a day early and watched one of the preliminary events and I noticed one player who was super aggressive and winning lots of small pots. We left to start a cash game and after a couple of hours the aggressive tournament player sat in after busting out.

He was raising and re-raising almost every pot, taking advantage of everyone. I had never encountered a player like this, so I felt the best strategy was to tighten up and wait for a good hand. While this is not the worst idea, It meant this player stole from me regularly. Would he really give me action though as it would be obvious when I had a good hand? Probably not I thought, so I decided on another plan of action. It was time to gamble.

After a raise UTG the aggressive player made another re-raise. On the button I looked down at Ad 10d and would usually fold this hand to this action, but decided this time I would take a stand and see a flop. The original raiser folded and our bully, clearly rattled and determining I wasn't super strong due to only calling (I was right he would figure me out) moved all his chips in the dark before the flop was dealt.

The flop came 6 high with two diamonds, so I made the call and he showed K6o. Luckily for me I turned a 10 and won the big pot. While calling preflop was not the best strategy, it taught me that against these type of players you need to stand your ground. Either lower your raising/shoving range or be prepared to take a gamble.

To quote Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliot, 'Either their going out or you're going out. I'd rather go down swinging than bleed all my chips away to them slowly.'

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