Adjusting To Loose Players

Poker Strategy / Matthew Pitt / 24 October 2011 / Leave a Comment

Phil Ivey: Loose but not the type of player you want to try to exploit

The first thing you need to do when you encounter a loose player is to figure out if they are a weak player or just a solid one who chooses to play a loose preflop style. Not all loose players are weak in fact some of the very best players in the world are extremely loose, just look at Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey.

Most of the money that you make from No Limit Hold'em cash games will come from the weak players at your table, this should make perfect sense and need little explanation. A common trait shared by weaker players is they play a loose style of poker with little or no starting hand requirements so just how do you combat loose players?

The first thing you need to do when you encounter a loose player is to figure out if they are a weak player or just a solid one who chooses to play a loose preflop style. Not all loose players are weak in fact some of the very best players in the world are extremely loose, just look at Tom "durrrr" Dwan Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey. Each of those three players are very and would certainly not be considered weak by any stretch of the imagination. The difference between these three poker Goliath's and your standard fish is that although they are very loose and maybe even reckless preflop, where the bets are usually small, once the hand progresses onto the flop, turn and river they are extremely tough as they have superior hand reading skills and have the ability to manipulate their opponents.

A Real LAG Or Not?

Many weak players think they are playing a LAG style when all they are doing is setting light to their money. For example, in a $0.50/$1 game with $100 stacks you raise to $4 with 10s10c from middle position and the LAG-wannabe calls in the small blind with Qd3d. The flop comes down 10d-Kd-Ks. You bet $6, he check-raises you to $30 and because you know he's completely nuts you move all in. He snap-calls and realises he is drawing dead to all but a miracle. A solid LAG would never get into that position post flop, they may put in the check-raise but once you move all in they would be gone like a shot. Whenever you encounter a loose player do not assume they are a complete fish until you have seen them make one or two major mistakes post-flop when the betting becomes substantial.

Against weak loose players you should make a number of adjustments to your game but be aware these adjustments against solid LAGs would see you ripped apart very quickly indeed. The first is to play them at their own game and loose up your preflop play when this player has already entered the pot. Do not go completely mad and start playing 7s3h but if they have limped in you can safely play more speculative hands than you usually would such as 9c8d, 7d5c and small unsuited aces. If they come in for a raise, particularly if they raise a lot of hands you can probably call with hands as weak as Qd10d, AsJc and all suited connectors and one-gapped suited connectors.

Top Pair Is The Nuts!

You should also start to value bet weaker hands such as top pair simply because they will pay you off handsomely. Against a tough LAG you are unlikely to win a hand at showdown with just top pair because if they call bets on all three streets then they are usually strong enough to beat top pair. But weak LAGs will often call opponents down with top pair and no kicker or draw to a hand and hit a weak pair and still call you down with it.

Finally, you should try to bluff these players much less than you would a tough player or a tighter player simply for the fact you are likely to get called by a weird and wonderful array of hands by a weak LAG. Do not stop bluffing completely otherwise even weak players will be able to read you easily and exploit you but try to keep the big daring bluffs for a more suitable candidate.

True LAG players are a complete nightmare to play against, especially if they have position on you but flip the coin and have position on a weak loose player and you stand a chance of stacking them on numerous times before they either run out of money or quit the table. Isolate them, play as many pots as you can with them and get your hands on their bankroll before someone else does.

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