Dealing with hyper aggressive recreational players
Being prepared to jam your stack on the river and shut them out off the pot can be an immensely profitable tactic once you establish their tendencies well.
One of the most common fish types in the modern era, the hyper aggro weak player is becoming an increasingly common sight at the tables, and keeping on top of them can be one of the most rewarding areas of poker. As a player type, they are generally brought up on players like Stu Ungar, Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and others, watching the intensity of good loose aggressive play on TV and becoming determined to emulate their idols.
The downside to this of course, is that loose aggressive is about the hardest style of poker to play profitably, and without the incredible reading skills of the aforementioned players, they quickly become one of the worst type of fish - the spewing, overly aggressive loose player. So what's to be done when you start thinking you may have one of these on your hands at the table? What are the best adjustments to be made?
Firstly, most of these players are split into two key categories - those that back down on the turn and river, and those that don't. Against those that don't tighten up on the really big bet streets, you will have to make some big calls with marginal hands to win against them - it will be a wild ride, but in the end you will get all the money as they fail to balance their range well. Against the second type, you can take advantage of their constant pre flop and flop aggression simply by calling bets and then taking the lead on the turn or river - against some of these players it is truly incredible just how often they fold once their initial stabs at the pot have been repulsed.
Secondly, make sure to throw in many bluffs late in hands - particularly when 'last in'. In a pot where both players are bluffing, the person who makes the last possible move always wins, simply because the opponent cannot win the pot without a hand, and has no other possible way to make you fold once all your chips are in. Particularly against the weak looser players who keep firing all the way to the end, being prepared to jam your stack on the river and shut them out off the pot can be an immensely profitable tactic once you establish their tendencies well.
Dealing with bad LAG players is not just about suddenly calling them down with anything. There are a few nice tricks of the trade such as opening up calling and bluffing ranges a little, but at it's heart the way to win the money is just to out think the board changes and ranges of their play. The mistakes they make over scare cards, balancing actions and playing too many hands are severe and pronounced, and with just a little close thought these players are basically just free money - despite the wild swings they produce along the way.
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