Play the player not the cards – it’s an old adage, but one that can pay off handsomely in live cash games
It’s crucial in poker to play the player. Most poker players make systematic, predictable errors that can be exploited by those who are paying attention and are willing to pull the trigger when needed.
One of the concepts that changed how I think about poker is that not all bluffs need to tell a story. I am not always representing something specific when I bet. I am betting because the villain’s range is weak and I think he will fold often enough for it to be profitable. Many villains are not thinking beyond their own cards. Other times you are representing a hand to a thinking opponent, and then that story needs to be coherent.
Another concept that changed how I think about poker is that just because you likely have the best hand on the flop, it does not follow that you should start to build a pot. Some hands are destined to be bluff catchers by the river and should be played as such. You need to protect your stack, not your hand. I’m going to show you two examples from live cash game poker that illustrate how to bluff or get value purely from playing the player.
Bluffing an aggressive lag
Game: 2$/5$ at Foxwoods Casino
Your hand: A♣-Q♣
Difficulty level: ★
Action: A LAG internet kid raises under the gun to $25. We call with A♣-Q♣.
While he never said a word at the table, this player was generally ticking off the table by listening to loud music through his headphones, constantly three-betting preflop and giving off an arrogant vibe. I had seen him opening pretty light, even UTG with hands like K-J and A-5 suited.
This player was opening many pots for a raise, and betting so often that he must frequently have a weak hand. Because of this, we are ahead of his range, even his UTG opening range. We might even have him dominated with a better Ace. Lots of frustrated opponents would be tempted to raise here to stand up to the bully. We are ahead, so we should raise. Right? No. Resist this temptation.
Although we have position and the chance to isolate, we should just call instead. We do this because we know something about his hand, but all he will know about ours is that we choose to play. Good LAGs know they have a weak range, so when people stand up to them they are safe to fold. Good LAGs can thrive because their opponents do not hide information well. Betting into the LAG when you have a hand tells him he should fold. When people passively call them, they are more in the dark. When faced with this passivity they tend to bet predictably. Their victims fold often enough that the strategy works. When we give minimal information by calling, we start creating an information deficit. His predictable error is that he tends to barrel into opponents, trying to get them to fold. If we hit top pair top kicker or an ace we can profitably call down three streets. We know the error he tends to make and we want to set up situations where he is likely to make that error.
Raisy daisy
The board: T♠-6♥-2♣
Pot size: $57
Action: LAG internet kid bets $50. We raise to $200 with A-Q. LAG internet kid folds and we win the pot.
Since we believe the Villain bets nearly 100% of his range here, his bet does not carry any information. If we just fold, that plays into his game plan. He bets so often because most flops miss most hands. When abc players miss, they fold to his bet. On the rare occasion that his opponents hit a flop, he can just fold to aggression. He wins enough small pots to make this strategy profitable.
We are not going to fold, yet all we have is a bluff catcher. We cannot call with the hopes of catching a pair or folding to a bet on the turn. If we want this pot, we might have to fight for it. That often means bluffing when the showdown value of our ace high is not going to be enough so we should raise.
Think to ourselves, ‘What would a typical bad recreational player do here with a great hand like a set?’ They would do exactly the wrong thing and stand up to the bully, giving him the information he needs to make a good fold. So that is what we do: raise it up. We threaten a second barrel of the bluff with a turn shove. We can also think from the LAG’s perspective. When he gets raised big like this what does he think we have? People very rarely make cold bluffs like this, and there are no big draws to be betting out with. Sets and big over pairs are the most likely holdings. This also uses a concept known as leverage. When a bet on one street implies an even bigger bet on the next street, you get to threaten the all-in amount while only risking the smaller amount. He open folded A♥-T♥.
How we folded out a monster
As he folded, he said, ‘I do not want to stack off with just top pair to your set.’ Notice he specifically says he does not want to stack off. He thought we were going to shove the turn. We got $565 worth of fold-equity while only risking $200. That is leverage in action.
Notice also the bet sizing. We made a strong bet. I see many people bluff at the pot for too small amounts because they are afraid to risk more than that. The problem is the smaller raise is not very effective, so it loses money because it will get called too often. The smaller amount is actually the riskier bluff.
I was surprised to see he was so strong there. I would not have tried to take him off that kind of hand had I known. Playing backwards worked well, he put me on exactly the hand I was hoping he would. LAGs have come to learn that kind of resistance is a big hand, so I used that to my advantage.
Notice that we switched gears. We started slowplaying preflop. Normally this is bad, but against a LAG, this play works well. When we missed the flop we needed to switch gears. We started bluffing when we had nothing even though the original plan was to call if we connected with the flop. This might seem like a shocking move, firing in a $200 bet with nothing. But this is not reckless aggression – it is calculated. Look at how we folded out a hand that really hit this board. As far as flopping a pair goes, this was a perfect board for his A-T suited. Even so, he found a fold because this move looked so strong. Every other time this has been done to him, he was against a better hand. We are mimicking the play of abc players that hit a big hand to get a fold when we want one.
This play was specific for this kind of loose aggressive player. He is smart enough to read hands and thinks that players only play back at him when they hit. Doing this to a nit would be a very bad plan.
The importance of listening
Game: $2/$5 at Playground Poker club
Your hand: J♥-J♣
Difficulty level: ★★★
Action: A bad, recreational player limps in the hijack and we raise to $25 with J-J. The hijack calls. The flop is T♠-Q♠-3♦. The hijack checks and I check back.
People often ironically say poker players never lie, but that is a lie. During a hand, they almost always tell the truth. At worst, they tell you something misleading but true. I managed to get full value for this hand because the player told me what cards he held on the turn.
Everything goes according to plan preflop; i have position on a recreational player with a healthy pocket pair. The T♠-Q♠-3♦ is not a great board to continuation bet though. I do not have very good equity when called, and this board hits a lot of his check-calling range. If I am called, I am likely to have to shut down on the turn. When that happens, I would open myself up to a river bluff from all the missed draws.
Turning point
The board: T♠-Q♠-3♦-J♦
Pot size: $57
Action: The hijack checks and we bet $50 with our set of Jacks. The hijack tanks for a while and eventually calls.
I likely have the best hand here, but the board is super draw heavy. There are lots of pair plus draws, backdoor and front door flushes. I am really hoping for the proverbial deuce of stars to come out on the river. These worries were entirely relieved when the villain tank calls saying, ‘I have two pair, I cannot fold.’ It has been my experience that after the hand is over, I do not trust a lot of what people have to say about their hand. The pressure is off, and they have time to think about how they would like to manipulate you.
However, as counter-intuitive as it might seem, people tell you the truth when they speak about their hand during the hand. The reason is that they think that no one will believe them if they tell the truth, they cannot think of a plausible lie that quickly, and they just do not like to lie. The more specific their statement, the more truthful it is. ‘I have a hand,’ does not mean much. ‘I have a big draw,’ is likely true. ‘I have a set,’ is very likely true.
The Villain here was very plausible with two pair. This made me feel much better when the worst card in the deck fell….
Searching for value
The board: T♠-Q♠-3♦-J♦-A♠
Pot size: $157
Action: The hijack checks. I think for a while and bet $150, enough to put the hijack all-in. He calls, mucks and I win the big pot.
Just about the worst card in the deck comes out here. Normally, I would consider just checking it back since there is no room for a bet-fold. However, when he had told me that he had two pair, I had already decided to ship if I managed to fade the two remaining Queens. When the Villain checked, I announced, ‘all-in’. he gently slid his remaining stack to me, put on his coat and walked away before I revealed my hand. The dealer just shrugged, mucked his hand and shipped me the pot. He told the truth – he could not fold!
