Beating the poker rocks

During this series of articles I’ll be taking a look at various player types that you will encounter when playing live tournaments. While it’s true that each opponent you come up against should be considered individually, there is some useful stereotyping that can give you a head start.

I’m going to start with one of my personal favourites and that is our good old friend the nit. Call them what you like – nits, rocks, granite or set miners – these are all people with a passion for folding. They’re not going to be fooled into leaving home without a set.

More formally, these players employ a tight-passive style of play. They tend to avoid big confrontations and do not like to play big pots or gamble with more marginal hands. They will only be playing the very best starting hands and will be looking for any excuse to fold should they not connect with the flop. They usually fall into the trap of giving other people too much credit for a hand, assuming that the majority of their opponents think about the game as they do.

I mentioned that the nit is our good old friend. That was more than just turn of phrase – if I was to write down a list of the top ten biggest nits I’ve ever played with, it’s unlikely that there would be anyone under the age of 40. Besides any physical stereotyping, these players will also identify themselves by repeatedly making comments about their big blind, serving only to encourage us to go after it even more. They also enjoy trying to stir up a rearguard action from other players at the table to unite against any loose-aggressive players.

They will comfort each other with a telling nod or wry smile every time a move goes wrong and a looser player is sent to the rail. A nit should not be confused with a tight-aggressive player. While both are selective about their starting hands, a TAG will play much more aggressively and will understand positional play.

KEY POINT

Nits are only looking to play big hands and if they see a flop are unlikely to continue unless they flop big. Be cautious of confusing them with right-aggressive players, who will take a much more aggressive line post-flop

CASHING IN ON NITS

The nit is probably the easiest type of opponent to play against and that’s because his/her play is generally very straight-forward. They will play the value of their hand, so when a suspected nit is betting against you, you want to be equipped with a strong hand yourself if you are to continue. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to bet tight players off every hand. Sure, tighter players are more likely to fold in certain spots; at the same time they are usually holding a strong hand when they are in a pot.

They will enjoy nothing more than you bluffing away your chips to them while they put on their expert moody dwells on every street before picking you off with their flopped set. Finally, pay attention when a nit has limped into a pot. There are some tight players who limp in with all of their hands and play a very passive style. These players can and should be isolated with a raise and can be played against very profitably after the flop, when a continuation bet will usually be enough to win the pot. However, some tighter players will only limp their huge hands (AA/KK) and wait for the more aggressive players to take the lead. For this reason, when you start at a new table, take time to watch for when the tighter players limp in. Look to see what types of hands they are showing down before you begin trying to isolate their limps.

When you have one or more nits at your table, not only does it affect the way you play your hands, but it also affects the play of your other opponents. Given that any tournament is essentially a constant fight to win the blinds and antes, it is not difficult to see how tighter players can create some interesting table dynamics. During day-two of this year’s WSOPE main event I was moved to a table where Chris Moorman was well chipped-up. Chris is a very good player and one of the better exponents of a very loose-aggressive style of play.

As I sat and observed the play in the first few orbits I could see there were two very tight players at the table, both situated to the direct left of Moorman. One was proudly wearing the badge of the online site he had qualified on for $10 and the other was one of Full Tilt’s team of elite professionals, Steve Brecher. These two were proving to be a great source of chips for Moorman as he freely took down their blinds from his vantage point on the button.

Not only did he go after their blinds at every opportunity, he also did the service of defending their blinds for them. I learned this to my cost after deciding I fancied a bit of this free money myself. I was in the hi-jack position on Steve’s blind and duly raised the next unopened pot when the blinds got round to him again. Moorman saw this off by re-raising me from the button and I was forced to fold.

KEY POINT

If playing a pot with a nit, be aware he has a strong starting hand. Don’t feel you have to bluff them off every pot. They are simply playing the value of their own hand so recognise when they show resistance

ADJUSTING TO NITBUSTERS

This table dynamic forced me to rethink my game plan, and this is a situation in which you may well find yourself in a tournament. I could not allow Moorman to run over us all but he had a distinct positional advantage. He also had a big stack, which gave him the freedom to make such moves and accumulate even more chips.

The first thing to do if you find yourself in such a situation is this: when you get re-raised by the loose- aggressive player the first time, fold your hand quickly (assuming you have a holding that is marginal at best). Do not make a big deal about it; do not warn him about doing it again and do not let your frustration show at all.

Second, sit back for a few orbits. Did he just happen to pick up a hand on this occasion (it is possible, albeit very unlikely) or does he make this move every time on the nit’s blind? If he does, your next task is to examine the stack sizes relative to each other and to the current level of blinds (and the next level if it is impending).

What you are looking to do is create a situation where the stack sizes are suitable enough for you to raise, to have the LAG make his anticipated re-raise and for you to then have enough chips to come back over the top, most likely with an all-in move that carries enough fold equity to allow the LAG to pass a wide part of his re-raising range.

Since the magical figure that everyone seems to be hung up on these days is 2/1 odds, you should be looking to be laying your opponent a price bigger than 2/1 on this final call so that you fold out even more of his hands. If your stack size has fallen below a level that allows for this, you should try adjusting your opening raise size, for example making a minimum raise. Note the reason I said we should not allow our initial frustration at being re-raised to show – we want this move to be unexpected to the LAG and for it to carry as much credibility as possible.

You will notice I haven’t talked about your hand in any of this, and that’s because for the most part it is irrelevant. You should not to let your starting hand get in the way of an excellent spot to accumulate chips. That said, there are of course certain hands that are preferable to others to make this move, and that’s because the few times that your opponent calls you’re going to need to attempt to beat him at showdown.

Suited-connectors and any pocket pairs will fair best when your opponent calls you with a major proportion of his calling hands, those being big Aces. But the opportunity to make this play (on the nit’s big blind and in a hand where no one has entered the pot before you or called your initial raise) is not going to come around all that often, and so I’d consider my starting hand as a bonus rather than a prerequisite for this play.