I have written several articles pointing out home games and similar games with weak opponents. Many of the tactics I have suggested have been rather simple and aimed at taking advantage of their poor play.
However, as you move up the stakes, and even at the lower stakes, you’ll face better opponents – sometimes players who make their living playing poker or who call themselves professional players. Against these guys and gals, you’ll need a different arsenal of tricks if you want to win. Here are two of them.
Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee
Good aggressive players have learned to change their ranges depending on their position. Consequently, late position raises will often contain many weak hands, if not outright bluffs. Meanwhile, if you have cultivated a tight image at the table, your better opponents will notice and be more likely to take your aggression seriously.
You can exploit these two factors – their wider range and their image as a seemingly unimaginative type of player – and steal pots from them with your aggression. You float their raises from early position and then, depending on your position, re-raise or check-raise their continuation bets on the flop.
Here are two examples:
You're in a cash game with blinds R$ 1.00 / R$ 2.00 on the button with :Ks :2c , a hand you would normally fold. You've been folding almost all of your starting hands. Tony, a regular who calls himself a professional and is known for being a winning loose-aggressive player, is sitting conveniently two seats to your right. Two guys call your big blind and Tony raises to $15. You and the big blind call as well.
The flop comes :Qs :9d :7s and the big blind checks. Tony bets $30. He could have a hand. Maybe he started with AQ or JT. However, his range could also include a dozen other hands that would have missed the flop. With the expanded range of hands resulting from his general playing style and position, the odds of him missing are clearly in your favor. (Poker is a game of probability, not certainty.) The action folds to you and you raise to $75. Expect to take down the pot.
This play can also work from early position. Imagine the same hand as above, only this time Tony is on the button and you are two seats to his right (in the hijack seat). The hand plays out similarly with a few opponents calling before you act. In this situation you also call with your :Ks :2c and Tony raises to $15 on the button. The big blind calls, as do you. The flop is again :Qs :9d :7s . The big blind checks, you check and Tony bets $30. The big blind folds and you check-raise to $75 – with the same expected result.
The Jiu-Jitsu of Poker
Professional and semi-professional players often have little regard for low-stakes opponents. This creates a flaw in their game that you can take advantage of. They tend to underestimate you, the unknown low-stakes opponent, and therefore remain consistently aggressive in the face of your passivity. This is exploitable. Use jiu-jitsu on them. Let the force of their aggression get them into trouble.
An example of this situation – slow play against strong opponents
You are in seat #7 in a R$ 2.00 / R$ 5.00 game with a very good player in seat #5. He raises to $15 and the player between you two folds. You are left with :Ks :Kc . Don't re-raise. In position, just call. One of the blinds also calls and the flop comes :Qd :Ts :2c .
The player in the big blind checks and the preflop raiser bets $50. Don't raise with your overpair. Just call again. The early position player folds. The action gets heads-up on the turn and you are each deep stacked with about R$ 500.00. The turn brings another 2, making the board :Qd :Ts :2c :2d . Your opponent now bets $120. Again, don't raise, just call.
On the river, expect a modest bet that you can call or a check after which you can either make a value bet or (depending on the river card) just check behind. Either way you can win money from your opponent who will usually be overvaluing his own hand thinking you are weak or drawing with all these calls and not expecting you to have a premium pair.
Being a good player, he will tend to not give you credit for the hand you actually had, since you played it in an unconventional manner. You will have used your strength against him, winning much more than if you had played the hand in an expected manner and re-raised against him from the beginning.
Both of these plays involve some risk. You may be unlucky enough to make them when your solid opponent has a very good hand. You should also remember not to overuse them just because you can. If your image is not that of a tight, conventional player, or if you incorrectly classify him as a loose-aggressive player when he is, in fact, an NIT, then you could just be getting yourself into big trouble.
However, used selectively and at the right time, these plays can allow you to make money on the toughest players in the game.
Article translated and adapted from the original: Picking Off the Pros: Tips vs. Tips Tough Opponents
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This part of the text is strange:
an NIT, then you could just be getting yourself into big trouble.
Hello. The word “to be” is missing between “only” and “if”. Now, if you are referring to the word NIT, this is the tightest type of player there is. He only plays premium hands.