In order to improve your poker game to a world-class level, you need to learn how to strategize plays based on your opponents' styles and plays. How do you play against different styles of opponents? How do you counterstrategize plays that you see your opponents make?
It was
World Series of Poker time. I was playing $60-$120 limit hold'em. A young player whom I had never played with before was attacking the game aggressively, reading hands skillfully and playing his hands effectively and well. An obviously good player, he was the dominant force in the game, and he was stacking the chips. He was someone I knew I was going to have to deal with.
Early in the session, after Mr. Aggressive had raised an early-position limper, I called from the small blind with A-J offsuit, flopped a jack, and check-raised Mr. Aggressive on the flop. He correctly read me as a player capable of moving on him on the flop in that type of situation, and three-bet me with two nines, probably with the intent of checking either the turn or the river and seeing if his hand was good for a half-bet cheaper than straight paying me off. In this particular situation, however, I wasn't moving on the mover, but had a hand I thought was good.
One advantage of playing the hand aggressively, as Mr. Aggressive did, is that when you improve, you get a lot more value on future streets. And that's what happened here; Mr. Aggressive caught a 9 on the turn and bet it down. Not sure of where I stood because of his overly aggressive style, I paid him off with my top pair, top kicker, and then watched him stack the chips.
During the course of play, I also saw Mr. Aggressive make it three bets several times on the flop with just overcards, and then check the turn, thereby giving himself a free card. I noted his playing style and was planning on using that knowledge in my future plays against him.
A couple of laps after he spanked me with his set of nines, Mr. Aggressive opened the pot with a raise from the cutoff position. The button and small blind folded, and I looked down to see K-K in the big blind. I pondered how best to play my hand. I decided to flat-call, thinking that by deceptively playing my hand as weaker than it was, I would get him to play the flop aggressively without a strong hand, one that might be drawing thin or, better yet, dead to my holding, thereby trapping him and giving myself good equity on my bets.
By implementing this play, I was using my opponent's aggressiveness against him - kind of like Aikido, letting your opponent defeat himself. This deception play had value only because I was last to act preflop. If there were players yet to act behind me, I would not have played my hand in a deceptive manner, not wanting to give an opponent(s) a chance to make either a correct or close to correct call with a vulnerable holding. I rarely slow-play kings, because of the high cost of letting a bad ace in cheaply.
The flop came down Q
7
4
. I checked to my opponent, knowing he would bet. He didn't disappoint me and fired a wager into the pot. I check-raised, fully expecting him to three-bet, and he honorably obliged. I considered whether to four-bet, or call and try for a check-raise on the turn. I didn't know if he would bet a hand like 10-10 on the turn or check for a free card with that type of holding. I also thought that if he had a hand like A-J - which was quite possible for a player this highly aggressive - he would likely check. Not wanting to risk giving a free card, I four-bet. He flat-called.
The turn card was the 4
, I bet, and he called me once again. The river brought the 2
. I fired once more, and Mr. Aggressive quickly called. I turned my hand over and he tossed his cards into the muck, saying he had K-Q.
If I had known he had K-Q, I would have played my hand quite differently, and been able to extract more money from him. With top pair, he would have put in a lot more bets if I'd played the flop to trap him. But the way I played my hand would make me more money if he held something less than top pair. Since my ability to read him was deficient due to his aggression with a wide range of hands, it was more likely that he held a hand that was not top pair, and the play that I made was the correct one in most scenarios, and had great value as a whole in spite of the fact that in this particular case it was the inferior play.
You must adapt your plays to your opponent's style, ability, and emotions. Learning plays is one thing, and to become a good player, you must acquire good strategy knowledge, but knowing when to utilize different plays effectively against the varying types of opposition you face at the poker table is essential to solid play. That type of "feel," dictating when to execute a particular play, is not easy to attain. It comes from maintaining focus throughout your sessions, day in and day out, hour after hour. It is not enough just to pay attention to what is going on; you also must constantly analyze what is happening at the table and how you intend to counteract your opponents' plays and tendencies.
Mr. Aggressive saved a few bets because his style made him hard to read, but my play against him would win more chips over multiple trials. He was the big winner at the table that day, and obviously has the strong stomach needed for the swings that result from fast play. When you're up against a player like Mr. Aggressive, use his aggression against him as best you can, take his free-card plays away from him, and induce bluffs from him. Sometimes you'll make a little less, as I did in this spot, but over time you'll get your fair share of his stack.
