Attacking The Big Winner

You sit down in a $2-$5 no-limit hold’em game, and you look around at the stack sizes. The buy-in cap at this game is $1,000, and most of your opponents are playing $500 to $1,000 stacks. But one guy, a big burly fellow who looks to be in his 30s, is sitting with at least $4,000. How should you react?

If you’re like most players, you will try to avoid playing pots with this guy. Whether it’s conscious or unconscious, once a guy has put a good run together, everyone else tends to try to stay out of the way.

In my opinion, however, in most circumstances where someone has won a lot of pots, this is exactly the opposite of how you should react. More often than not when there’s been a big winner at my live no-limit game, I try to attack that player.

Let’s get two things out of the way. A big stack does not mean someone is a good player. Big stacks are built through winning big pots. It takes two players to play a big pot. Chances are at least one of these players isn’t that good at poker. And while good players will tend to win big pots more often, any given player can win any given pot. All it takes to build a $4,000 stack is three big pots, and you don’t have to be good to be lucky enough to make the nuts three times.

Also, luck doesn’t carry into the future. Just because players have been lucky for the past couple of hours does not mean at all that they’ll continue to be lucky.

The more hands you play, the easier it is to build a big stack in a capped buy-in game (it’s also easier to blow through a bunch of buy-ins). So players with big stacks often play a lot of hands. And most players who play a lot of hands aren’t very good at no-limit hold’em. Since luck doesn’t carry forward, a big stack is often a bad player with a lot of money to lose.

Another minor reason to attack the big winner is because it’s not how most players react. Say I build a $3,000 stack at $2-$5 at a table of players I don’t know. I’m going to assume most players will be more inclined than usual to give up on small and medium pots against me. Which means I’ll be upping my continuation betting and turn barrelling frequencies. If I get raised, I’ll be less inclined than usual to call down, since I don’t expect players to launch big bluffs at me when I’ve been winning. So if you start making plays at me, I won’t expect it, and you’ll be outplaying me for a while until I catch on.

What To Do

First step, if possible, is to move to a seat that has position on the big stack. Ideally you’d like to be directly on the big stack’s left. A couple of seats over from that is good also.

Second, identify this player’s general style. A big stack player who is tight preflop will very likely be susceptible to bluffs after the flop. As long as you’re fairly deep also, you can play a bluff-heavy strategy. When this player opens a pot, call with a somewhat wider range than you normally would (most of your added hands should be suited). Then challenge your opponent with flop and turn raises on boards that are unlikely to have hit your opponent hard and that give you some equity when called.

For instance, say your opponent raises from three off the button to $20, and you call on the button wtih Q-9 suited. The flop comes T-T-7 with one of your suit. The big stack bets, and given the way he’s played, you’d expect him to bet the flop almost every time. Either raise immediately or call and bet if checked to or raise a bet with a good turn card. With deep enough stacks it will be hard for your opponent to call down without a ten, 7-7, or A-A or K-K (a good turn card would be one that gives you outs to beat some of these hands such as a jack, an eight, or another one of your suit).

Players who are using the general tight-aggressive strategy of betting until encountering resistance are very easy to exploit with bluffing lines like this one.

I would typically assume a loose player with a huge stack is a weak player. This is where this strategy of attacking the big stack really pays off. The strategy against this sort of player is very simple. Again, assuming you’re also fairly deep, here’s what you do. When this player limps into a pot, limp along with any remotely good-looking hand. You’re looking to hit a big hand and get paid. I often caution against playing no-limit to hit hands and get paid. But that’s because you can’t count on getting paid against most modern players. A loose player with a monster stack is a great candidate to pay off your hands, so I’d give it a shot.

With premium hands, I’d make extra-large sized preflop raises and reraises. For instance, I recently played a $2-$5 game against an older man who had been on a huge run and had nearly $6,000 in front of him. I was two to his left with the $1,000 starting stack. He raised to $15 from under the gun. I made it $150 to go with kings. He called with A-Q. This was obviously a great situation for me.

Final Thoughts

When you play live no-limit, you have eight or nine opponents. In every session there’s a good chance that one of these eight or nine players will go on a hot streak and run up a big stack. This event does not indicate that this player is good at poker. It also doesn’t indicate that this player is likely to continue to get lucky.

Quite the opposite, in fact, is often the case. Players who have gone on monster runs often play a lot of hands, and people who play a lot of hands tend not to be good players. Players who have gone on monster runs often feel bulletproof and take risks (especially early in hands) that they shouldn’t. And players who have gone on monster runs often expect their opponents to behave a certain way and are vulnerable if you turn it around.

Resist the urge to fear a big stack and trying to stay out of that player’s way. A big stack is, as often as not, the biggest target in any no-limit game. React accordingly, and you’ll be surprised how often most or all of that money ends up with you by the end of the night. ♠

Ed’s brand new book, Reading Hands At No-Limit Hold’em, is available immediately for purchase at notedpokerauthority.com. Find him on Facebook at facebook.com/edmillerauthor and on Twitter @EdMillerPoker.