Dusted by “The Dustin”

As a player, you must learn how to adjust to the many different styles of play your poker opponents will exhibit. Highly aggressive players present one of the trickiest styles to counter. While they often trap themselves in awkward circumstances, they are also frequently very difficult to read, presenting some challenging situations for their opponents to deal with. Play higher limits and you’ll have to learn how to counter this style of opponent.

As usual, highly aggressive Dustin was banging away at the $40-80 limit hold’em game at the Bellagio. I like to sit to the left of highly aggressive players and was positioned immediately behind him. Being on their left helps me control the situation by creating opportunities to both isolate them and/or make trap plays on them depending upon the situation. Having position on them also gives me greater opportunity to build big pots with my monster hands.

A loose-passive player limped two off the button. It’s the type of situation an aggressive player like Dustin just licks his chops over. And unfortunately for Mr. Loose-Passive, Dustin was to his immediate left. When Dustin raised, I knew that his range of hands was very wide, as the value of aggression, a situation Dustin’s brain intuitively hunts, was high.

On the button, I looked down to the 8 8 and three-bet. I wanted to fold the blinds and create a three-handed pot. The shorter the field, the greater the propensity for the eights to hold up unimproved. Three-betting also put Dustin in a tough position. He knew I had a strong hand to three-bet. That fact and the fact that Dustin was out of position would make his post-flop decisions more complex. And while he is a nice guy, I’m not at the poker table to make Dustin’s life any easier.

The blinds folded and Mr. Loose-Passive and Dustin each called. We took the flop three-handed, $420 in the pot. The dealer flipped the 9 2 2, a clean flop that hits a small portion of both my opponents’ ranges. They both checked and I fired. Mr. Loose-Passive folded and Dustin called. We took the turn heads-up.

The turn card came the 5, a favorable card for my hand, or so I thought. Dustin checked to me and I fired once more. He check-raised to $160. I thought about Dustin’s range of hands and what his thinking might be. A nine was included in his preflop range and was a definite possibility. As I was on the button and three-betting an aggressive player, Dustin would read my range to be wide and including many non-paired hands. That fact would make bluffs a higher portion of his range. When Dustin senses weakness, he charges, with or without a hand. Also, the fact that the turn was the 5 increased his bluffing range. I felt that if he held two diamonds and picked up a flush draw, or if he held A-3 suited or A-4 suited (both hands he would have raised Mr. Loose-Passive with preflop) he would semi-bluff the turn. Additionally, I thought he might raise the turn if he held two sevens or a smaller pair, hoping to put pressure on me should I hold a non-paired hand. Since I thought his propensity to bluff was high, and that I might beat some of his value-raising range, I tossed in the extra $80.

The river came the Q and Dustin fired again. I pondered for a moment and called once again. Dustin turned over the J 9. He had flopped top pair, picked up a diamond draw on the turn, and check-raised me, then bet the river for value. I tossed my eights into the muck and reflected on my decisions.

Was I right in paying him off? The pot layed me $740 to $80 on the turn, but it cost me $160 to $820 to call to the river. Was I 1-in-5 to win? It’s a tough situation to quantify, but in retrospect I didn’t feel the play was anything to beat myself up about.

The hand speaks to the issues you’ll face playing against highly aggressive thinking opponents and the additional tribulations they place on your decision process. Which hands to play against them and when to pay them off are the major dilemmas. That said, their style also has many exploitable holes, though that’s a column for a later day.

Highly aggressive players tend to look unbeatable when at their best and running well. That said, they tend to get slaughtered when running poorly or are off their game. Part of the problem of choosing that style of play is that it is much more difficult to maintain consistency and therefore survive the test of time. Additionally, the highly aggressive players’ decisions are more complex, making the mental stability level required to play at a high level much tougher to preserve. It’s much easier to get off your game. And while the best playing periods I have seen have come from highly aggressive, talented players playing their best, few seem to survive the long term.

The best of the best play this style and have the mental and emotional fortitude to maintain it. If you think you can do it, go for it. But you better be in tune with yourself or you’ll be visiting the rail. ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman in 1989. Should you wish to any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-396-6575 or Roy’s e-mail is [email protected]. His website is www.roycooke.com. You can also find him on Facebook.