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Beating Loose-Aggressive Players
Loose-aggressive players frustrate a lot of people. They play crap,
but they are aggressive and can put pressure on you. Their
fundamental weakness is that they put too much money in the pot
with too weak a hand. You exploit it this way:
Step 1: Play Tight
Step 2: Don t Play Out of Position
Step 3: Don t Overcommit in Small Pots
Step 4: Big Pots for Big Hands
Step 5: Pull the Trigger
It may sound glib, but what you ve learned in the first five steps is
the recipe for beating loose-aggressive players. They put too much
money in with weak hands, so they are vulnerable to losing big pots
against strong hands and to getting bluffed out. You want to avoid big
confrontations with them when you are vulnerable. And if you play
tight and play in position, you ll have the edge on them. The same
recipe beats tight-aggressive players too; you ll just start with less of
an edge because they are playing tight and in position as well.
230 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
Wrapping It Up
Adjusting to your opponent is a critical aspect of no-limit. If you play
the same way against everyone, you will miss some of the most
profitable opportunities. Look for the weaknesses in your opponents
play and then create situations that take advantage of them.
Aggression is the primary no-limit weapon, and passive players
don t use it very well. You can exploit that weakness by betting more
hands. You bluff more against weak-tight players, and you bet more
hands for value against loose-passive ones.
Loose-aggressive players use aggression, but they can be reckless
with it. They put too much money at risk without the goods to back it
up. You exploit that fact by keeping the pot small when you re
vulnerable, but making big bluffs and value bets when you have a
good situation. That way you ll tend to lose small pots and win larger
ones.
Most of your opponents won t fit nicely into any category or
pigeonhole. Don t try to jam them in where they don t fit. Examine
how each of your opponents plays, think about all the things they do
wrong, and tailor your strategy to create and exploit those situations.
Step 7: Keep Your Head In
The Game
Most good poker players fail. Or, at the very least, they fall well short
of their potential. Even when they have mastered the small games and
can easily play profitably at the medium levels, they tend to end up
back at the bottom time and again, looking for a stake or rebuilding
their roll at the $1 $2 game.
There s no shame in it. Fulltime poker is a grueling endeavor, even
for the talented and experienced. But the problem most of these
players have is they don t keep their heads in the game. It s not that
they re playing in games that are too tough for them. It s that they
consistently make mental errors and errors in judgment that keep
them from getting where they want to go.
It s impossible to have no-limit hold em success without tackling
the mental side of the game. I can t cover all the bases in this article,
but I d like to share a few tips with you.
You re Going To Get Stacked Sometimes
My first mental roadblock when I switched from limit to no-limit was
getting stacked. Frankly, I was afraid of it. It didn t matter how much
money was involved. I played in limit games where $300 was a run-
of-the-mill loss on a hand that went to showdown. These losses didn t
phase me a bit. I d lost over $5,000 in a session and went back in and
played the next day.
But it was a whole different story in no-limit. I protected my $100
stack like it was my baby. I wasn t afraid of losing the money; I was
afraid of getting stacked. To me, getting stacked in no-limit meant
getting outplayed. It meant getting tricked. It meant being had. I had
visions of some Doyle Brunson-like Texas rounder from the 1950s
232 SMALL STAKES NO-LIMIT HOLD EM
stacking my chips cagily reassuring me, Son, you win some and you
lose some.
It s all nonsense. Getting stacked doesn t mean any of that. It s a
normal part of the game. In fact, if you play no-limit regularly and
you don t get stacked, you re either buying in for a million dollars or
you re playing like crap.
Good no-limit means putting your stack on the line when you have
the edge. And having the edge is nothing like having a sure thing.
You may have the edge with a big all-in bluff, but sometimes you ll
get unlucky and get called. You may have the edge by getting all-in
on the flop with the nuts, but sometimes you ll get drawn out on by
the river.
If you have top pair against a really loose player, you often play to
get all-in. It s a winning play because they ll call with even worse
hands. But naturally they ll call with better ones too. If you re playing
right and taking the right risks, sometimes you re going to end up all-
in with top pair against a bad player with a set. And you ll get
stacked.
Leave Your Ego At Home
Think about that last scenario. You make a big all-in bet with top pair.
A terrible player you ve been targeting all night calls and rolls over
a set. Would you feel foolish? Be honest.
Most people would. I sure would have when I started playing no-
limit. Where does that feeling come from? It comes from your ego.
Most poker players lose a lot due to their egos. Either they make
unsound plays with bad hands because they have undue confidence,
or they avoid taking sound risks to protect their ego from the bruising
of an unlucky outcome.
The ego needs to go. It doesn t belong in your decision-making at
all. If your opponent is bad enough to call an all-in bet with middle
pair, then moving in with top pair is the right thing to do. Who cares
what he showed up with this time? Don t feel foolish just because you
got unlucky not even if he needles you about it. Who cares? Your
STEP 7: KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME 233
job is to make the best decisions you can, and if that s what you are
doing, you should feel proud no matter who is stacking the chips.
Grousing about bad beats is another symptom of overactive ego. In
fact, if you re grousing about bad beats, you have an especially acute
ego problem. After all, if you lose to a bad beat, everyone can see
perfectly well that you played your hand fine and got it in with an
advantage. And with the release of everyone knowing you should
have won, your ego is still bruised? What about when you get it all-in
against a better hand? I can only imagine the internal mushroom cloud
that scenario must generate.
It s ridiculous. Every poker player wins, and every poker player
loses. No one cares whether you re winning or losing today, for the
month, or for your life. No one cares whether you got your money in
with the best of it or not. They may pretend they care, but they don t.
Losing a hand doesn t make you lose face. It s all in a day s work.
If you feel anger, despair, or embarrassment at the poker table,
chances are your ego is making your decisions instead of your poker
brain. Tell your ego to stay out of it.
Every Session Is A Learning Experience
No one has completely mastered no-limit. Everyone has more to
learn. Even the best players in the world need to keep learning, or
soon someone else will take their place.
You re going to make a mistake in virtually every session.
Sometimes you ll make several. Sometimes you ll make a whopper.
It s natural, and if you let it get to you, then you re making another
mistake.
Why are you playing today? Are you playing to show everyone
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