Ive given up completely. (whining followed by a question)

[KungFuSandwich]

I know I know. Every player goes through swings, but damn. I know everyone thinks there an expert, but damn. Ive been playing seriously about a year and a half, not that long, but ive been playing longer than any one in the super small no limit holdem game Im at.

Maybe one of yall can give me some advise. The guy ive been loosing all of my money to models his game after Elix Powers. He raises in the dark every time hes allowed to. He bets any flop thats checked to him. I play tight if im to his left, but if no one calls him ill loosen up considerably if Im sitting to his left. Im I wrong to play a hand like Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif7/images/graemlins/spade.gif if its just him and me. I figure I have to be a favorite. A month ago I would question anyone who didnt paly this way but I have only had one winning session in the last month and a half. To make it even worse the winning session was for $2. So if you figure in gas to get to his house I ended up loosing money. The last time I played (we wont dicuss how much I lost since it would make me want to cry and some of you would probably laugh since you spend that on BigBlinds)

Basically my question is how should I play against someone who doesnt look at his cards until the flop or the turn and will usually raise if he thinks theres any chance he will win.

Heres a little profile on our maniac. He plays alot online and has lost ALOT for his income level. The result is the smaller stakes do not intrest him enough to work to win. He knows how to play right but he wants to have fun (AKA pull off huge bluffs) This means he plays like a maniac but will recognize that it is dumb to bet a straight on a flush board.

But ive also seen this guy raise a big reraise (in no limit) with 2 undercards and no draw. Why? Imagine how sweet it would be if I got him of his cards.

Please help me. I want to like poker again.

What is the optimum strategy against this type of player. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks for your help guys. /images/graemlins/club.gif

[SCfuji]

just show him the best hand. make him put all his money in preflop. if he calls you everytime and he's got worse hands you are going to be a big winner.

[Your Mom]

you said this is at his house. consider the possibility that you are being cheated.

[daryn]

somehow i see this as unlikely.

man, i really hope the original poster is a foreigner. his spelling is atrocious.

[Arsene Lupin III]

Make sure he isn't looking at his cards and reraise him with any ace or any hand significantly better than a random hand preflop if this is the case.

Bring a couple extra buyins and make him start looking at his cards.

[jmark]

Why would you play Q7s?

[Nick_Foxx]

it also sounds to me like you're playing with scared money if you are starting to tally up gas expenses

[slickterp]

if he will raise blind, and you are the only one left, you put him all in with any reasonable hand (at least groups 1-4, probably 5, maybe 6). he's bullying, don't let him do it. there's a reason he loses money online. it's b/c he's reckless and likes to gamble, which shows through when he bets blind. put him all in w/ any good hand you get.

[KungFuSandwich]

Hope this clears some stuff up

/images/graemlins/diamond.gifNo I am not forign. I am a product of the Georgia public school system. I was A student too. Sad isn't it?

/images/graemlins/diamond.gifWhat would you consider minimum hand requirments to put him all in or call? Ive been trying to sit to his right so I dont have to worry about callers behind me. The problem is I lose alot of big blinds, but I think its better to see if how other player play. Especially since these games usually get short handed the later they run. (as few a four people) Should my strategy change when it gets shorthanded?

/images/graemlins/diamond.gifI dont think hes cheating. I just dont think he cares about the money. Hes just playing to have a good time, and to him having a good time means huge bluffs

/images/graemlins/diamond.gifThe gas thing was just some griping on my part. Sorry for the confusion.

[bonanz]

[ QUOTE ]
you said this is at his house. consider the possibility that you are being cheated.


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
somehow i see this as unlikely.


[/ QUOTE ]

i think what daryn is hinting at is that maybe you do not understand poker as well as you think you do. you are 19 and a huge majority of home games are ridiculously easy to beat. something doesn't add up

[warewulf]

I agree with the others -- put him all in if you have a decent starting hand. Also previously mentioned -- if this is at his house, check the cards carefully for marks. Does he always use bicycle rider backs or other cards with pictures on them? Cards with lots of pictures are easiest to mark. If paper cards, Bee's are almost impossible to mark. Check the corners, etc. Bring 2 packs of un-opened cards and see how he reacts. Maybe spring for a double deck of KEM's or Copaq if you're on a budget.

Also, don't back down to him. If you're heads up, be more likely to re-raise him when you would normally just call. If he does the same thing every time you should be able to nail him. If he doesn't look at his hole cards, put him all in with any ace and a decent kicker pre-flop. He's being aggressive because sounds like you and everyone else back down to him, so STOP BACKING DOWN. FIRE BACK!

warewulf

[slickterp]

once again, i agree. i would say any ace, any king should go all in on him if he really is betting blind. he's bullying you b/c you keep backing down (not just you, everyone in the game). just don't let him do it anymore. be the bully instead.

[KungFuSandwich]

We use Kem Arrows. He doesnt wear sunglasses so their not marked in that way. I looked on ebay and found people sell 2 other kinds of marked Kem cards. One method was tintwork the other said something about black lines. How could I test to make sure they arent marked.

I dont think that hes using marked cards. Ive seen him turn over crap way too much. Im not backing down, but listening to your advise it sounds like my problem is Im not putting enough pressure on him. I had tried doing this to an extent in my last game but stopped because I got unlucky. (I know thats a dirty word for a 2+2er but one other guy started using my strategy and had some success, He just kept hitting good cards against me)

Another question. How should I play with weak hands when its folded to me. Hes not betting a huge amount, just the standard raise for the table (about 2.5x the BB), so should I see a flop or should I let him take the blinds?

Also he will look at his cards after the flop if there is a bet. If there is a bet he will fold less then 5percent of the time. Usually he will call or raise unless the bet is really really big. However, if I check he will almost always bet (sometimes looking at his cards sometimes not), unless the board makes a trap likely.

Thanks again for all your help

[jmark]

[ QUOTE ]
Another question. How should I play with weak hands when its folded to me. Hes not betting a huge amount, just the standard raise for the table (about 2.5x the BB), so should I see a flop or should I let him take the blinds?

Also he will look at his cards after the flop if there is a bet. If there is a bet he will fold less then 5percent of the time. Usually he will call or raise unless the bet is really really big. However, if I check he will almost always bet (sometimes looking at his cards sometimes not), unless the board makes a trap likely.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you've already figured out how to play him, you've just gotten unlucky.

[QuadsOverQuads]

Have you considered that his play may be aggravating you and causing you to inadvertently give him information that (facial expressions, posture, etc) that he can then use against you? I'd at least consider the possibility that it's not just what cards you play, but also what you may be telling him (inadvertently) about how well the flop hit you, what kind of outs you have, etc. If in doubt, work on maintaining a very steady, very consistent demeanor while at the table, and if the guy really starts to get to you, excuse yourself for a few hands until you can get your Zen back.


q/q

[KungFuSandwich]

I hadnt considered that and that very well might be the case. One of the reasons this has been so frustrating for me is that this guy used to be really easy for me to read. He just had some mannersims that I picked up on early on and no one else did so he kept doing them. Him changing styles really messed up my read on him. (Its hard to read someone that isnt playing their cards)

Also since hes not looking at his cards hes paying alot more attention to me than he usually did.

Thanks a lot to everyone who replied. I cant wait to play this guy again. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[jdoe]

if your playing no limit you don't need to win a lot of hands. Just a few key ones. There are a lot of coin toss situations that i don't think you need to take if you are the best player.


I would try to set him up. make a few bad bluffs as the agressor and show them if you get away with them. I would encourage his bad play then change gears.


Solid poker will get the $

[theBruiser500]

nice screen name