Playing against an UTG straddle

[JoeyT]

I posted this in the general forum a few days ago, but nobody responded... so here goes in this one...

Saturday I was in a 5/10 game sitting just behind a complete maniac for a while. Everytime he became UTG, he would post a $10 straddle. How do you play against these players? I felt like I should 3-bet to try to isolate with even decent hands, but in this loose of a game I probably would have gotten a few cold callers in there. It was annoying thinking about what to do with hands like KJ in this situation... where they're almost definitely better than the blind straddlers hand, but not good enough to stand up to anyone that calls the 3 cold.

Thanks

[bad beetz]

you have to tighten up, even though he has a random hand. Do not try to isolate with KJ, ESPECIALLY if you know it probably won't work like you said. Three bet any hand you would normally raise with, or therabouts.

Trying to isolate a straddler at a loose table with KJo is bad for business.

[sam h]

I would get a seat change so that you are in late position when the straddler is under the gun. Then you can three bet with more hands if it is folded to you.

[mojolang]

I love a wild table. Basically, it depends /forums/images/icons/cool.gif If you wanna increase your standard deviation, if a lot of people are calling, you can limp with 78s, 79s, J9s, 22, 33, 44 etc. Lots of hands that play well multi-way. Keep in mind this may not be preferable if you can't take the swings (I personally wouldn't do it cuz I can't). Basically if you hit your set or a draw, you're gonna get paid off. If you are first in from a late position, I would raise any hand I was gonna play anyway (KJo would not be one of those). I remember one time (granted the game wasn't loose) I three betted with A /forums/images/icons/spade.gif T /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif And shut out all competition except the BB and the straddler.

Flop: [A /forums/images/icons/club.gif A /forums/images/icons/heart.gif T /forums/images/icons/spade.gif ]

Cha Ching

BB bet, UTG call, me: call
Turn: [6 /forums/images/icons/club.gif ]
Check, Check, Bet---Flod, Call
River: [8 /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif ]
Bet, Raise (HAHAHAHAHA!!!!), re-raise, fold.

I always keep in mind that these people are coming in with nothing so if I have a good hand, and I can, I punish. Otherwise, I wait back for something good and cap it. These people usually aren't averse to that.

Joe

[Allan]

These suited connectors aren't +EV when you only have to put in one bet preflop from EP...I can't imagine that somehow this changes when your preflop investment is 2 bets. As for the small pairs, I wouldn't play these either unless everyone acted out of turn and I saw the action.

Allan

[Barry]

Players that post straddles usually can be put on tilt easily. A few weeks ago, I was to the immediate right of a constant straddler. A few times I took a break at my big blind so he couldn't straddle. That really steamed him, and we were able to take advantage of that.

Later, I moved to his left so I could 3 bet with big pairs. By the end of the night he dropped $500 at a $3/6 table

[bad beetz]

One more thing. Being on his right or left is up for debate, you can search for that. But one thing is sure. If he's the only straddler at the table, and you sitting directly to right so your BB is ALWAYS raised, you HAVE to move, this damages your EV, especially if the table is passive so you would usually be getting to see flops in your BB with crappy hands.