Against a good player who plays bad cards

[BillsChips]

Foxwoods 4/8 LHE.

One very loose, very aggressive player, 1 LAG, 3 TAGs, and 1 or two calling stations. I played 14 straight hours and left up $2.

The player that had me completely befuddled, played virtually any two cards. Here's one example that put the whole table on tilt (I wasn't involved in the hand, but it pissed me off too).

Preflop is capped with 8 players!
Flop is Kd Qd 6s. Capped again.
Turn is 2c. Capped again. Villain tells dealer "Great card, give me one more". Dealer looks at him puzzled.
River is 4 for a board of Kd Qd 6s 2c 4s. Villain tells dealer "You're the best!" Dealer shrugs.

Betting is capped on the river. Villain turns over 3s 5s and takes pot with a straight.

He successfully played garbage all night. I played TAG poker and was up and down a bit the whole time. At one point I started getting a rush of great hands - AA KK AKs AKo and lost with all of them when ragged flops gave this guy two pair. I was lucky enough to get AA four times in a short period, and won only once with them.

Don't get me wrong, aside from this wild speculation, this guy was a good player. He stole (I'm assuming) many pots by betting or raising on ragged flops, because everyone knew he played garbage. When I came in for a raise and the flop brought an Ace or King, he would fold, so I rarely got to take money from him.

I didn't let the bad beats change my play and kept raising with my premium hands and draws. I guess eventually I would have come out on top, but this was very frustrating.

I felt that I held my own with the good TAGs at the table, but this guy was tough to take. Is there better way to deal with very loose, very aggressive players?

Bill

[Greg J]

[ QUOTE ]
Preflop is capped with 8 players!
Flop is Kd Qd 6s. Capped again.
Turn is 2c. Capped again. Villain tells dealer "Great card, give me one more". Dealer looks at him puzzled.
River is 4 for a board of Kd Qd 6s 2c 4s. Villain tells dealer "You're the best!" Dealer shrugs.

Betting is capped on the river. Villain turns over 3s 5s and takes pot with a straight.


[/ QUOTE ]
This is far from a "good player that plays bad cards," which is itself an oxymoron.* This is not even a LAG that plays well postflop. This is just a maniac that hit the lottery. It happens. I think most of us have had this happen to us. In general, of course, this is a very profitable situation. In reading yr post I think you are giving this guy way too much credit.

*EDIT: in a limit full ring game.

[peterchi]

[ QUOTE ]

I felt that I held my own with the good TAGs at the table, but this guy was tough to take. Is there better way to deal with very loose, very aggressive players?


[/ QUOTE ]

Isolate.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

welcome to a typical 2p2 low limit gathering.

[bobhalford]

I don't think he could be a good player judging by what you said in your post. He is a bad player that got extremely lucky.

[BillsChips]

To qualify my statement that he was a good player...

I'm not trying to give him credit for his play, and while he did appear to be a maniac, especially during the hand I described, he knew how to use position to his advantage. He frequently pulled in small pots by betting out when others showed weakness. He didn't lose many showdowns.

I tried to apply SSHE principals as best I could but they seem to apply more to loose-passive than loose-aggressive games. I tried to mix it up a bit and came in for a raise UTG with 89s (it actually paid off when I flopped the nut straight). I did this because I was perceived as being very tight and my raises were scaring people out of the pot, especially when high cards hit the flop.

I wanted to play more medium suited connectors and small pairs, but it was frequently two bets to call, so I mucked them.

Also, this wasn't a typical Foxwoods low-limit table. It came together around 3am Saturday morning when several other tables broke up. I don't know if any 2+2'ers were there, but they seemed like they were the right types - young, aggressive, and cockey. Every now and then a new player would join and lose all his money in about 30 minutes.

Question. If you're in a game that is continually raised preflop, should you just play as if it's a higher limit and call two bets with hands you normally would call for one?

[MyTurn2Raise]

When heads-up...let him bet your made hands. C/r the turn or river. Once he adjusts, you must too.

Lead out automatically at hands with an ace or king a few times until he catches you, then adjust.

Remember, though you can play pretty systematically at most low limit games, it's a game of people.

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Preflop is capped with 8 players!
Flop is Kd Qd 6s. Capped again.
Turn is 2c. Capped again. Villain tells dealer "Great card, give me one more". Dealer looks at him puzzled.
River is 4 for a board of Kd Qd 6s 2c 4s. Villain tells dealer "You're the best!" Dealer shrugs.

Betting is capped on the river. Villain turns over 3s 5s and takes pot with a straight.


[/ QUOTE ]
This is far from a "good player that plays bad cards,"

[/ QUOTE ]

The OP didn't give the particulars in this hand, but it's possible that villain was actually correct to stay in. Remember that the pot was 32 SBs before the flop even came down--you don't need much to continue in a case like that, and he did flop two backdoors.

On the whole I agree with your point, though, and I've played against many people just like this online. They either catch a run of cards & win a bundle or bust out quickly. Sometimes a little of both. I like to play against them because I can win some huge pots by isolating.

To the OP: I doubt if he was making "expert laydowns" when you'd flop top pair after raising preflop. More likely he just missed the flop completely.

[maxpower72]

I haven't read the other responses but get a seat change get on his left and raise raise raise.