What do you do with SB that keeps raising your BB?

octaveshift · #1 06-23-2005, 05:03 PM

Party 33. Guy in the SB (midstack) is raising my BB to t450 every time it is folded to him. This is the 3rd orbit in a row he has done this. He should be pushing, but instead, he just keeps raising t450.

t450. t450. t450.

I am a firm believer in popping villains like this back to send a "back off" message, but he had me outchipped, and I was hesitant to tangle with him. At the same time, I am beginning to look like an easy target to the rest of the table, because he has been lifting my blinds without a fight.

My question is this: Should I *ever* fight back, and if so, how much of a hand should I look for before shoving it in his face?

OR - do I just let him steal, because I am doing the same thing to the players to my left?

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

lastchance · #2 06-23-2005, 05:07 PM

Fight back with good hands. 3 straight times could mean he picked up AA, KQ, KT....

If he's going to let you go all-in to take his minraise, do it, just make sure to have some insurance by doing it with good hands.

astarck · #3 06-23-2005, 05:24 PM

If he continues to do it and you have enough chips to make him fold I push all in and pray to God he was stealing my blind that time. Often times not just the sb, but all others at the table, will respect you after that as you just cost the sb 450 chips to try to steal your blind.

astarck · #4 06-23-2005, 05:28 PM

Another thing I have started to notice is if you see this villain win a pot against another player make a point to type "nh" or whatever. At the low levels being nice seems to be in your favor. I've had many people fold to me because I wasn't talking trash to them and actually complemented them (if they deserved it or not). People generally like having others around them that are nice to them and like their plays.

Blarg · #5 06-23-2005, 05:43 PM

His auto-raising is giving you the opportunity to trap him later for most or all of his chips. It could be +EV to lose some chips now in order to double up later.

octaveshift · #6 06-23-2005, 05:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
At the low levels being nice seems to be in your favor.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is 100% true. +EV 2 tha extreme!

It's definitely a leak for me to get angry about someone raising my BB, because after all, I am doing the EXACT same thing, but it's frustrating to be on the receiving end of "the treatment."

Perhaps this is why spite calls are becoming commonplace? Perhaps it's a fundamental shift in the mind of the average SNGer? After all, it's a fairly new format- one would expect there to be strategic swings as new strategies are developed and countered.

If you think about it, "spite calling with any 2" is a fairly effective way to put an end to the "push with any 2" legions.

Not that it matters, but I did exactly what you suggested, and pushed and prayed. He had t2100 and I had t1750, and he instacalled with A2o. Pokar is confusing.

astarck · #7 06-23-2005, 05:47 PM

Isn't the assumption of doubling up later going on the fact that he will in fact call your all-in? And if you lose many more chips to him, doubling up won't do much good. Furthermore, you could be forced to go all-in with him with less than stellar cards at a time when he is obligated to call with odds.

Does anyone agree that after you see a pattern in his raises you push with any two before you get too shortstacked to have any hope of him folding?

astarck · #8 06-23-2005, 05:49 PM

He didn't have you covered by very much, and I'm VERY suprised he made that call. Especially after he saw you fold to him so many times prior, you'd think he would assuming you finally had a hand.

octaveshift · #9 06-23-2005, 05:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]

Does anyone agree that after you see a pattern in his raises you push with any two before you get too shortstacked to have any hope of him folding?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the crux of the scenario, really. As he's lifting my blinds, I'm shrinking, and he's chumming the water.

I think that I NEED to stand up at some point. I want people to know that my blinds will not be stolen without a fight.

So do I push with a top 25% HU hand like QTs? Do I reraise, and then throw up when he pushes? Do I call and push any flop?

I know it's read dependent, but I'd love to develop some sort of guidelines to work from.

Freudian · #10 06-23-2005, 05:54 PM

Fold three times then say "I'll call next time, buddy!"