defending against aggression in nolimit tournaments

[Lottery Larry]

i am pretty new to nolimit holdem, having been introduced in a home game via low buy-in tournaments. i am having a problem with how to deal with aggression when the bets are large and i can get knocked out for a bad decision- or just a "wrong results" one. i would appreciate any help.

i get the impression that players are going after me because i am playing too cautiously and tight. also i do not know what hands are "good" nolimit hands to stand fast with so i get a lot of money stolen.

in "Holdem for Advanced Players-Milleneum Edition" there is a section on short-handed play which lists hands that you should defend with in limit games- Ax, pairs, two cards 9 and higher, Kx suited. while that seems reasonable for a limit game it feels very dangerous for a nolimit one.

a recent tournament disaster made very clear that i need a lot of help. three hands stood out in this two-table tournament.

first- with Ace high i called down someone who was pushing a lot of chips at me on every street. i was riding on the wings of a two-flush which didn't get there, but felt he was making a play. i was right and took down the pot.

second- 99 on a board of 876K and another player making large raises made me fold on the turn- supposedly he was bluffing. i assume i should have gone all in on the outside-straight flop?

third- i horribly played a TT against an aggressive large stack, calling a large reraise of my small raise for most of my chips at the final table, when another loose player who i had raised was all-in.
I went all in on the flop for my remaining chips with a mixed board, only to see the raiser show me QQ- which i should have known about, i think.

so, as a starting point, what kinds of hands should i be playing against agressive opponents in nolimit tournaments?

yours, LL

[cferejohn]

To use a cliche, the best defense is a good offense. If a player is clearly raising with more than just good hands in late position, when you get a good hand in the blinds (99 or better, AK, AQs, even worse if the player is very aggressive/it is short handed), re-raise him, all-in if necessary. Every once in a while, of course, this is going to cost you when he actually does have a big hand. Most of the time, however, the player will have to lay it down when he is stealing with rags. If you just call, it allows him to out aggress you when the flop is scary (i.e. an Ace falls when you have a TT or no ace or king comes when you have AK). First of all, most of the time, you will win a pretty good sized pot (assuming the blinds have gone up a few levels) and second, everyone is going to be much less likely to steal against you.

The other thing to do is work in some steals of your own. This will keep your stack big enough that players will be less prone to steal against you. When you do steal, it is often better to do it with a hand that you have no problem laying down if re-raised. If you steal with 82o and get re-raised, its an easy laydown. If you do it with A9s, its going to be a tougher decision.

Good luck

Chris

[Lottery Larry]

thanks for the advice. one thing i have faced is people reraising me when i raise for smaller amounts. do i always have to have a raise big or fold mentality or look to trap on the flop?

[cferejohn]

I pretty much always raise the same amount, usually 3xBB. If I feel like I am being re-raised alot, than I will stop stealing and wait for something I am willing to call a re-raise with. Note that if you are being re-raised "alot" by a specific player that implies that you are being re-raised with marginal hands. When I feel this is happening, my minimum hand that I will call an all-in reraise with becomes 88 or so (unless they or I am very short, in which case it gets even looser. Of course if I am very short, I probably went all in to begin with).

I have seen others be successful raising the minimum with big pairs. It seems to me this is only good if you also do this with other hands. I don't do this myself, but I try to keep an eye out for players who usually raise 3-4x the BB than suddenly make a minimum raise, especially in EP. If I'm in the BB with a decent hand, I'm usually calling anyway, since I'm getting good odds, but I'm not usually sticking around if I only hit a pair (although possibly if it is coupled with straight/flush draws).

Bear in mind that the advice I'm giving is really just how I play. One of the neat things about NL is that very different styles can be successful (though I think the best players have a couple different styles they can shift between), so what feels 'right' to me might not feel right to you.

Generally, when dealing with very aggressive players remember you're going to have to take a risk. If someone is raising all the time, you probably have the best hand with 99 or AQs, but of course *this* could be the time he has KK. Or this could be the time his K7o outdraws you. It happens. It sucks. It makes you think "did I play that right?". You need to decide for yourself, independent of results, if you did (this board is a great way to reach this decision). If so, put it out of your mind. If not, adjust appropriately.

Hope that made some sense and was of some use. I'm an odd combination of tired (since its 6:30 AM and I haven't slept) and confident (since the reason I am up this "late" is that I just won a $50 NL tournament on Stars (63 players).