Aggressive players that keep winning...

[JDalla]

I have a recurring problem with a certain player that I often play heads up who is insanely aggressive. The first big losses I attributed to running bad, but at this point I have lost thousands in 10/20 to this guy and I can't figure out what is going wrong.

The guy plays by these guidelines:
1) Cap preflop if I 3-bet, or if I limp raise
2) Cap any draw on the flop and turn, including any gutshot
3) Always bet to a check
4) Showdown A hi or better
5) Bluff a lot (and 3 bet most bluffs if raised).
6) Never limp, raise 95% of starting hands, fold bottom 5%.

The guy literally plays by these guidelines, yet somehow I can't seem to beat him. I've tried limp raising A7+ (he autocaps something like K2o here).

The only explinations I can think of are
1) I've just been running bad against him many times in a row.
2) He wins enough small pots and rivers enough to counteract his massive payouts of every board I hit.
3) He gets paid off really big because of his bluffs?

I could see how (3) is a good situation for him, but I the problem is he never makes laydowns so I get paid off everytime I make a pair and he has Ace high...

Any insight?

[The Truth]

Don't let him run you over, watch the UB 300-600 heads up game side by side with a 3-6 or 5-10 heads up game.

My guess would be you aren't showing down enough against him, and he is probably running real well.

Those 300-600 guys get to showdown.
Go nuts when you flop a pair, and make sure to take extra advantage of your position.


Heads up variance is going to be disgustingly huge. So I am sure it could be well within the realm of variance.
This style is a tough one to deal with. It if he is selective at all with this style, he may be a very strong heads up player.


blake

[Danenania]

What does "thousands" mean? If it's like 2k then it's not a big deal and probably means you're running bad. If it's like 5 or 6k then you may have a problem.

I think if you're actually a loser to him, it's most likely that you play too aggressively postflop and try to resteal from him a lot, instead of just folding when you miss and getting to showdown when you get something with showdown value. Obviously you push for some value too with your stronger hands but getting to SD with the weak ones is the more important thing.

You might also misinterpret his betting patterns--he could be smarter than you think. For example, you might think that because he's maniacal preflop and with draws, that he is also fos on the big streets when this may not be the case. If that were true he could probably make up for his overaggression on the early streets by extracting many BB's from you on the turn and river when he actually has a hand. PF and flop aren't so important in HU play. If he makes you tilt by playing like a maniac early in hands, he may well be employing an optimal strategy against you. Don't know, just speculating.

Something that's been written quite often by some very successful HU players is that it's a waste of time to play tricky loose aggressive players in HU matches. Unless they make predictable postflop errors, you play into their strengths by playing them HU, and you won't have much of an edge. The opponents to look for are the predictable loose passives and those who fold too much.

[The Truth]

[ QUOTE ]

Something that's been written quite often by some very successful HU players is that it's a waste of time to play tricky loose aggressive players in HU matches. Unless they make predictable postflop errors, you play into their strengths by playing them HU, and you won't have much of an edge. The opponents to look for are the predictable loose passives and those who fold too much.

[/ QUOTE ]


Good thoughts, very helpful.


blake

[Nietzsche]

Against this type of player you should not fold very often. But like Danenania said this is not the type you want to play HU. Even if you have an edge it will not be a big one as his style is not far from optimal HU. And the rake is a killer.

[TStoneMBD]

i can play extremely aggressive heads up because i believe alot of players like you have a problem playing against it. alot of people go into a shell and start playing hit or miss. im not going to pay you off when you play hit or miss. at best i might just bet your hand for you. what happens is that i extract value when i have a pair, and you extract the same value when you have a pair. the only difference is that i have folding equity and you dont.

you could play back and try to get the lag to start folding his bluffs so your folding equity improves, but he might retort by playing back at your bluff attempts. if this is the type of player not to spew chips against you then this is probably a good player.

i think against a hyperaggressive player you need to change gears alot. you cant go into a predictable mode because it allows for him to spew as little chips against you as he can. the weakness of playing hyperaggressive is that youre vulnerable to spewing, but not if you know what your opponent is doing at all times.

change gears. start playing back at him relentlessly and then start playing conservative again. this will allow you to get paid off well on your pairs when the lag plays back at you playing back at him. if you arent comfortable with changing gears or you dont know how, then you probably cant beat this guy.

if you start changing gears and the hyperaggressive player retorts by changing gears himself and he rarely spews chips on you, this guy knows what hes doing.