LAG or Good Player?

[BluffTHIS!]

Regarding a question bset asked in another thread, I am going to discuss profiling players and determining whether someone is just a LAG or a good player. Obviously LAGs come in many different varieties, and as Dr. Al's book The Psychology of Poker says, there isn't just the 4 simple classifications for players, but a grid. And like he said, the semi-lags who choose the right games can be winning players.

We've all seen the hyper-lags who raise almost every hand preflop and bet every flop and chase to the river with any draw and call with anything. They are rare though and usually don't last long unless they're rich. But other LAGs are different. Some will raise a lot preflop but not bet when it misses them, although they're prone to bet if they have any piece or any draw, and are always looking for ways to get other players to fold. Every scare card belongs to them, and they will bet when those cards come, but usually back off if raised and they have no redraws. But they will draw very loose, and to them a 7 high flush draw is the same as the nut flush draw even in a multiway pot. On their good days they can seem unstoppable.

Other LAGs, often called "tricky LAGs", are the types of players you really need to pay attention to and make good notes on. These players will raise with lots of marginal hands and try to steal lots of pots, and are often willing to stack with only a weak draw, especially if they have bet and been raised. But since they are thinking LAGs, they are adept at using their position and often will slowplay if not the player putting in the last raise, or take a free card when appropriate. But they actually tend to bet their good hands more often. And even though they are getting their stack in before the river with inadequate odds to hit their draws usually, all those stolen pots, especially the ones they have raised preflop, give them somewhat of a freeroll to suckout, like the Doyle way in no-limit.

And they also win in a lot of situations because when that scare card comes on the river but doesn't really help them, they are not afraid to put it all in on a bluff. So they steal even more pots. And because of the aggressive way they play, when they actually make a good hand on the flop, many players think they are betting lite again, and give them too much action. Which again adds to their earnings. They are the prime example of the adage that you have to give action to get action. Also, these kinds of players do not tend to be calling stations on the river, although they do have a good sense of when to snap off bluffs.

These types of players also tend to have a lot of table sense, that is, they are very conscious of the recent flow of the game and table dynamics. Sometimes when 2 or more of them are present on the table, the pot averages will be huge. But other times, with the very same players, they will look like the tightest players on the planet. Often this has to do with seating positions relative to other such players who will play back at them with less than the nuts. And they will fold hand after hand, when on a more aggressive table, they would be calling raises with those hands, because they are always looking to play big pots.

One of their primary tactics, especially when there are several deep stacks, is to put in the first raise, even in the blinds, with hands others would never raise with, because their hand will be so disguised. And if they get reraised by AA, well that is fine by them. Because again, they are looking to play big pots. They know that by a combination of hitting a good flop with those hands, stealing pots, and sucking out with weak draws, that they can often come out ahead over time. And they are especially good at taking off the very weakest players.

Determining how good a player one of these is, is difficult and requires lots of observation. And determining how to play against them is often even more difficult. Bad seat position regarding a couple players like these can doom your chances of a winning session, and often the best course is to decline seats until you get one you like relative to them. And you are going to have to have the fortitude to gamble with them and also stick your stack in with a less than stellar hand that nonetheless rates to beat theirs. This is especially true when you have reraised preflop with AA and have only about 1/2 your stack in. Unless and A comes on the flop, they are going to bet in front of you no matter what and also reraise you with any piece or any draw. My default move is simply to get allin when against tighter players I would lay down. But of course tighter players wouldn't call the size of raises relative to theirs or your stack sizes preflop like they do.

But you do have to realize that when they have bet and you raise them with a draw only or something like top and bottom 2 pair, they are rarely folding and will attempt to suck out at all costs. This can often lead to your getting beat by some ugly backdoor hands, even when your read that your non-nut hand was the best on the flop was correct. But you can take all this too far as well and play right into their hands if you give them too much action when they actually have a good hand. You just need to be right more often than not, especially on the bigger pots, to come out ahead long term.

So pay close attention to their hand selection and the types of hands they raise with and bet, and also to the situations where they do not bet or raise. And don't automatically peg all such players as idiots, when a few of them may actually be "good" LAGs. Realize that if you want to play successfully against them with deep stacks, that good hand reading and position, as well as knowledge of equities in situations, is the key to winning their money. And part of this is going to have to be making some pretty tough calls of their bluffs. All of which is higher variance and requires being more conservative with bankroll requirements for playing in such games with such players.