When your friends get mad at you

In addition to playing online I have a weekly, small-stakes game among friends from work that I've played in for more than six months. We have mostly played sit-n-go tournament style with anywhere from 5 to 8. I'm known as the most aggresive person at the table, but I have generally stuck to a SSH approach to the game against them, getting maximum EV for my action.

Recently we decided to start playing some cash games, which is fine for me since that's about all I play online. This week most of the regulars couldn't make it to the game, but two other guys still wanted to play a shorthanded game so they came over to my apartment -- it would be just the three of us. Lately I've been experimenting with a much more aggressive style of play, implementing more of Super Systems into my play. The style is so aggressive that it can cause my opponents to go on tilt very quickly, which is what I want. I profit from their mistakes when that happens, or I bust out real quick. But if I play them pretty well, and know when to give it up when they apparantly have a hand, it works out real well for me.

So here's the situation: I was raising just about every hand (about 80 percent of my hands, 3xbig blind) preflop. When I raise preflop, I reraise the value of the pot on the flop about 90 percent of the time.

Now, both of my friends are pretty tight players, however they tend to chase draws a whole lot for a cheap price. It literally took about three hands for me to get them into full-blown tilt. I would raise preflop 3xBB, one or both of them would call, and I would raise the pot on the flop, thus making them make a decision for their whole stack since they knew calling would mean I would probably set them all in by fifth street.

I was steamrolling them. By about seven or ten hands in I'd doubled up and almost busted one of them. And they were playing right into it. I play this LAG approach shorthanded on purpose to get them to start calling me with weak hands. When I happen to flop something strong, they don't know it since I'd be raising anyway with anything.

Finally one of my friends caught 6-6, I had A-K. Same scenario: I raise preflop, he calls (by this time he understands what I'm doing, and he is shortstack, so I know he is prepared to go all in with what he's got). Flop is rags, I set him all in. He calls and turns over the 6-6. I flip over my A-K. I catch a king on river and he is fuming.

At this point he is saying how my play is stupid, and how we should maybe be playing limit insteat of NL. He says I can't do that, that I shouldn't be allowed to bet that much on one hand. He says that we should have bought in for more than we did if I was gonna bet that much (which doesn't make any sense since I would bet accordingly). He also said we were just friends over to have a few beers and push some chips around, and I shouldn't be playing that way. It got a little heated, and I told him I could play anyway I wanted, that this was NL and I could go all in every hand if I wanted, and that while we are friends, we are all here to try to win.

The othe friend was fuming for a while too, but not as bad because he was able to switch gears and play back at me, and he faired pretty well. Although, my system worked against him too, he just got lucky on two hands that saved him.

On one hand, I flopped the straight. I continued betting aggresively. Now he was playing back at me, but with marginal hands or no hand, which is exactly what I want him to do. I set him all in, and he catches a queen on the river that gives him the same straight that I had. So we split, but he was lucky because he would have been busted then too.

Another hand I had tons of outs on the flop. I bet into him aggresively, and he calls with only ace high. Again, I want him to to this so I can catch even a little hand and bust him. I had him so shaken up that he called me to the river with ace high, but I wasn't able to pick up any of my draws to bust him.

After he took that pot, he wanted to go home with his winnings, so I consented. I still took home a little earnings from my other friend. But I don't think either of them want to play me shorthanded or heads up again, and one is still a little pissed at me.

What do you do when your friends let your friendship get in the way of playing poker?