Players using my style against me

[beekeeper]

Everyone at my local game (correctly) figures me for a player capable of laying down big hands when I think I'm beat. They also assume (incorrectly) that I always play my big pairs fast preflop. These 2 reads on me have gotten me in trouble on the river a couple of times lately in our weekly tournaments.

On one occassion I held pocket Jacks which I bet strongly on each round, then an Ace fell on the river. I was pretty sure that my opponent had KQ, but he moved all in, putting me all in. I folded.

Later, I had AK, paired my king on the flop, bet aggressively, and caught an Ace on the river, giving me top two pairs. The same opponent pushed all in and I called. He had QJ (turn card was a 10) for a straight. At each point in the hand I greatly overbet the pot, trying to push this player out.

I read on Caro's sight that you should sometimes call with top pair on the river when the board is scary just so other players know you are willing to. Does that work? How do I choose the moment to do something like this? Can I exploit my opponents' assumptions about my play against them (as they are now doing against me?)

Thanks for any help.

[4_2_it]

Since this is your local game and not online or B&M, you need to add some versatility to your game. If your opponents known what your hand is and how you bet it, that is a very bad thing. It is hard to make a specific suggestion since I don't know your playing style, but maybe you should loosen up your starting requirements in late position or play the occasional low suited connectors to make it look like you are gambooling.

My personal favorite is to pick a marginal hand, say 76s, and play it like AK or KK all night. That should add some deception to your game without cramping the style you currently play. I find in my home games it is often more important to keep my opponents off-balance than it is to play 100% ABC poker.

(Full disclosure: My home game is a $20 buy-in with unlimited re-buys. The winner usually makes $100 and the big loser is down $100.)

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]

My personal favorite is to pick a marginal hand, say 76s, and play it like AK or KK all night.

[/ QUOTE ]


This is a great idea. Not only do you get a static way to loosen up that means you're not under/overdoing it, you get pretty strong reinforcement going on if they see 76s a coupla times, its much more memorable than say a 76s here, a T9s there, a 54s elsewhere.

[fnord_too]

[ QUOTE ]
At each point in the hand I greatly overbet the pot, trying to push this player out.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll just comment on this line.

I never overbet the pot in tournies unless I am pushing. When you overbet to get someone to fold a worse hand, you are making a fundamentaly error. If you have the most equity, your bet should be big enough to make the other person's call incorrect. In the case where you know the other person is a significant dog to win the hand at showdown, then overbetting is correct if you expect a call. To overbet and hope for a worse hand to fold belies a misconception about the game you need to fix.

Another problem with overbetting: any time you make non standard bets or raises, you leak information. If you tend to protect your good, but not great hands with overbets, and only those hands, you tell anyone who is listening what you have. Couple that with the fact that they know you can lay down one of those hands, and you are just asking to be put to tough decisions. As long as no one is playing back, my bets (and pre-flop raises) are roughly the same size. I usually bet between 2/3 and 3/4 pot, but in multiway pots and unraised pots sometimes bet 1/2 pot and in very small pots sometimes pot it on the flop. This ensures that the most comon draws are not getting the right price to chase (assuming I correctly lay down when they hit, but don't fold too many winners on scare cards) and gives me a lot of cover. The real decision for me is bet or check, and if bet into, call fold or raise, the same as if I was playing limit. (Ok, with raising my bet size has more variance, but not much more).

I'll also comment quickly on calling on the river: There is no easy answer to calling on the river in position with top pair. Bets that don't threaten your stack too much are certainly easier to call than those that do threaten your stack. One big question to ask is "Does that bet make sense?" Let me give you an example:
You have AK and open from late position, the big blind calls.
Flop comes 3 8 K with two clubs. Check bet call.
Turn comes off suit 9. Check bet calls.
River comes off suit 2, the pot is now say 600, and you and BB have 1200 left. BB suddenly pushes for 1200. WTH? Why does he wake up on a blank river and push for twice the size of the pot? If he had a monster and was afraid of you checking, why would he make a bet that will get you to fold a lot of hands? This bet looks an awful lot like a desperation bluff from a missed draw. It is pretty suspicious, and usually when a bet does not make sense, calling should get more weight. There are players who, if they know you can read hands, will do things like this occasionally with big hands to fake a bluff, but you will quickly figure out who those people are. Or maybe villain has 22, spiked his set on the river and got excited and made a silly bet; again, you will be able to figure out the people who would only bet here with a strong hand. Once you snap off a few bluffs though, be advised that people will try to bluff you less, so that should influence how you read hands.

Hand reading is dynamic and can be very difficult, the trick is to make your hands harder to read so that your opponents have to play more straight forwardly since they have no idea where you are at in the hand.

[bkholdem]

23s is AA whenever I get it.

[beekeeper]

[ QUOTE ]

Hand reading is dynamic and can be very difficult, the trick is to make your hands harder to read so that your opponents have to play more straight forwardly since they have no idea where you are at in the hand.

[/ QUOTE ]


Great insight--your complete analysis is very useful.

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback. I have a better sense of direction now.

[Kirkrrr]

"...make your hands harder to read so that your opponents have to play more straight forwardly since they have no idea where you are at in the hand."
- I'd say that that is HUGE. If by the end of the session you haven't heard anyone exclaim - I can't believe you did ... with .... hand!!! - your play is too static. There 's absolutely no reason not to raise 45s or TJo on the button if your opponents are playing very tight and giving up their blinds with ease.

There's something you have to keep in mind at all times besides what you have - what do THEY think you have, and play accordingly. If I open-raised in CO with 8,Ts, got called by the SB who I know is an average player, and the flop comes A, J, 3r, well, looks like you have AK, doesn't it? Bet the flop and if called and checked to on a blank turn, pot it again. The number of times their cards will fly into the muck more than compensates for the few times you will run int a legitimate hand.

This is a volatile strategy that should only be used situationally and against certain players (by no means all). But if you don't introduce a concept of randomness into your play, life will become very difficult.

Kirk