This one jack-monkey keeps stealing my blinds in draw poker

[DavidC]

Hey guys.

I play draw poker on paradise sometimes, mostly to relax. This is a really cool game, because it's 5-max players, with a button and blinds, no antes, you can draw any amount of cards you want (to 5), and there's no bug in play.

The 5-max players and the no opening requirements turns this into a neat game of poker. The rest of the rules are kinda incidental. If it was pot/no-limit, that would be a cool game indeed.

--

Anyways, some jack-monkey has been stealing my blinds for like 20-25 minutes now (33 hands).

He raises almost automatically whenever it's folded to him in the small blind or the button. It doesn't help that the guy to my left is pretty weak with his blinds too. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Problem is that I have no formal training in draw poker, and the probabilities are much more complex than holdem. I don't know what kinds of hands I need to play back at this guy, and what sort of payout he needs in order for it to be correct for him to bet every time.

Anyways, this aggression will not go unanswered, and I think he's going to have a tough time putting me on a bluff if I play back at him, so I don't really need cards, but it's getting on my nerves and I've found a hole in my game.

How do you guys handle this situation?

--Dave.

He hasn't had to show down any hands in these situations, and when you muck on paradise you don't get to see the hands until you request them via email. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Tom Bayes]

Well, in draw poker it's almost always correct to come in for a raise whenever you are the first one in a pot, particularly if the "jack-monkey" sees that the blinds are very apt to fold.

You should read this:
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_maga...13&m_id=69

It's a good article by Mike Wiesenberg about strategy for the Paradise draw game, although some feel it's too tight. Wiesenberg's basic strategy will be assuming raisers in front of you have a legitimate hand and you'll have to tweak the advice if you suspect a thief.

If you really think the "jack-monkey" is trying to run you over, then you'll have to lower your calling standards, if for no other reason than that you eventually need to see some of his hands so you can figure out if he's catching a rush of cards or is stealing from you with jack-high. Once you can figure out what his raising standards are, then you'll know whether a pair of kings is something you should lay down, call, or 3-bet him with. He might very well be the type that will raise with any pair and any come hand on the button.

Another option is to switch tables to get away from the aggro button, but keep watching this table to figure this guy out for future reference.

[CrAzY CaRo]

Yo David... Thats the thing you have to deal with until #1 you call a few hands and figure out what he is raisin yer bb with or #2 get the cards and re-raise him, a few times of him getting snapped will usually stop it. or...lol... 3 raise him and when he folds show a bluff and tell him to stop stealin. Some players that belong to "groups" raise it with as low as 66 and AK. If thats the case then you know what to do. Enjoy! [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <--- dont ya love it?

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, in draw poker it's almost always correct to come in for a raise whenever you are the first one in a pot, particularly if the "jack-monkey" sees that the blinds are very apt to fold.

You should read this:
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_maga...13&m_id=69

It's a good article by Mike Wiesenberg about strategy for the Paradise draw game, although some feel it's too tight. Wiesenberg's basic strategy will be assuming raisers in front of you have a legitimate hand and you'll have to tweak the advice if you suspect a thief.

If you really think the "jack-monkey" is trying to run you over, then you'll have to lower your calling standards, if for no other reason than that you eventually need to see some of his hands so you can figure out if he's catching a rush of cards or is stealing from you with jack-high. Once you can figure out what his raising standards are, then you'll know whether a pair of kings is something you should lay down, call, or 3-bet him with. He might very well be the type that will raise with any pair and any come hand on the button.

Another option is to switch tables to get away from the aggro button, but keep watching this table to figure this guy out for future reference.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, what's with all the quotations? "Jack-Monkey" is a cool term I'm trying to spread. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for the information, though, this is good stuff!

I don't really play the game seriously enough to develop a read on specific players for future use (particularly at the $1/$2 level, and I don't feel like abandoning ship just because some dork to my right (best spot for him) is being a bully. It's mostly for fun and education that I'm playing this anyways. The $1/$2 game is SO beatable on that site. Problem is that I can't seem to play multitable adequately there.

I'll give this a read, and see what I think.

Thanks again.

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
Yo David... Thats the thing you have to deal with until #1 you call a few hands and figure out what he is raisin yer bb with or #2 get the cards and re-raise him, a few times of him getting snapped will usually stop it. or...lol... 3 raise him and when he folds show a bluff and tell him to stop stealin. Some players that belong to "groups" raise it with as low as 66 and AK. If thats the case then you know what to do. Enjoy! [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <--- dont ya love it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Neat advice. I don't really know if I should ever show bluffs. With 5 guys on the table, bluffs seem to be working quite a bit and I'd like to be able to do it as often as possible (this guy sure was).

--Dave.

[CrAzY CaRo]

Well....good luck with the bluffs...lol

[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]