Super Aggressive

OMG I’m so stressed. I played the hardest heads up and possibly the hardest player ever. I didn’t know what to do with him.

He basically called every bet I made… if I didn’t bet he’d bet. Sometimes when I raised he’d call or reraise.

In the heads up, he had twice the chips I had so I didn’t feel like I could make any mistakes or take any chances. I hovered for a while on the same amount, winning a hand every so often but then I had to quit, I couldn’t take it and I was going nowhere.

Has anyone been in a situation like this or played a player like this? If so what can you possibly do to beat him?

Originally Posted by JoschMH

He basically called every bet I made…

We call those fish. Is this tourny or cash? In a shortstacked tournament youre going to have to take a stand with a resonable hand. In a cash game just camp for good hands as you would in any game filled with people who will "call all of your bets".

If he bets when ever you check and calls whenever you bet it's a very easy solution really.

I'd bet my medium-strength hands and c/r my bigger hands.

I wouldn't call him a fish. I mean it worked, he won. I lost my cool (which was my bad) but the pots he won far outweighed the pots he lost and I don't know how I could've changed that.

The problem was heads up. The blinds became big and like I said, he had twice the stack I had so there was no room for error. And you know how 2/3 of the time you have nothing (I think that's right) so that 1/3 of the time I'd normally have middle or bottom pair. So I'd bet something... he'd call and I'd become defensive. Now if I check, he bets and I don't know where I stand. If I bet again... I have to bet at least 2/3 of the pot otherwise a small bet would look weak and he might be tempted to make a move on me. Even if he did only call I'd have the same problem on 5th street. The whole time he could have me beat with middle or top pair or better. And if that's not bad enough... everytime he calls my bottom or middle pair is likely to become weaker and weaker. A flush card will fall or an overcard will fall or something and if he didn't have me beat before, he probably does now.

So what do I do? Be the aggressor and let him catch anyway? Play it slow and let him bet me out of the pot? I don't see anyway out of it...

Don't play scared.

what are the stack sizes? It makes a big difference. If they are short enough then it is correct to shove almost every hand.

It sounds like tourny, but he also said he gave up, so it sounds like he just left.

Either way, if you have nothing 2/3 of the time and something 1/3 of the time, then he also has nothign 2/3 of the time. So don't be scared off if a flush or straight card comes, chances are he doesn't have it.

When it is heads up the chances of flushes and straights are quite a bit smaller (I think), because there are only two people in the pot.

Also, if it is a tourny, the blinds are getting big and he has you outchipped by a lot, you have to pick a hand, make a move and hope to get lucky.

If he is calling you every time on the flop when you have something and bet, just go all in if you think you are ahead.


Dont let him push you around just because he has a lot more chips. If you fold every hand, you have 0% chance of winning. So even if you go all in with the worst hand you can think of, your chances are higher.


Also, if you have middle pair and he has two overcards, you have 5 cards that make you two pair of three of a kind, where he has 6 cards to make one pair. So really you are goign to improve almost as often as he does.


Hope some of this makes sense, I've been up all night studying for an exam.

Originally Posted by shazbox

Don't play scared.

I thougt the same thing...

Sounds like he adjusted to your super aggro quite well. If you bet too much and too many chips, eventually he's going to hang you. Plus, he loose calls might lead you to tilt/bet bigger on later streets, which is when he gets you when he's ahead

To combat these guys, you need to be selectively aggro, play in position, bet more on flop and turn and avoid big bets on river when you don't know where you are at in the hand. ie, check call rivers sometimes.

The opponent you described is very very hard to beat if he knows when to laydown hands.

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

I'd bet my medium-strength hands and c/r my bigger hands.

Sounds like a great way to blow him out of the pot with your best hands.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

I'd bet my medium-strength hands and c/r my bigger hands.

Sounds like a great way to blow him out of the pot with your best hands.

sounds like he didn't fold much sir henry

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

sounds like he didn't fold much sir henry

Unclear, he's certainly giving action on the cheap streets. When the big money comes into play you're giving up way too much if he's capable of laying down.

You see this all the time in HU SnGs, particuarly $20 and under.

My game plan here is to give up small pots, throw him bread crumbs because he's made himself pretty much unbeatable at small ball. Fold trash pre-flop, check/fold hopeless flops. Then I'll find a spot with with some equity and run a nuts line. Bet/Bet/Bet and Bet/Check/Raise both work, preferably all-in to make sure you're getting in the last word. You need to put in a bet he can't call without a hand and can't be too picky about what spot otherwise you will get robbed blind. You might look silly if he catches better than you, but his style forces you to give him action.

After playing a couple big pots, he will probably re-adjust in small pots unless he's a total idiot. So I would start mixing a little small ball back into my game.

The key here is that unless he's making some pretty absurd big money calls, you can't just play your hand and need to play back at his style.

In theory, if you're heads up, you have 50% equity on pretty much every hand, against people that like to play extremely aggressively, just show them that you're willing to show down with any two and then they have to resort to betting their good hands, then they become transparrent