Playing against an Aggressive Monster Stack

[iv_horsemen]

Hello,

Wondering about people's thoughts on how to play against a very aggressive player with a healthy stack in from of them. I was playing in a tournament where anytime anyone who bet and they played, they would put you all-in. Is my best strategy to play tight and just shove? just feel like I'm playing the lotto poker at that point. Any tips would be great.

iv_horsemen

 

[Luvepoker]

Its hard to play against this type of player. All you can do is pick a hand and hold on. The one thing I would suggest is make sure they are playing as aggressively as you think. If you only have seen them play 30 hands so far they may just be running hot. If you think they are just picking on you it could be just bad timing. The reason I say this, I was playing once when the comment was made how Agro of a player I was and how I was a maniac. We had only played 8 hands so far and I showed down 3 of them. AK KK and QQ. Yes I had been aggressive but with such a small sample size and seeing the hands I had he should have looked at it differently. A few hand latter he was out when I 3bet and he shoved and I had the aces.

As for hands, Pick smart ones. If you are deep stacked you should be less likely to gamble with them. As you get shorter you should pick a quality hand. AK-AJ 77+ with 30BB against this player I would think about going for it. Just make sure they are as loose as you think.

 

[madbeeet]

Firstly, they are not afraid. But also do not lose caution. Large stacks often open up with weak hands, pushing opponents. Personally, I love to double with such)

 

[iv_horsemen]

Its hard to play against this type of player. All you can do is pick a hand and hold on. The one thing I would suggest is make sure they are playing as aggressively as you think. If you only have seen them play 30 hands so far they may just be running hot. If you think they are just picking on you it could be just bad timing. The reason I say this, I was playing once when the comment was made how Agro of a player I was and how I was a maniac. We had only played 8 hands so far and I showed down 3 of them. AK KK and QQ. Yes I had been aggressive but with such a small sample size and seeing the hands I had he should have looked at it differently. A few hand latter he was out when I 3bet and he shoved and I had the aces.

As for hands, Pick smart ones. If you are deep stacked you should be less likely to gamble with them. As you get shorter you should pick a quality hand. AK-AJ 77+ with 30BB against this player I would think about going for it. Just make sure they are as loose as you think.

Running Hot is right and this is definiatly my concern as the player just arrived at the table with a huge stack. And you don't become chip leader for no reason (usually). I tightened up my play right away but did see more than a few show downs and did often have big hands but did see some K9o , Q9s and hitting a boat or a flush. But I suppose having a big stack allows you to play a wider range?

That'sthe range I was trying to play but I found my self getting blinded out and shoved with a tiny pair 44 and was on my way.

iv_horsemen

 

[iv_horsemen]

Firstly, they are not afraid. But also do not lose caution. Large stacks often open up with weak hands, pushing opponents. Personally, I love to double with such)

No not afraid at all! The standard bet was to shove you all-in. I found myself overly cautious Just folding my blinds away. Think I Should have made a play before I did.

iv_horsemen

 

[iv_horsemen]

Do you think that there is a better position to shove from? Better to shove in front and maybe get some fold equity vs just calling an all-in raise.

iv_horsemen

 

[1nsomn1a]

I noticed that often these players are not afraid of all-ins preflop, but much more careful postflop play, so try to see the flop with strong hands, then you can set traps Hyper aggressive opponent when you put all on the flop, be prepared for the fact that the aces does not guarantee victory.

 

[thehangdude]

I love big, aggressive stacked villains with a loose range. If they have position, limp into them. They will raise you, and then you can come over the top or call to slow play. If you have position, use a bit of time, then call. Always let aggressive players take the lead, because they usually will.

But you need a really good hand to play these types, because they seem to get abnormally lucky.

 

[BIGAUS]

If someone with a big stack is keep raising you all-in over the top, you either have to find a hand you like to go all-in with or avoid the player until the situation changes (you get moved to another table, they lose a sizable amount to another player who calls one of there big shoves, etc.).

 

[caracaski220]

caracaski220

The way to spot an aggresive big stack is to wait for a decent hand nad shove over the top. You will get respect from the big stack and he will be carefull against you. HOwever you mentioned something else, that all most players at the table were going all in. Be very aware of position and and decent hand range to go in,. Other wise , just wait for 2 grreat cards

 

[mara2259]

Most likely you are dealing with a maniac who is lucky to collect a good stack. As a rule, these do not last long. You should be patient and only play with premium hands. It is possible that even in this case with 72 he will receive two pair, three or even a full house, but your all-in in this case will be justified.

 

[Csharp123]

Play agains aggressive stack

Best thing is to trap with best hand.

 

[madbeeet]

No not afraid at all! The standard bet was to shove you all-in. I found myself overly cautious Just folding my blinds away. Think I Should have made a play before I did.

iv_horsemen

I'm working on it too) You are not the only one) Being cautious by hearsay, just as badly as too aggressive. Balance bro :fight:

 

[TheSeaWizard]

Haha, I call myself "Monster Stack Wizard" for a reason because I often get a monster stack in an MTT at some point and often rank within the top 5 in chips in the tournament. Resistance against me is futile... mostly.

But seriously speaking, the best way to deal with the chip lead is to mostly avoid him but if you happen to be on the button with a hand like 66+ or AQs+, then when you see the chip lead raise preflop to say 2 to 3 BBs, you could 3-bet 8 BBs at least (preferrably higher) and pump up the aggression when you have a strong hand in position. These players hate to waste their stacks especially when you catch up to them little by little to the point where you put them to a decision for 4/5ths of their stack even though your tournament life is at risk.

 

[iv_horsemen]

I noticed that often these players are not afraid of all-ins preflop, but much more careful postflop play, so try to see the flop with strong hands, then you can set traps Hyper aggressive opponent when you put all on the flop, be prepared for the fact that the aces does not guarantee victory.

Understood. Rarely can anything guarantee a victory. What hand would you shove with post flop? Top pair?

iv_horsemen

 

[iv_horsemen]

If someone with a big stack is keep raising you all-in over the top, you either have to find a hand you like to go all-in with or avoid the player until the situation changes (you get moved to another table, they lose a sizable amount to another player who calls one of there big shoves, etc.).

lol... I found myself praying for a table change.

iv_horsemen

 

[david1bear]

Hello,

Wondering about people's thoughts on how to play against a very aggressive player with a healthy stack in from of them. I was playing in a tournament where anytime anyone who bet and they played, they would put you all-in. Is my best strategy to play tight and just shove? just feel like I'm playing the lotto poker at that point. Any tips would be great.

iv_horsemen

Hey There. It is very hard not to get frustrated with players like that But it is poker and they are just taking advantage of there stack. Now for me I just try to stay mellow and just wait for that right hand were I can push all in. Just good old patients. Now there will be times where they will get lucky and get ya but this is poker and that is the way it goes sometime. Good luck out there and keep grinding

 

[iv_horsemen]

Most likely you are dealing with a maniac who is lucky to collect a good stack. As a rule, these do not last long. You should be patient and only play with premium hands. It is possible that even in this case with 72 he will receive two pair, three or even a full house, but your all-in in this case will be justified.

Patience is key, isn't it? Especially hard when you see what looks like luck at catching hands.

iv_horsemen

 

[fundiver199]

This is the classic "chip bully" situation, and if you are a middling stack near the bubble or on the final table, you do want to stay a little bit out of his way and let someone else walk into the line of fire. After all watching someone else bust is the easiest way to increase your EV in the tournament. Or maybe someone takes a big chunk out of his stack, and this will then usually force him to back off.

That being said when you do need to get involved with the "chip bully", you want to have a stronger range, and you want to give him more room to hang himself. You also want to avoid spots, where you invested a decent amount of chips already, but you are not willing to risk them all. This is just inviting him to take advantage off you. So dont call on the flop for instance, if you know already, that a turn bet is coming 90% of the time, and that 90% of the time you are going to be folding to it.

One way to disarm the chip bully is to be all in. So if for instance you have 16BB and the chip bully behind you, maybe you play push-or-fold poker instead off mini-raising and then folding a lot to his 3-bets. Or you can go for a limp-rejam line with a 25BB stack, if you are SB, and he is BB. If you are the one pushing, he can only beat you by having a hand good enough to call, and he wont get good hands more often than other players.

 

[iv_horsemen]

This is the classic "chip bully" situation, and if you are a middling stack near the bubble or on the final table, you do want to stay a little bit out of his way and let someone else walk into the line of fire. After all watching someone else bust is the easiest way to increase your EV in the tournament. Or maybe someone takes a big chunk out of his stack, and this will then usually force him to back off.

That being said when you do need to get involved with the "chip bully", you want to have a stronger range, and you want to give him more room to hang himself. You also want to avoid spots, where you invested a decent amount of chips already, but you are not willing to risk them all. This is just inviting him to take advantage off you. So dont call on the flop for instance, if you know already, that a turn bet is coming 90% of the time, and that 90% of the time you are going to be folding to it.

One way to disarm the chip bully is to be all in. So if for instance you have 16BB and the chip bully behind you, maybe you play push-or-fold poker instead off mini-raising and then folding a lot to his 3-bets. Or you can go for a limp-rejam line with a 25BB stack, if you are SB, and he is BB. If you are the one pushing, he can only beat you by having a hand good enough to call, and he wont get good hands more often than other players.

I like the note about late tournament play and avoid playing being used as a tactic to increase EV. Smart, I can get caught up in winning hands vs tournament position. Need to see the big picture more.

iv_horsemen