If you begin to play a lot of online $1-$2 6-max, you will soon reach an unsatisfactory conclusion. The games are somewhat challenging. On a website with 50 games running at once, you might discover two or four with two terrible players. These good games frequently have mile-long waiting lines. The majority of the games will have solid players or only one terrible player. You’ll frequently find yourself in games with four or five opponents who are either nits, TAGs, or competent LAG.
Work hard, and you’ll get an advantage over these regulars. You’ll make effective bluffs and value bets that your opponents will miss. However, these edges alone will result in a moderate winrate. To truly destroy the game, you must locate and dominate the terrible players.
The initial step is to position the terrible player to your right. Your goal is to play as many pots as possible with this guy while maintaining position. Assume a table has an available seat with a weak player on its left and four solid regulars in the others. This game isn’t fantastic. The regulars have a higher chance of getting the money from the weak spot than you will. If the guy looks terrible and has a $400 stack, sit. However, if he’s simply a regular wet noodle with a typical stack, you can look for a better opportunity elsewhere.
Put the identical person to the right of the open seat, and you should be able to join the game. If the weak location is in one of the three seats opposite the open seat, the table will be marginal but playable. Just keep the lobby open and hunt for stronger games.
When you have a bad player on your right, you want to play as many pots as possible with them, and they should be larger than the usual pot. The more and larger pots you play with position, the more money you’ll get on average from the terrible player.
When your target enters the pot in front of you, reduce your preflop criteria and raise to try to win the hand heads-up. From there, you use your location and hand reading skills to take advantage of your target’s blunders.
Most decent gamers understand that they can isolate bad players to make more money. However, few people understand how far you should go to maximize your profits from terrible players. If we did our job in this part, you’ll read some of these cases and think, “Wow, that’s crazy.” And they’d be crazy if your opponents were prepared to exploit your strategy. But that’s the point—if you’ve chosen the correct targets, your opponents will be unable to defend themselves, leaving you with the money.
Isolation In Practice
A poor 64/3 player sits directly to your right. Your goal is to play as many pots as possible against him while being reasonable. Heads-up pots with position are perfect. This type of opponent is easier to influence, therefore you should take full advantage.
Here are examples from one orbit in a 6-handed $1-$2 game:
$200 in effective stacks. Your remaining four opponents are typical regulars, ranging from TAG to nit.
Example 1
The first two players fold, and the weaker player limps to the cutoff. You have A♥ 7♠ on the button.
This is a simple increase. Ace-seven offsuit is not a strong hand, and if a solid 20/18 opponent open-raised from the cutoff, you may fold. However, here is what a 64 percent preflop range looks like:
- 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+
- 98s-54s, 97s-64s, 96s-74s, 95s-84s
- A2o+, K2o+, Q7o+, J7o+, T7o+, 98o-54o, 97o-75o
You have a lot of pot equity, and you have position. A decent raise will usually result in the blinds folding out and, in some cases, winning the pot altogether. At the very least, you will usually win the pot against the weaker player. Go ahead and raise the pot to isolate.
You raise to $9 and just the cutoff responds. The flop comes.
K♠ 3♥ 2♦. Your opponent checks.
Once again, you should continue to attack. A stake of two-thirds of the pot or the entire pot is frequently successful.
You wager $20, and your opponent folds.
Example 2
The guy under the gun folds, while the weak player raises to $4 during the hijack. You are the next to act, with K♣ 8♣.
Your hand is good enough to play against the loose player, especially in position. Be aggressive! Three-bet between $10 and $14. This will gain control of the hand, frequently isolate the weak player, and occasionally win the pot outright. It also forces your other opponents to reduce their ranges. For example, if a 17/14 player in the large blind reraises your 3-bet, he almost always has a high-quality hand. And if he flat calls your three-bet, he probably has a good hand.
You raise to $12, and only the weaker player calls. The flop comes.
Q ♦8♦4♣ . He checks.
You only have middle pair and a backdoor flush draw, but you probably have the best hand. Bet on value. Your opponent will frequently call with all kinds of rubbish.
You put $15 in the $27 pot. That’s slightly more than half the pot, which is fine in this case. Your hand isn’t terrific, and you’re fine with keeping the pot small for the time being. Consistently changing your bet sizes dependent on hand strength is poor against skilled opponents, but it’s a good strategy versus weak players. Weak opponents frequently do not consider your hand, let alone your range of hands, while making a decision.
Your opponent calls for $15. The turn is the 6♥, so he checks.
Bet again. You probably still have the best hand. Sure, your opponent may have a timidly played queen, pocket nines, or another hand that beats you. But it’s more likely that he holds a low pair, ace-high, flush draw, gutshot, or another weak hand. Even if he has you beat, you often have five outs.
You bet $32 and your opponent folds.
Example 3
The weak player opens for a $4 minimum raise, this time under the gun. You are the next to act with J♠7♠.
Like the previous hand, this is a scenario in which many players in your position would fold. However, there is an ideal position for another tiny isolation 3-bet. You make it $12, and only the weakest player calls.
The flop shows A♥ 9♣ 5♦. Your opponent checks and you c-bet.
$18 goes into the $27 pot. He check-minraises to $36.
Here, you should fold. Your passive opponent is displaying aggression with an ace-high flop. This is the type of player who can play any ace. Attempting a rebuff would be a poor idea. Part of playing a loose-aggressive style is folding well in situations where you are being played back at. Continuing further in this hand would result in spilling.
You fold.
Example 4
You are under the gun with Q ♥8♥.
Your main strategy is to aggressively isolate the weak player and play as many pots as possible against him. But here, you should fold. Your hand is weak, you are the first to act, you are preparing for the initial raise, you have the entire field behind you, and you have been aggressive in the last three hands you have played. Low fold equity plus low showdown equity equals fold.
You fold.
Example 5
Everyone folds to the weak player in the small blind, who finishes. You hold K ♦6♠ in the large blind.
At this point, you have a guaranteed spot in a heads-up pot versus the weaker player. In this case, a king-size offsuit is more than adequate. Continue with your standard strategy of raising preflop and c-betting the flop. A pot-sized preflop raise here would be $6. You can do a little more than that.
You raise to $8, and the weaker player calls. The flop comes.
5♥ 5♣ 3♦. He checks, and you wager $11. He folds.
Example 6
The first three players fold, and the weaker player limps to the button. You are the next to act, with 5♦5♥ in the small blind. The large blind is 15/12 regular.
A lot of players just finish here, hoping for a cheap flip. But raising is vastly superior. You can still win by having the greatest hand, but you significantly boost your steal potential. The big blind is likely to fold, leaving you heads-up with the weak player. Even if you don’t have position, you’re likely to win the pot. Plus, while a larger preflop pot reduces your implied odds of making a hand, it makes it simpler to win your opponent’s stack when you flop a set.
You raise to $8. The huge blind, surprise, calls, as does the button. The flop is J♣ 9♦5♣, indicating bottom set.
You should play this hand aggressively. You’ve recently demonstrated a lot of aggression, so there’s no reason to calm down now that you have a powerful hand. Overadjusting is one of the most prevalent blunders made by inferior opponents. If they see you bluff or simply play aggressively, they assume you are always bluffing and will not hesitate to call you down lightly. Take advantage of this tendency by value betting aggressively. A flop like this connects with a variety of hands.
You wager $25 on the $24 pot. The large blind folds and the button calls. The current turn is 4♣. The possibility of a flush should not deter you. There are numerous non-flush hands inside your opponent’s range. And even if he has a flush, you have ten chances to beat him.
You put $75 in the $74 pot. Your opponent makes a call. The river is named the J♠. You shove for the last $92. The weak player calls, and you beat his Q♣ 9♠.
Most players, including winning regulars, do not take full advantage of high equity scenarios against weak opponents. We encourage beating up on them whenever possible. To profit from weak opponents, widen your range, isolate, strive for heads-up pots with position, steal when possible, usually fold when pushed back, and value bet aggressively. This unrelenting tactic will frustrate your opponents and encourage them to play even worse. And it shuts out the other players at the table, allowing you to keep the most of the riches.
Here are some further examples of awful players.
Hand Against A Maniac
In a six-handed $1-$2 game, the player under the gun bets $7. He is a loose gun, with 76/52 stats and a 3-bet percentage of 20. The following three players fold, leaving you in the small blind with Q♣ J♦. The large blind is 26/7, with a three-bet percentage of 3. The under-the-gun player has $106. The huge blind is $200, and you each have it. What should you do?
Queen-jack is too strong a hand to fold against the initial raiser’s range. Re-raising is an option. You are likely to get the pot heads up, which is ideal for an offsuit large card hand. On the other hand, 3-betting is unlikely to win the preflop pot outright against such a loose opponent. It also reopens betting, which is not ideal in this situation. Your opponent is so aggressive that he could 4-bet you with a rather large range. And his 50bb stack size makes it just hard enough that you don’t want to fold to a 4-bet, nor do you want to call it. Getting all-in preflop here isn’t bad at all. If you reraise and he 4-bets, you probably have enough equity to go all in. But you’re basically flipping coins. There’s probably a better way to play this hand.
Flat calling the preflop raise is a viable choice. The huge blind is a bit of a wet noodle—loose but not aggressive. Since you don’t have much steal equity, you might as well allow him in. He’ll probably call the extra $5 with a rather broad range. Playing purely to make the best hand in a multiway pot with queen-jack offsuit is normally a bad approach, but here it is acceptable. You only have two opponents: one is loose and passive, while the other is incredibly loose with a half stack. You will usually have no trouble playing following the flop.
You call the $7 and the big blind calls. The flop: K♣ J♥ 5♦. You check to see what happens and to allow the aggressive preflop raiser to place a likely c-bet. The huge blind checks, and the loose cannon puts $18 into the $21 pot. With only $81 remaining in his stack, you should bet against him. Even though you only hold second pair, you dominate his range by raising preflop and c-betting on the flop.
However, raising the flip makes no sense. Getting the money in fast usually offers more advantages against drawing hands than against made hands. People call massive river bets with made hands, not blown draws. Charging created hands is less urgent than charging draws. Because this board is quite dry, you won’t often be up against a draw, so there’s no need to put your money in.
Calling also lets you see what the large blind does. If he checkraises, you should probably fold. And you want to offer the aggressive player rope so he may hang himself. Calling the flop and checking the turn earns more money than raising the flop.
You call the $18 and the large blind flaps. The turn is 3♣. You check again, and your opponent moves all-in for $81 into the $57 pot. It’s an overbet, and you only have a second pair. Nonetheless, you should make a call. You made your decision on the last street, and there is no reason to change it now. One of the greatest blunders you can make when facing hyper-aggressive opponents is to accumulate large pots on early streets only to fold later. While your opponent may have a king or another hand that destroys you, he may also have pocket eights, ace-ten, six-five, ten-nine, or any flush draw.
Value Betting Against A Weak Player
A loose and ineffective player in the cutoff open limps. The button and small blind fold, and you make $10 in the big blind with J♥ J♠. The cutoff calls.
The flop shows A♦A♠ 7♣. You check. Giving a free card won’t damage you much if you’re ahead. You also believe that if you check the flop, this guy will be considerably more likely to give you action with a weaker hand. He will occasionally bluff the flip, and if he checks the flop, he may get bound to his hand if he pulls up a poor pair or draw on the turn.
The cutoff checks from behind. The turn is A♣. You bet $20. You expect him to call with a pocket pair or seven, a flush draw, or maybe king high. With the case, he might call or raise. He calls.
The river is Q♠. You put $50 in the $60 pot. Your opponent goes all-in, and you fold.
The river bet is the key play in this hand. Many players would check, assuming that an overcard had struck the river and that they were either behind or would not be called by a worse hand. However, you should bet against a loose and terrible player.
After the turn, his range includes the case ace, any pocket pair, any seven, and numerous king-high hands. You are way ahead of his turn-calling range. He will call the river with the majority of the hands he used on the turn. The only hands in his range that improved enough to beat you were king-queen and queen-seven, as well as any random queen-high hands he may have peeled on the turn.
Because you were well ahead of his turn calling range, you are also considerably ahead of his river calling range, making betting the wisest option. (Checking is preferable if he bets more lost hands than he calls, which is improbable in this instance.)
Once he raises all-in, you have a relatively simple fold. The way you’ve played the hand, you could have the case ace, so a bluff here is unlikely enough that you don’t have the odds to call.
Opening Light With A Bad Player In The Blinds
You’re the first to act. Stacks are 100bb. The small blind is home to the table’s worst player. He plays 80 percent of his hands horribly.
You possess Q ♦T ♠. Under normal conditions, this hand is too feeble to open the pistol. However, you should establish a routine open-raise here. Against a loose and bad player, each hand becomes more profitable. Under normal conditions, marginal hands such as QT are losers but become worthwhile to play. If the bad player calls with 80 percent of his hands, QT will play well against his range.
If the bad player has position on you, there is less need to play marginal hands. However, when the terrible player is in the blinds, opening somewhat lighter than normal is a no-brainer.
T7s Flop Semibluff
You’re the first to act. Stacks are 100bb. The small blind is home to the table’s worst player. He plays 80 percent of his hands horribly.
You possess Q ♦T ♠. Under normal conditions, this hand is too feeble to open the pistol. However, you should establish a routine open-raise here. Against a loose and bad player, each hand becomes more profitable. Under normal conditions, marginal hands such as QT are losers but become worthwhile to play. If the bad player calls with 80 percent of his hands, QT will play well against his range.
If the bad player has position on you, there is less need to play marginal hands. However, when the terrible player is in the blinds, opening somewhat lighter than normal is a no-brainer.
