Home game tonight, how do I counter aggressive play?

Okay, so I've got a home game tonight I'm playing with some friends. It's a sit and go NL with blinds, buy in's $10 and usually everyone gets 1000 in chips.

My general play style is tight-aggressive. It could be up to 7 or so players for this game. At least two of the players are very aggressive and I know that they bluff me out of pots often when I hold a marginal hand and have limped into the pot or even called a small raise on the flop cause I was chasing something. Again, I usually play tight and try to trap them and slow play when I hold something good, but I often get unlucky and they hit their draw or something to that effect. If I don't slow play and I end up playing aggressive when I have something, they fold to my raise. Also, more than half the time when I bluff I get called even when it seems as though they have a weak hand and it comes to a show down or they push me out of the pot and it's become unprofitable to do any bluffing.

My plan right now is to stick to tight aggressive and just push hard when I have the best hand and push the draws out of the pot but then I either don't win much on the pots or I have to wait for the rare hand when they can't lay it down and I get paid off. Either way it's slow going and I can't limp in with anything but a good hand because the pot is always raised pre-flop.

Any suggestions as how to counter play this aggressive style?

Thanks.

We play a home game S&G and the problem I have is that I transfer my standard online style to the home game. It doesn't work and here's why: online you can play a hand every 30-45 seconds, that means for a given level you can play 20 hands. In a home game, the pace is about half that. That means a home game with the same blinds schedule only sees half the hands. It works more like a turbo S&G. In this situation you MUST be more aggressive or you WILL get blinded out. You MUST take advantage of the lower blinds early on to see more flops and you must push to steal pots. If you sit back and wait for one of the top 5 hands you will not win this game.

Dimitri ... interesting comparison. Never thought about it that way.

Play tight passive when they assume control of a hand on draw free boards where you feel your hand is best. This is where you make your money. Phil Helmuth was talking about his heads up match up with Antonio The Magician Esfandiari. The Magician is hyper aggressive heads up. Helmuth simply allowed the magician to do his betting for him.

You give aggressive players a false sense of control on boards that have less chance to spike you on late streets, and you have a strong hand. You make money by smooth calling to give no info away.

That's draw free boards. If you believe you have the best hand on a coordinating board where THEY might be drawing then push when they throw a bet in. Don't raise, just PUSH. Sometimes you are forced to coinflip these guys when ahead. It's the nature of aggressive action. Just make sure you are almost certain your hand is best.

Play your tight aggressive style when you are the one in control of a hand. Switch gears when they assume control to tight passive.

Here's another thing. If you get a good chip lead, then check raise one of these guys when they try to steal a pot where you both missed the flop. Make sure you have a good high card for showdown. If they re-raise then fold. If they fold then show them your cards. Make sure the next time you do the same thing you have a hand and you may bust them. Aggressive players hate being bluffed. IT TILTS THEM

Of course the best thing to do is get a read. Observe how they act when they have a hand vs when they're stealing pots. Know the difference and put them to tough decisions.

I notice a lot of very aggressive players will check the nuts and bet with nothing. Find out if one or both of these guys act this way. If that's the case then it's very easy to bust them. When they bet big they aren't strong. Sometimes it's as simple as that.

It makes you mad when they steal a pot, but you shouldn't care because they will bleed when you hit a flop. As long as you're not bleeding by trying to be sherriff to their bluffs, then you have a great chance to beat them.

Don't be sherriff, and Good luck.

there is one big rule for home games: dont look at the cards, look at the other players - its all about psychology.

i play home games at a regular basis and learned to read the other players quite well.

home games are much more difficult to play then online games, where u have to make decisions on maths or play style. u now have to consider other things. if you do this right u will be a constant winner

If your bluffs aren´t working - try to examine yourself. are u playing with your chips? is your voice different? do you chat more or less?

eg. my girlfriend reads me every time cause i start to use some parts of face when i hit something - i rarely win an heads-up against her

Greets,
jsmu

Thanks for those tips, I wrote the third poster's tips on a sticky and the 4th poster's tips about examining myself I've already started to do by myself with a deck of cards when I look to see what my hole cards are and if someone would look close enough they'd see a tell. Trying to break the habit but it's tough going.

I've often been called on a bluff by one of the aggressive player's and when they call they'll comment: "I smell weakness"

How do you guys usually make the most inconspicuous and least kenetic bluff? Like where are your eyes when you bluff, how do you say "raise" ?

I guess I should just look at how I raise when I'm strong and do the same, huh?

As somebody already stated, playing passive vs. a poker bully can work well. Don't be afraid to check-call your legitimate (but not super poweful) hands post-flop and let them do the betting for you. Nothing drives an aggressive player crazy faster than being called down on every street by a better hand. "If you had played back at me even once, I'd had known to get away from that hand!" The check-call is a great weapon vs. aggros.

Th e other way to go is to try and fight fire with fire....playing back at them with nothing when you think they are making a move at the pot. This is riskier and takes some good reads to know when a raise or check-raise with nothing vs. a certain opponent on a certain flop is +EV.

I forget to post a really good hint: I try to comment flops from time to time with this sentence: "Wow, i hit the full" and get a happy face - even if its not possible that u have People will call or raise u - so fold it if u have nothing. if you have done this a couple of times this will became a habit and u can get huge pots if u really hit the flop and they wont be able to read u "Hey jsmu hit that flop again - raise"

It works well for me so feel free to try it for yourself.

To answer the question about how to bluff: Yes, keeping consistant with what you do when you have a real hand is important. I try to do that, but I also LOVE reverse tells vs. people who are in the know. Against people who I know are knowledgeable about common tells I do things like "Oh, damn...I hate to do this...I guess I'll go all-in". They then think it's the classic Looking Weak when Strong tell and fold their hand as quick as they can. You can only get away with this trick so many times before a good player catches on, but damn it is fun when it works. I've also faked a shaking hand before to simulate strength vs. a knowledgeable player. Looking at your chips immediately post-flop is another reverse tell you can try before bluffing since it is supposed to indicate you hit the flop to a attentive player.

If you aren't up for the psychology battle of reverse tells, just try and be consistant all the time and always bet/raise the same way.

What's faking a shake hand?

A shaking hand, fidgeting, or excitement in the voice are all tells of a monster hand.

Thanks. I have a friend I play against that is extremely readable and bluffable when he has anything but the nuts and yet he seems to make it to 2nd place the majority of the time and hits the money in our SnGs...

I'd say it's cause he's playing extremely tight and some people are forced to call when he raises huge cause of their hand but it's so obvious when he has a hand.

Any tips as how to hurt this type of player? He's tight passive until he gets the nuts then he's the all-in type. I guess I could whenever i get him isolated bet small getting some of his chips in the pot then overbet to scare him away, chipping away at his stack. That and just reading him and knowing when to fold and bluff him are the only things I can think of atm.

Tight passives are the easiest to outplay for me. I just stay the heck out of their way when they bet/raise, and if I'm isolated in a pot with just them I am always looking to steal the pot to any sign of weakness (if my table image allows for it).

Tight passives tend to do well in a lot of home games that are filled with loose aggressive and loose passive calling station type players...they wait for a hand and just value bet the loose players to death when they pick up a hand. Their style of play can be easily countered though once you get a read on them. Don't call pre-flop raises from a rock unless you've got the goods, and respect their bets/raises post-flop more often than not.

i play mostly home games and i'd say i fit the mold of the "aggro" player. when i decide to play, i put a lot of chips in. rondavu and drnochance hit it on the head. "how dare they bluff me!?" "how dare they check-call and draw out on the river!?"

or just get aggro right back at 'em. reraise preflop. reraise post flop. when you show down with a real hand against 'em, they'll back off a bit.