What to do against pre-flop raises?

[John]

I've been struggling to work out a sound strategy against players who like to raise big pre-flop. This is particularly problematic at the beginning of a game, when you have little idea about playing styles and don't fancy risking half your stack on the back of a mediocre hand.

Personally, I find players that insist on raising 8/10 hands to an unreasonable degree can ruin a game, but I suppose it is tactical play of sorts.

My question is, how do you approach these plays? I'm willing to call if I've got a strong hand, but 9 times out of 10 I'm not going to be confident enough to call a huge bet before I've even seen the flop. So far I've tended to duck out and wait for him to take out a number of players at the table, or to get called and lose his stack, though this isn't always practical, especially if the blinds are significant enough to make a dent in your stack.

I like to play hands, but I'm just not willing to go in with half my stack on the back of a low pair.

[duece7off]

I think that you are right to proceed with caution when facing players that feel the need to raise a high number of hands, they are usually the over aggressive players and like you said will meet their doom in all due time. For me when I get up against someone like this I usually will only call them if I have a strong pair, suited connector, or a hand that I have had a lot of good luck with, (everyone has their favorite hand).

[winningedge]

Something else to consider is that you will nail that set with you pocket pairs 1 time in 7, and also, you should think about the type of player he is.. usually the big betters like that are also very aggressive post flop, so consider that if you make the call, you might very well be able to take his entire stack.. if the stack is large enough that you will make more than 7 times the bet or 7 times whayt you'll lose in other similar situations, it may still be worthwile to call in these instances, even though its hard to do. I think in Phil Gordons little green book, he says he will sometimes call up to 5x the blind on a pocket pair

[sbarber77]

I like to see the flop but that gets me into trouble sometimes. I know I should only pay to see the flop if the stakes are low unless I have a really good hand. if I put in too much money I feel pot committed and end up playing for the possibilities. Not good strategy at all. LOL!

[PokerPrincess]

Well my first piece of advice is to always remember... If you don't have a hand that you would raise on pre-flop then you shouldn't be in the hand. There will always be BULLIES at the tables whether in Freerolls or Cash Games. They want to steal all the blinds that they can so they can really bully the table around. You have three choices.

1. Wait for "THE HAND" and go up against him.

2. Wait until someone else takes him out before seeing any flops, unless of course you are bb or sb and he hasn't gone "allin"; or

3. Find another table.

Two things I will say to these people to try to embarass them.

1. "I didn't realize I was playing BINGO tonight I thought it was poker.; or

2. "I'll just wait till you are gone before putting any major money in.

The guys that are doing this don't care if they win or lose they just like to throw their weight around and if you fall for it or anyone else does then it just encourages them.

Hope that helps a bit.

[r8rpwr]

I find that inevitably there are these kinds of players in the games I find myself in. And yes, I agree they can ruin the game; however, they usually don't stick around long enough to make a nuisance of themselves very long.

I will usually fold unless I have a fairly high pocket pair. Better to let the numbskulls hang themselves, then go on and enjoy the game with the serious players who are left. It's amazing how many times I find people going all-in on the very first hand and then I find they don't have crap. So, the few times I've called, I've walked away with their whole stack. But, how often do you start out with a pocket pair? Not too often.

[Rowena105]

You are very right in the fact that they don't usually end up staying very long but some of them seem to get rather lucky and get to stay in the game till past the halfway mark.

I agree very much with what PokerPrincess has to say, especially the get up and change tables in a cash game statement.

[Sabrina]

If I have enough of a chip stack, I also wait for a great hand and then raise his raise. He will either fold or he will call and you will probably beat him....those guys tend to raise even with crap hands...

[AcesCrackedAgain]

I love playing against players like this. If you want to play with only serious players, how much money do you really expect to gain? He's the donkey you're looking for, especially in NL games. I usually take a very cautious approach until I get more of a handle on his/her play. Cautious play is dumping pocket pairs, only playing premium hands. This will also give you a table image of being a very tight player. Once the live one has left the table, you can now take control of the game. Remember, you're table reputation is tight, so now you can steal a pot or 2 from time to time.

[pokerface]

I don't think you can do anything to stop the pre-flop raises. Some people will raise just to keep the pot high. Just make sure you have a good hand before you make the call. It's your money. Play smart and don't be too greedy, you will always come out to be the winner.

[cardologist]

I agree pokerface. I don't think anyone can stop pre-flop raises. Just have to wait for that person's luck to run out and his money all gone, then maybe he won't raise any more. Another thing to try is move to another table, and just hope everyone there is not a big raiser. Good luck in your games.

[ester11]

I think it is a good idea as i believe it a good way to build the pot up and to get around the betting limits when you feel really good about your hand or if you're just feeling adventurous.

[pinnie]

I think everything depends on a what type of a player he is in addition to his very loose pre flop raise range. If he folds his hand to a reraise then do that every now and then almost regardless of your hand. You don't mind him bullying the table if you get his preflop raise amount in money once in two to three rounds. If he 3-bets loosely then you need to be selective with your hands and rereraise his 3bet allin with big aces and big to medium pairs depending on your read on him.

If he calls those reraises you really want to have position on him. Then you just act depending on your read on him and his actions and take that poor suckers money :P

[kelkat]

I think I play them slow, maybe feel my way into a few pots and then hit them hard when I get the hand.

Don't play if you wouldn't normally play (just because they play all the hands kind of thing) because that will lose you your stack for sure.

[playingthegame]

I figure if someone is going to raise large preflop again and again when the have or don't have a hand. What I do with these players is just play my hands as they come to me, if I have a good hand then I will play it, if not I have to fold and wait for the raiser to get caught on a bad hand and get knocked out.

[AllEars]

Some useful things have been said here already, but for anyone looking for good literature on how to handle maniacs I'd recommend "The Psychology of Poker" by Alan Schoonmaker. It also offers some really good advice on how to tackle different "poker personalities" (and I don't mean individuals, but types of players).

[DarlersPT]

I'm looking for any info of XRUMER software.
Can you help me? Or give me a link to the official site of this program.

Thanks

[penguinmama]

I figure if someone is going to raise large preflop again and again when the have or don't have a hand. What I do with these players is just play my hands as they come to me, if I have a good hand then I will play it, if not I have to fold and wait for the raiser to get caught on a bad hand and get knocked out.

What annoys me about this is that it seems when I fold what appears to be a weak hand (say, 2 3 or something silly like that) is when the table ends up holding something like 2 2 3 or something!

[honest99]

The first thing is to find out what kind of hands the raiser uses for his raises. If he does it very often there must be a crappy set of hands, but if he does it seldom it still can be a crappy set of raising hands and you have to find it out first.

Once you know, the solution is simple.

If he only raises with powerhands, than thanks for the cheap info. I fold!

If he raises with crap, a big re-raise preflop is the way. It completely destroys his game. (He hopes than for folds preflop or on the flop.) Clearly one has to be careful about other players. Specially if you both have early position. You always need something to do the raise, but not to much actually.

[Bryan]

If I am playing online, I will just move to another table. It isn't fund when a player is simply raising just to raise. I understand it is a tactic and strategy, but if I am there to make money, this isn't going to work if I'm not catching any hands.

However, if I am stuck at a live game where I can't get out of it, I will just wait, or re-raise often. It'll take down the pot often. But I will always try to get in with a decent hand.