OneGreenChip

I committed myself to getting the 100 worst players from my Poker Tracker. All the Showdown Muppets, all the X-Loose players, all the Fish. Made sure to plug them into my buddy program, so I could meet Rule #1 of Good Poker Playing: TABLE SELECTION. This ain't a dick measuring contest. Play with fools whose money you can pry loose.

On to some hands.

Standard. This is a brag hand. Identified the guy as a TAG. Flop call of my CR made me think set/AK/Kx. Flat call of the turn threw out the sets -- have to raise there. River was great as it allowed me to represent a bluff at the 3flush. Textbook. Get a hand, identify your opponent's hand, get the cheddar.

I'd raised the previous 5 hands at this four-handed table, and took all the pots down w/out a showdown. This guy picked the wrong time to play back at me, and was probably convinced that he was good when the river came down, as this move was within my perceived capability. I also could have gotten stacked something great here, but those previous 5 hands were a PERFECT setup.

This hand is noteworthy for a reason not apparent in the HH. I 4bet all-in (AK?) and as he debated, I told him 'go away'. Instacall. LOL. Only posted because it's a great metagame example. I think he calls 40% of the time that I say nothing. Or maybe he calls 100%. it IS KK, after all...

Fuckin' SHAME right here. Villain is (61 / 2/ 1.2) over 300 hands. He makes most of his money with loose preflop calls, and picking off C-bet bluffs in good spots. I play against him as much as possible, because my starting hand requirements are so much better than his. This is a more standard example of his style, but occasionally this happens.

With the latter two examples in mind, I took it upon myself to play this loose/weak player very differently than the other TAGs at my table -- namely I'd hit the flop REALLY hard and just shove it. I KNOW that I'm sacrificing EV here, I mean, what can he call me with? But I was hoping HOPING that I'd get a call with a flush draw or a weird two pair. Flopped sets against him 3 times and played it this way every time, as his style does VERY well against the standard TAGs you see at this level. Is it +EV to mix it up like this against such a loose player? Against an obviously intelligent, thinking player?

What about this hand? I love my 3bet preflop, but leading out here against a big stack puts me in such a horrible position. Hate my line in the retrospect, because I can't stand a call or checkraise. Is it better to check the flop and see what develops on the turn? Because what happened here was that he saw turn weakness and put me all in. Against a TAG player, I know that I'm facing a tweener pair or even a set here. Against a LAG -- could be ANYTHING. Can't call, obviously, but is a different line going to do better in the long term....I just don't know.

Brystmar's SSNL is great against the non-thinking masses, but I'm definitely having trouble adjusting to the good LAGs (and even LTs) that I run into. Or maybe it's just a perception thing, and I need to realize that Villain is just running good and hitting hands against me.

Don't attack the sharks, Colin. Attack the fish!!