I know this sounds like an oxymoron but I'm having trouble with a certain player who plays a super-wide range of hands for 3bets(6-9 suited) cold but then plays surprisingly well and aggressive post-flop.

For instance, I raise or 3bet a player I choose to isolate, villain now CC, we all see the flop. Now villain will raise and cap(or go 5 or 6 bets HU) any draw or pair (regardless if middle to lower middle, 77 with a KT6 flop). When checked to on the turn villain will check back both made hands and draws or bet both. (he will also go nuts on the turn with draws and pairs or back down with both, depending on his mood) Villain now mind ****s me by betting air, thin value bets, or nut or near nut hands.

It's hard for me to deduce a semi-normal range of hands throughout the hand because of his pre-flop play. I find it harder to maximize any real value against him post-flop because he seems to play so random. How the hell should I play vs this type of villain?

As of now I just try to get to SD with most hands but will try to keep the lead with big hands.

I think the only thing you're actually having trouble with is variance. In the long run guys like this are very beatable. I love them because not only do they spew, the actually make others spew also.

I do well against him as far as SDW% but I seem to be missing a ton of value in spots I think I could be doing much better.

how can you say he will go 5 bets with 77 on K-T-x board but plays well post flop?

Put in 6-7 bets hu with best hand...profit.

I guess thats too wide of a description and bad example. (but he did do that with 77) A better description would be he is super aggressive and so random with his play and range that it is very hard for me to extract value from hands I normally could find value against other players.

What is a good game plan to use against him? Just bet my big hands like crazy and try to get to SD with moderate hands?

I know it's slightly a cop out answer, but the best way to beat these guys is to play as solidly as possible. Don't be afraid to pound them with top pair, but don't get spewey either. I like to play very straightforwardly against these guys, often just leading into them with good made hands rather than checkraising. Let them fancy play themselves into missed value or spewiness.

Didn't read other responses but the first order solution is to not ever ever ever play fit or fold. Kick down the aggro a notch sometimes cause you can't safely bet/fold, kick up the aggro some with monsters (you will get maybe 3 bets more than you deserve) and showdown more.

Also watch for others adjusting poorly.

This is how I find myself playing vs this type of villain. The only trouble I find playing like this is it basically opens my hand up. Since he plays so many hands I find myself in a balance situation on the turn when I do lead into him with big hands and check back hands I want to get to SD with.

I don't mean to be so picky with this situation, it's just he is a player I have to deal with in every game I play, every limit, and every night. Normally I try to just move my seat so I have position on him but I hate the fact I'm changing my whole game plan that particular night for this one pain in the ass.

I think what this is showing you is an important thing for everyone to learn, that someone that is aggressive and somewhat of a decent hand reader postflop is not a complete pushover. He is going to lose money but he is going to have some big sessions too and make your life miserable sometimes. This describes pretty much every high stakes fish, so might as well get used to it / enjoy it

As others have said, just make sure you are getting full value for your hands, if you put in 4 bets on the flop, and 2 bets on the turn with top pair mid kicker and he has you beat, just chalk it up to a cooler and move on. Call him down liberally, etc.

Thanks for the advice. If this is considered a high stakes fish, what can an aspiring player expect from a high stakes expert?

You won't be able to tell the difference for a while.

Well despite DaveR's statement I would assume high stakes expert = solid preflop as well as tough and creative postflop. It's a lot easier to be spewy postflop when you start with the higher tier hands, you just end up with a range consisting of way more value hands. The dude you are describing is just too out of whack, he has way too many bluffs because of his poor starting hand selection.

OP--

It's limit hold'em. If Villain is bloating the pot, no matter how tricky he is, you're never more than a few bets from the river. So get there. Playing better preflop and not folding the best hand too often is a really good way to start playing against this kind of player.

Of course you don't want to become a calling station. DeathDonkey's post is good: punish him until he gives you a reason to think you don't have the best hand. Then get to showdown unless you have a very good reason to make a fold.

A few more quick thoughts that might be more specific to me and my game:

(i) You might turn some flop calls into flop folds. Often live LHE players make it easy for you to make speculative calls on the flop because they will play weakly/straightforwardly later. Against this guy you might want to just muck your A-high or bad gutshot or whatever.

(ii) More generally: If a villain is really aggressive on street X, often a good thing to do is to get to street X with a strong range, which means folding liberally on the street before X. This advice has served me well in NLHE, and might apply more to that than LHE, but it's still worth keeping in mind.

(iii) Don't make it too obvious that you're in call-down mode. Live players, even otherwise sophisticated ones, often telegraph that they're getting to showdown. Don't do that; otherwise you let him narrow/empty his bluff-range. Doing this can be as simple as waiting an extra half-second, checking softly instead of pounding the table, or something similar.

(iv) Buckle up and, if possible, have extra money in your pocket.

All my best,

--Nate

Every high stakes expert I've ever played with ranges from nitty to a bit laggy preflop, but is almost always a total sicko postflop. In fact the nittier they are preflop, the more sick they tend to be post.

Against people who are way too aggressive it is better sometimes to play passivly against them to let them spew off their chips. You don't want to go to war with a maniac when the value of your hand in a situation might be marginal. When you like your hand strength, relentlessly fast play this person.