Hi good folks,

First post on this forum, so apologies if I miss out on any of the usual etiquette, please let me know if I have. I also apologise if this is not the correct sub-forum for this post.

I am a learning HUSNG player. I am having trouble navigating a certain type of player, essentially those who bet larger as standard, and I would appreciate any help dealing with the problem from a theoretical standpoint.

Essentially, there are certain players who will just bet pot in every situation. I.e they will open to 2/3x and pot size c-bet and any subsequent streets. If I raise on the button, they are floating a fair amount of my c-bets and potting the river, or if I check back the flop they will pot the turn.

I'm not sure what the correct adjustment should be regarding how to exploit this. They can be fairly easy with good hands as you can just set traps and know you will get paid, but with any sort of middling hands, i.e second pair, draws, they can be tricky to play against.

Any advice appreciated!

On a theoretical note, A larger bet should indicate a smaller ratio of value hands compared to bluffs. The value hands will be stronger though. Versus a larger bet it is reasonable to fold more often and raise less often.

In your situation, you are dealing with a chronic pot bettor. To combat this give your first call a stronger calling requirement and call with it to the end regardless of how the board turns out. If they pot the turn and river 100% of the time, all of their weak hands are going to the end along with everything else. As long as your first call on the flop is stronger than a majority of his holdings you will be making money in the long run. You may even choose to overfold a bit on the flop, because the sequential streets will justify the losses.

Versus these types of players it is best to play a trapping game with your strong hands by check/calling all the way down and check/raising all-in on the river. If they don't adjust, you can continuously take all their money.

Preflop:
Tightening up your preflop range will go a long way towards combating an aggressive opponent.

You say they will open 2/3x. I hope that does not mean that you limped in front of them. Preflop, if no one has opened in front of you, attempt to either fold or come in for a raise. If someone has opened in front of you, attempt to either re-raise or fold.

You want position (play from button or cutoff), you want cards (tighten up a little from late position, play extremely tight from early position, ), and you want initiative (attempt to put in the last bet). The player that does not have initiative (i.e. the play who only called and did not put in the last bet) has what is called a ‘capped” range. That means that unless they are trapping, the top of their range basically does not exist. If they had AA/KK/QQ/AK they probably would have raised.


Don’t check back the flop.

If you are the pre-flop raiser, then your range is uncapped and when the OOP villain checks to you, you will usually (almost always) want to bet. As the aggressor with an uncapped range, you will be able to represent many more flop textures than the caller. Remember that you are playing what you are representing your range to be, not your exact hand within that range.

Apparently this villain thinks you are folding too much on the river (and it sounds like maybe you are). You can combat this by having a tighter range to begin with, playing aggressive up to the river, and then if he keeps it up, you will have to start calling down lighter. Snap off his bluffs once in a while. They can’t have it every time.

Disagree, if villain is probing turn 100% for pot as OP implies then check back will make more than range cbet with swathes of combos.

I believe the technical term for someone who pots turn 100% is "aggrotard"

Checking back the flop condenses your range and caps it, and you would prefer to keep your range polarized and uncapped. Of course it's fine for a solid player to employ an exploitative strategy, but (no offense to the OP) my impression is that the OP is most likely a beginner and might be making mistakes on every street. I think the best advice is to study hard and get a rock solid foundation first, and then add in exploitative plays later.