Your listed hand range must be an exaggeration. I highly doubt even the most aggressive of skilled live regulars are repeatedly opening with hands weaker than K7s, 75s, and JTo in early position. At some point, all your "table bullies that try too hard" have experimented with hands like Q6s and K2s, but after a number of trials, they eventually realize that opening too light from early position is far from a profitable endeavor. No decent player is playing 85% of his hands and raising 94s and J4s from under-the-gun in a full game while his temper is under control.
I certainly agree that one incredibly tough opponent at the table should be but a fraction of a much larger picture. When gaging the profitability of a low- to mid-stakes game, you can apply the following methodology if you're a good/solid player:
-Start with a baseline of 4 big blinds per hour at a table of 8 nits (arguably not worth your time, as there should be better games elsewhere).
-1 point equates to 2 big blinds per hour.
-Add one-half to 5 points for each fish. I tend to rate most fish at +1. +5 is reserved for the biggest regular whale in Orange County.
-Subtract one-half of a point for each professional.
-Subtract one point for the incredibly tough and extremely aggressive professional. This can easily exacerbate to -5 if you allow him to shatter your psyche and confidence. You could also reduce this to -0.5 or even -0.25 with the proper approach.
When a good and very loose/aggressive live regular is present, it's always going to modestly offset your profitability at that table. If, for example, he's opening hands like 98o and 96s from middle position, you have to decide how and if you want to play weak offsuit broadway and good suited connectors (hands that would've otherwise been very profitable had the action just folded to you) in late position. And while most good players advocate playing extremely tight out of position against a tough and potentially better opponent, you can't allow him to mercilessly steal your blinds with 100% frequency either.
He can very potentially make your life miserable each time you sit down with him, but you can't let him deter you from playing well in a highly lucrative game. So what methods could you employ to handle such an opponent?
1. SIT ACROSS THE TABLE. If you're not 1-3 seats on his left, it'll be much more difficult for him to steal your blinds. If he's not 1-3 seats on your left, he'll have much fewer opportunities to abuse you with the benefit of position. You'll very infrequently play hands heads-up against each other.
2. "IT'S A FUNNY FEELING - BEING TAKEN UNDER THE WING OF A DRAGON." Sit to his immediate left, and stay out of his pots unless you have decent equity for the situation. When you have a premium starting hand, do not 3-bet him (not even with AK) when there are still other players left to act! Your 3-bet will simply shut-out weaker players from whom you could've extracted significant value, and now you're heads-up against a tough opponent who knows the strength of your hand; he won't give you action unless he can crack [AA/KK] or exploit [AK/Q] you. This strategy is particularly applicable when you recognize that he's a clearly better player than you are. A player of this caliber is likely to induce tilt and insecurity in other players at the table, so you should be more than content taking advantage of those players once he's decided to fold (again, he's not going to play anything remotely close to 85% of his hands at a 9-handed table). Another caveat to having a player like this at the table is that if you're not overly focused on concocting an elaborate plan to outplay him, you can devote more mental focus toward observing and trying to understand his decision-making process. This is an incredible learning opportunity for you, and you may even develop new skills that you can incorporate into your own game. If you haven't offended him by tanking and pretending like you're legitimately contemplating 3-betting him light every time he raises pre-flop before sighing and folding (because honestly, you're not going to 3-bet him light), or by making such inappropriate internet-speak comments like "can he ever have tens plus there?" instead of "I had a feeling he had AK" when some fish commends you for correctly playing 99 for 100 big blinds pre-flop, he may even offer you an occasional peek at his hole cards or shed insight on a rather peculiar decision he recently made.
3. TABLE CHANGE. You don't have to play at that table, especially if that one player's presence completely throws you off balance. There are other tables with those stakes, whether in that casino or at a nearby venue if you're in LA, Vegas, or Macau. Sometimes you can achieve a similar or better risk-return profile by playing in a bigger game on a short stack. Some days, it's more profitable for you to play in a smaller or different (PLO) game altogether. It's incredibly foolish to not game select and to continue stubbornly playing in a less profitable game when you're a live professional. You must reassess at least once an hour changes in your game's profitability (reading game boards and must-move lists is an essential skill).
4. TAKE A BULL BY THE HORNS. 3-bet him with speculative hands. 3-bet him with Ax. 3-bet him with any value hand with which you normally would've raised. And of course, 3-bet him with your premium hands. If he 4-bets you, 5-jam or peel a flop light with Axs. Call his raises with anything remotely playable in late position. Float and raise-bluff with a high frequency, especially with hands like gutshots and two overcards with a backdoor flush draw. If he's truly a first-rate opponent, he'll back the f**k off and reduce his VPIP from 50% to 25% if you are, in fact, just as good of a player as he is. However, if he's Vietnamese, or if you both consider yourselves to be the better player, be prepared to go to war. Wars are expensive, so you better have the bankroll to afford it and the mental fortitude to not tilt (should you happen to lose a hand against him) and maintain your 'A' game against the other 7 players at the table.
5. SHORT STACK. You'd be shockingly surprised as to how much edge you're not actually giving away when you decide to sit in a game for 50 big blinds instead of 500 big blinds (to cover some aggressive whale). You'd be even more surprised as to how, with a short stack, you might actually turn the tide and have the edge against a superior player who plays too many hands. Most live professionals habitually (and often arguably incorrectly) buy-in for the maximum or enough to cover the table, and they don't adjust well to skilled short stack players. The general consensus among live professionals is that a short stack is conducive to a tight style of play. This rather biased view is far from correct, but not unjustifiable, because there really are no live players who can proficiently employ an aggressive short stack strategy.
6. PLAY SMART. If you're sitting in an uncapped game and the 5 fish and regulars in the 5 seats to your right have no more than 2,000 in front of them while the tough opponent and 2 very aggressive whales are on your left, each with approximately 20,000, do not buy-in for more than 2,000! Do not play large pots, especially out of position, against that tough player when the situation is, at best, marginally profitable. It's a live low- to mid-stakes cash game, so if you're at a table with him, there should be plenty of fruit on the tree, and you shouldn't have to constantly battle with him for that fruit. Make sure you're well-balanced and not discernibly exploitable if you do get involved with him. When he's in position, do not open hands like JTo from middle position unless you're balanced (like with a lot of suited connectors) and you have a very clear plan for him. The best players are far from perfect, and everybody has exploitable weaknesses. Pay very close attention to him (and everyone else, obviously), and figure out where he's vulnerable. Hopefully you'll evolve to become the better player (mostly through composure because skill set differences between the best regulars for a particular game are much less significant than professionals between different stakes), and with a more than sufficient bankroll for your game, you won't have to shy away from a gunfight; win, and table is yours.
Last edited by bigoiltrader; 07-31-2013 at 12:32 AM.
