Well, it’s been about a year since I’ve picked up 6 max cash games and finally I can call myself a 50NL reg :P so I wanted to give back to the micro forums for helping me get here, and wanted to help you guys with some tells I picked up on loose passive calling stations in my time at the micros. These are based off of my personal experience, so if you do not fully agree I can’t help that :P

#1 These guys are not like us, they are not following a bankroll requirement and trying to learn the game and move up, they believe poker is a game of luck. So, their goal is to obviously get lucky and run up a bankroll, this is why you sometimes notice a fish that gets stacked and then he will buy in with a weird number, which is the last of his bankroll. So since they are trying to get lucky, what is their game plan? Play a lot of hands! These are the guys with very high VPIP and low PFR, something like 50/1, this is the first thing you should look for to spot these guys and they are going to feed you the most profit.

#2 Now this tendency goes with #1, the fact that they limp a lot of hands should tell you something else, they will be very passive post flop. Their goal is to see a lot of flops, make hands and win big! Well we know what their game plan is, so how do we combat this tendency? Isolate the hell out of their limps, why? Because they are playing fit or fold post flop, their goal is to make a hand and then fold post flop if they do not hit. Remember their game plan with their small bankroll, they want to limit their losses since their roll is so small and make hands and get lucky. So let’s exploit this tendency by isolating them, c-betting flops and taking their money.

#3 You might be wondering, but wait I already do that and they don’t fold to my c-bet and….yes, some of them are stations and this is why it is so profitable. These guys are trying to make hands, any hand not just the nuts. They will call you down with gutshots, straight draws, any pair, overcards to the board. So how do we exploit this tendency? Two ways:

Barrel thinner than usual, like I said they will peel insanely light and show no aggression, so we can get multiple streets of value from them, for example in this hand this loose passive peels me with the A hi nuts:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BTN: $26.46
SB: $18.93
BB: $47.45
UTG: $25.00
Hero (CO): $25.35

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is CO with 8 8
1 fold, Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, SB calls $0.90, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.25) J 6 J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.50, SB calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.25) 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.50, SB calls $3.50

River: ($12.25) T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Final Pot: $12.25
SB mucks 4 A
Hero shows 8 8 (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
Hero wins $11.64
(Rake: $0.61)

So I can extract value from him and check back river, river is kind of thin, but I don’t hate another bet there. Here I try to once again get value from this loose passive, and when there is no more value to be had on river I can check back.

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

SB: $26.65
Hero (BB): $25.75
UTG: $26.02
CO: $69.10
BTN: $34.34

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with 6 T
3 folds, SB calls $0.15, Hero raises to $1, SB calls $0.75

Flop: ($2.00) Q 8 T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.25, SB calls $1.25

Turn: ($4.50) 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50

River: ($9.50) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Final Pot: $9.50
SB mucks J 8
Hero shows 6 T (a pair of Tens)
Hero wins $9.03
(Rake: $0.47)

I see threads on this forum all the time where you guys pot control on turn with top pair v.s a fish and I have no idea why…it’s always better to bet/fold turn and check back river over checking turn and then wondering what to do on river when he donks out big. If the board has a million draws like the previous hand, go ahead and bet second pair against loose passive stations, they’re not going to make your life hard. I can bet small flop + turn and check back river, his range includes a lot of draws, it is not all queens.

So what’s the second way to exploit them, double barrel scare cards….but wait what? Didn’t I just say they are stations, yup, but they are also peeling second pair, no pair no draw with A hi, etc that will fold to the second barrel. Now some are not willing to fold those hands, so be careful with what boards you pick to bet and what cards you barrel. So play straight forward and double barrel turn scare cards, you will QUICKLY find out if they are the type that folds A hi or not. Once you do adjust accordingly.

Also, another way is to double barrel when you have any sort of equity, they love to float in position and will snap fold to your double barrel. If called we have outs to improve and put in a big river value bet because once they call turn they are calling river about always, and they won’t raise turn enough to make it hard for you. An added bonus is if they get to see your hand when you check river and they check back, trust me you are now the maniac of the table and will value town people to death.

So double barrel until they show you they are monkey stations who can’t fold A hi, you’ll find out quick and you can adjust.

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (UTG): $25.00
CO: $52.41
BTN: $22.94
SB: $9.71
BB: $52.31

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG with 8 9
Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, BTN calls $1, 2 folds

Flop: ($2.35) Q 3 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, BTN calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.35) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.50, BTN folds

Final Pot: $5.35
Hero wins $5.09
(Rake: $0.26)

#4 The famous donk bet, you’ll see this a lot at the micros…..so what does it mean? Well that’s for you to find out …..you have to raise to find out! Different fish donk out for different reasons, some donk out as a bluff, some donk out with a draw hoping to see a cheap turn, some donk out as an inducer bet and they want a raise. But one thing is true, once they donk out and you find out what it means, they will not ever change it, these guys are not looking to range balance or anything so once you find out what their donk bet mean stick with it.

Now let’s talk about the double donk bet, what this mean is they donk flop, you raise, and they donk turn again, there are two variations of this one:

If they donk minbet and you raise, they call and they minbet again this is almost always a pair + draw or just a normal draw. You want to be careful at this point, if you raise turn you have to bet river when they check and river blanks, you have to get them off A hi FD and pairs if you do not have showdown value. So, if they minbet donk and you raise then they do it again, decide your line now. Don’t ever call the minbet and then try to bluff river they will NEVER fold at this point.

The other variation is if they donk flop big, like 2/3 or pot and you raise, then they donk turn strong again, give up at this point. I had to learn the hard way when fish do this they have it and want to induce action or a call from you then they jam river. If they do this do not get tricky or anything with your big hands, you can shove over and they’ll snap you off, but tread carefully with your top pair hands. Try your best not to get tilted and let go of your hands.

Example hands of fighting donk bets:

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

SB: $54.45
BB: $66.10
UTG: $48.60
MP: $63.95
Hero (CO): $50.00
BTN: $57.30

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with T J
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 2 folds, BB calls $1

Flop: ($3.25) T 4 8 (2 players)
BB bets $0.50, Hero raises to $2, BB calls $1.50

Turn: ($7.25) 8 (2 players)
BB bets $2, Hero raises to $6, BB folds

Final Pot: $11.25
Hero wins $10.70
(Rake: $0.55)

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

SB: $50.70
BB: $53.80
UTG: $59.05
CO: $61.20
Hero (BTN): $57.70

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with K A
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, BB raises to $2.50, Hero raises to $7, BB calls $4.50

Flop: ($14.25) Q 9 5 (2 players)
BB bets $2, Hero raises to $10, BB folds

Final Pot: $18.25
Hero wins $17.35
(Rake: $0.90)

One last bit I want to say about donk bets. If a loose passive fish check/calls flop + turn and then donks out on river when the obvious flush gets there, do not get tilted and hold on to your top pair or set hands, if he’s really passive and weak tight you can release and wait for a better spot. I had to learn the hard way this is a flush or straight 90% of the time.

#5 The last thing I wanted to talk about was min raises, these type of players are notorious for doing it. Now what do they mean? I’m not going to post hand histories but, this is the thought process of a loose passive fish when he has 66 on:

762ss

“Oh man I have a huge hand, I need to keep him in”

This is his thought process when he has KTo on:

K72r

“I have top pair, I need to find out where I am so I’ll raise small for information”

This is his thought process when he has 65o on:

74Ar

“I have a big draw, I guess I’ll raise to see if he has anything”

I hope you’re seeing a pattern here with these type of hands. Once they minraise, they do not plan to fold. They minraise as they call it “sweeten the pot” and keep you in with monsters, they minraise for information, but will NOT fold, they will minraise draws, but will not fold.

If you get minraised, try your best NOT to get tilted and 3-bet bluff. If you have top pair strong kicker or a draw, continue, do not get tilted and go into hero call mode with 2nd pair readless. Give up the small EV and fold, trust me these guys are waiting to give you their money, fold this small pot and destroy them later.

Now, say you call the minraise and hit your draw, you can probably check shove turn or jam turn over a bet and they will call 90% of the time. You’ve been isolating them all night, double barreling, raising donk bets, they’ll be tilted and assume you are a huge aggro donkey and will snap call you. Your worst enemy for min raises is calling, then check/folding turns or calling turn and folding river. Once they have their information they will barrel all day. So if you are constantly calling with 2nd pair because “it’s just a minraise” then you need to stop.

Last bit, beware of the double check minraise….

Mainly:

- Find fish on your right
- Isolate them until they give you a reason not to
- C-bet until they give you a reason not to
- Double barrel scare cards/equity until they give you a reason not to
- Don’t get tilted by minraises

first??
haha tl;dr loosk godo wil lread in a bit

1st - SHIP IT

Sick post btw (esp the mindonkbetting stuff). Glad to see it's working out for ya at 50nl. I think it's time to change your location now, eh? Turn that frown upside down as they say.

EDIT: Lame. Would've been first if I had better internet.

Will read later look forward to it

I woulda been first if I cared...

Anyways, very solid post. +1

dude like everything you just wrote was so true.. lol the double donk after i've raised the first donk is probably the most tilt inducing move ever.. they donk out for minimum.. call a huge raise.. and then donk out minimum again..

like.. what?

This is great. Awesome post. Thanks.

cool beans

Bookmarked. Will read soon. You're a good poster imo, so this should prove to be a good read.

Thanks in advanced.

Good Post, Solid Advice. GL @ hitting 100nl.

nice post, mO. you've always got a ton of insightful stuff to stay, and this topic definitely shouldn't go overlooked. thanks, man.

Good Job i am sure it will be a good read will start reading

Read through it and it's some solid stuff, nh.

m0ee0m you are the man, congrats on poo-bah.

I remember well one of my first hh posts on 2+2, I had flopped a T-high flush out of the small blind and I checked the turn because I was worried the a-high FD was out there and so I wanted to wait for a safe river to get my money in...

I specifically remember you writing a reply that said 'you folded the 5th nuts...'

Anyway, thanks for all you give back to uNL I appreciate all your posts and read most anything you post.

Edit: thac should add to sticky imo

And good post I can safely say you have been a contribution to my being a +EV player

Great post. +1

Thank you, this is information I needed to read, written clearly.

Good read.

Great post.

Best part was about the minraises and not 3bet bluffing... I have had to learn that the hard way. One point to add, and I would normally never advocate this against anyone but fish, is that some fish do minraise for information. I find a clickback can be the most +Ev way to play against certain fplayers minraises.

Also the part about find out what a donk bet means to each fish. So true. Put a note beside their name, they will not stray from this strategy.

Awesome post - thanks

Yo MoM nice post! (i said you were mother from now on). Still deciphering it all.

There is one donk bet that you have not mentioned. We make normal raise or isolate from buttom with a hand like JT or AK or whatever and the flop comes Q72 rainbow or K62 or J74. Anyway, whatever it is we don't connect. Villain donk bets for full pot or more. What the heck is this? What should be our line where we miss the flop but our hand is good, below average, etc?

great post...

I'd like to add that there are two major types of fishes with same stats (around 60/10/0.8)...

some of them call you all 3 streets with weak holdings like MPWK and some of them won't continue after the flop unless they flop something big...you have to see if the Villain with fish stats is a calling station or the other one (I don't know what to call him) and not valuetown yourself with TPWK...

and yes, pot control by checking the Turn against the calling station fish is -------EV move cause he will call with any piece of the board, LPs and gutshots included...

Amazing post, preactically it sums up how to play against fish for max EV.

+1

Pretty much standard stuff, but very well written and definitely sticky worthy...

very good read, thanks. will bookmark and re-read once in a while.

at least this one is easy...

without any reads that he donkbet only bluffs, we fold...

if no reads, he can easily have hit the flop or is semibluffing us with a draw so we would be complete morons to continue...especially against fishes...

if we have a note the he donkbets only bluffs, we can raise...if he stays in the hand, we shut down from there...