What to do About the Bully at the Table

What to do About the Bully at the Table

What to do About the Bully at the Table

Sometimes one sits down at a poker table and finds a player who seems to be in every hand, often limping in to see a flop. On the flop, this player plays as if he has hit the flop looking to eliminate the competition. In short, this player tries to bully the table into submission. What to do with such a player. The simple answer is to play back at him. Armed with the knowledge that one only hits a flop around 30% of the time, when you have a good hand that hit simply push back. In fact, sometimes push back with any two cards if the texture of the flop appears to have made a hand. It is nice to have the bully to your right so you can raise after his bet but, should the bully be to your left, a re-raise works just as well.

Just this afternoon I was playing online and a bully was two seats to my right. He was voluntarily entering 68% of the hands, generally pushing around a rather tight, passive table. I generally, though not always, wait for the big blind before I commit any money to a pot. This gives me a chance to observe the table and gain some valuable information. I noticed that the bully limped in or raised one bet pre-flop at a no-limit table. On the flop he never failed to 4 bet if he was first to act or to raise an additional 4 bets if challenged. The opponents folded like napkins in a restaurant.

I knew that he could not have a great hand every time, even if he was getting good hands pre-flop. Prior to my placing my first forced bet, the big blind, I decided that no matter what two cards I was dealt, if the bully was in the hand I was going to play back at him. It turned out I had Jh=Js in the big blind. Bully limped and I raised to 3 bets. The bully just called and we were heads up with me being first to act. The flop came Kc=7s-4h. If the bully had a king I was toast but I decided to open with a bet around 2/3 of the pot. The bully min-raised me and I bet the pot. He called. I put him on a wide range of hands including medium pairs, AK, AQ, AJ. AT all unsuited and Ax suited. I also thought his range included suited connectors from QJ through 56. The only card that scared me on this flop was the Kc. There were no flush draws on the flop, an unlikely straight draw, he would have to hold 56 for an open-ended straight, a hand not outside the realm of possibility but not likely either.

The turn came Jd. I now have a set but, because I bet and raised it is unlikely that he would suspect that that card improved my hand substantially. I again bet 2/3 of the pot and he just called. I now narrowed his range to AT through A2 discounting AK AQ AJ suited or not, I kept middle pairs and medium to small suited connectors in the range and, if I was right I currently held the nuts.

The river came 9h eliminating the straight. This time I bet the pot, the bully raised and I re-raised all in. The bully folded. I won a huge pot.

This pattern continued at the table for three more hands. He actually won one of those hands but took down a small pot because I got out of the way on the turn. But I won 3 of 4 pots each of substantial size. The bully never again played back at any of my raises. He tried to push back at the rest of the table but at least three other players and perhaps a 4th were observant enough to take note of my play and they began to push back at this guy. He finally left the table, perhaps to go bully some other table until his money runs out.

Pushing back is the way to handle a bully at the table. Push back with conviction, but if you are on a bluff, keep the pot small. With monsters and very strong hands raise and re-raise against the bully and your play will be quite profitable.

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