Free Online Poker Guide To How To Combat Loose Aggressive Maniac Style Players
You have managed to get to the flop with a good hand but what next? For many players postflop is the weakest part of their game. A key part of postflop play (as with preflop) is knowing the type of players you are up against and playing specifically to counter their style.
In poker, there are 4 different styles of player (tight/loose) + (passive/aggressive). In free online poker micro stakes (.02/.05 blinds), each style of player tends to make certain key errors. In this free online poker lesson we’ll look at how to exploit the Loose-Aggressive style player.
Loose-aggressive (LAG) “maniac”
These are the guys who are betting and/or raising way too often. 33% of flops long-term).
The trick to playing these guys is to realize that their range in any given spot is extremely wide. Operationally this means that if you flop 2nd or 3rd pair then calling their bets and raises can be very profitable as they bet repeatedly with nothing so much.
They’re somewhat difficult to play against because it takes a lot of guts - calling 3 streets (each a relatively large bet, usually) with third pair weak kicker is not particularly easy, but you have to realize that against some of these guys third pair is basically the same as top pair and so you just shouldn’t fold.
But with that said do not universally call any pair against an LAG as there are degrees of maniac and while the true LAG bets and raises 100% of the time some do not.
One other thing note is your draws (and as a result, connected and suited hands preflop) rocket in value since if you get the draw you may frequently get repaid bigtime (you may be recognising this as implied odds, but I won’t elaborate on this until a later article).
Pair hands go up in value and draws go up in value as a rule against LAGs. Pay attention at the tables to get a good feel for a player’s range (is he a true spewing maniac, or is he just hyper-aggressive) and try to make these profitable “thin” (not super easy) calldowns against these players.
In general, you should also be waiting for the river to raise these players with your strong hands because they’re going to be betting all 3 streets anyway; you lose lots of value if you raise flop or turn and get them to fold.
Do always remember that there are levels of player types. Some TAGs are almost LAG, some TPs are almost LPs, etc, so you have to adjust your play to your individual opponents, these player types are just a tool to help you do that.
One thing you have probably realised by now is that learning to spot and use player styles is not an exact science. Yes, sorry to say, plenty of practice is required though if you really focus on this and keep good game notes it will come faster for you. If you’re new to poker do not risk much or even any cash as you learn.
Start of with the lowest stakes games or with free online poker games and work up from there. For the big edition of this article which covers all the player styles and adds some further postflop tips see the free online poker games blog at NoPayPOKER.
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