Fighting Back
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If you’ve played much no-limit, you’ve no doubt at some point run into a hyper-aggressive player. This player is constantly betting and raising with little pretense of actually holding strong hands each time. In many games, a hyper-aggressive player will thrive because no one has the guts to fight back. He drags pot after pot as everyone else glumly waits for a huge hand.
It’s ok if someone steals pot after pot from everyone else at the table, but not from you! You need to fight back. This article will tell you how to do it. First I’ll cover two common mistakes people make when they try to fight back, and then I’ll give you two tips for successful self-defense.
Don’t Try To Hit A Flop
Many players react to a hyper-aggressive stealer by trying to hit a flop. They call preflop with the intention of folding if they miss, but getting their money in if they hit really hard. This is, perhaps, the worst way to try to fight back. It plays into the hyper-aggressive’s game-plan. Here’s an example.
It’s a $2-$5 game with $500 stacks. NotGonnaTakeIt makes it $20 to go with A 
T 
from three off the button. SirRaiseALot makes it $70 in the cutoff. Everyone else folds. NotGonnaTakeIt is sick of getting reraised, so he calls.
The flop comes Q 9 7 . NotGonnaTakeIt checks. SirRaiseALot bets $90. NotGonnaTakeIt lets out a frustrated sigh and, having missed the flop, folds.
The problem with trying to hit a flop is simple. It’s a lot easier to miss the flop than hit it. If you concede every pot when you miss, you’ll be folding most of the time. You may think that you can make up for it by winning a huge pot that time you hit, but for the most part it won’t happen. SirRaiseALot is aggressive, not stupid. He’s going to notice that all of a sudden you’re thrilled to get all your money in. He’s going to get out of your way, not pay you off.
Calling early aggression in hopes of hitting a hand doesn’t work. If you aren’t prepared to truly fight back, don’t get involved.
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Tags: Adjusting Your Play, card player, fit-or-fold, hyper-aggressive, no-limit-holdem, playing back, poker
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