Message Board : Controlling your opponents mistakes ?

Hi ed,

I used to work as a full time poker dealer and now i live on my poker winnings. I’ve decided to take a shot as a professionnal poker player when i discovered an excellent ability to read my opponents hands. I usually play 2-2 NLHE cash games where players have so many tells and obvious betting pattern. Even though i am aware these stakes are very low for a pro, the tables are quite juicy here and i only need 600$ to live comfortably.

Since i am a grinder, i only play very good hands and i try to see flops for as cheap as possible. I try to put little at risk since i’m gonna get paid whenever i flop a monster. If i have to go all-in, i want it to be at least two pair, if i don’t have a very good read of the situation. Most of my opponents are very loose and they make so many huge mistakes. For exemple, they’ll pay any flush draw whatever the price and call all-in bets whenever they have top pair with top/medium kicker. They also might call big all-in bets with AJo ! It’s like playing 1c 2c NLHE, with a standard raise of 7/8 BB.

So here i am grinding at the table, and i’ve been observing my opponents all night. One tight player raises in early position raises to 18$. I’m the only one calling his raise with AKo. I have around 150$ and he’s got me covered. He’s been playing only with pocket pairs and AK/AQ/AJ. I don’t raise preflop because i have position and he might reraise me. I don’t want to commit my stack on a flip coin or worse situation. I want to see the flop and have an opportunity to outplay him. Plus i’ll be able to define his hand better by the way he looks at the flop, the way he talks, acts and bets since he wears his tells like signs.

So the flop comes AT4 rainbow, the pot is 40$. I have a very good flop for me, but i only have one pair. The only hands i’m worried about are AA, TT, 44. But by the way he bets his 28$, i’m really sure that he either has AJ or AQ or AK. I would like to raise here but he’ll reraise all-in for sure or call my all-in bet. He only has 3 jacks or 3 queens to win the hand, thus having only a 12% chance to outdraw me. I am a big favorite here but i want to control my opponents mistakes and see the end of the board before going all-in, knowing that i’ll have the best hand. So i call.

The turn is a tough : a queen ! The pot is around 100$. Now he acts a little hollywood, looks at my stack and puts me all in (100$). I take a minute to think and i fold. He then shows his hand : AQ indeed. I would have lost all my stack if i played this hand too aggressively.

One of my ideas in playing cash games is :

When you can tell very precisely what your opponent hole cards are, and when your opponents are too loose with their chips, you can control their mistakes in order to minimize the luck of the game and maximize your profit.

What do you think of this idea ?