I routinely play in a game populated by a fair number of bullies, and I count myself among them. The bully with whom I most enjoy competing is a fellow we can refer to as “R”. My strategy for countering R and players like him follows below.

The defining characteristic of any poker bully is aggressiveness. To qualify as a true bully, a player needs to make the basic error of betting and raising too frequently. Whenever an opposing player commits a misstep of this sort, the key is to figure out how to capitalize on it. To gain the upper hand on the poker bully in your game, concentrate on these steps:

You first want to make a conscious effort to call him with greater frequency. Since bullies necessarily bet a larger number of hands, odds are that they will regularly bet hands that you probably would not. This fact permits you to loosen your standard calling rules a bit while still maintaining the ability to do quite well for yourself. So in short: Call the bully more often.

The next principle to follow is that of not betting as often as you otherwise might. That is right, the fundamental trick to beating poker bullies is to let them defeat themselves. Because the poker bully bets too freely, it is important to give them the leeway they need to keep committing this error time and time again. When they make mistakes you make money. If you are first to act then you ought to check / call fairly often. In position you need to stop yourself from betting every time your bully is checking into you. Bullies tend to check-raise often and might blow you off your hand. So, when the bully passes up a chance to bet aggressively, your suspicions should be raised. At least give some thought to checking behind unless you can stand the possible check raise.

If you follow this pair of simple guidelines, your bully will begin to anticipate losing to you. The bully’s long-term prospects for victory will grow a little dimmer. You may be tempted to try and beat the bully at his or her own game by one-upping them in terms of aggressive play. That would be a mistake. Poker success never comes from simply amplifying another player’s ill-advised decisions. Follow the plan above instead for consistently impressive results.

Good luck to you…
K-REX
Stephen Krex