OK. I like this post. It's good and informative. Excellent!! Someone asked how to play fish when you're tight/agressive TAG strategy doesn't get them to fold. First, let me say that TAG is generally the best way to play overall. HOWEVER, when raising preflop doesn't limit the field and you're always up against the flush draw, stright draw and random 2 cards (and combinations there-of) when you raise your big PP preflop, then you're going to suffer. It's a fact. Most hand analysis is Heads Up, not with 5 callers to your 4xbb raise. So you start doing massive overraises and just get the blinds or whatever. I have developed and tested a strategy just for this situation. It's called Counter-Play. I normally wouldn't post it here. But since this is such a great post I figure I will. It's long. Everything I write is long. And like anything, the results are in the consistent, disciplined execution. The bad news about extremely fishy tables is they call anything, the good new is they don't know how to bet post flop, so they bet way too small to put you off a legitimate draw, if you're on one. Here's counterplay:

Counter-Play
NL Ring Play Theory
Anthony Okrongly

Hypothosis:
There is a beter way to play NL ring against a mixed table of both sharks and fish. That method revolves around tight/passive poker play until the turn or river.

Expected Results:
1. one table stake amount in winnings per 8 hours of accumulated table play. For example, 3 tables @ $200 buy-in will result in $200 net profit in 2:45 of play. 2 tables would be 4 hours of play
2. Less bad beats = less tilt play
3. 3x less lost on unmade or broken hands.
4. Moderately less average $ in winning pots
5. Safer play for more consistent results

Observations:
1. Multiple preflop callers with pot sized or 5xBB raises with "any 2", primarily nut cracking hands - which any hand can be if you have to balls to call a big preflop riase.
2. A GROUP of nut crackers can crack nuts more often than not.
3. 1/2 to pot sized bets only eliminate the nut cracking hands that lost potential. The one's on a draw stay in.
4. You can beat players who know how to fold to negative EV odds, or a single "gambler". But you cannot beat a table full of these type people with "Standard Play" consistently.
5. ROI for Standard play is 10% per 8 hour session in this environment IF YOU DON'T TILT OUT from consecutive bad beats. Variations occur from an extra-ordinary string of cards or comcumstances, but over time the 10% rule will apply.
6. Standard play BRAODCASTS YOUR HAND to good players and is unobserved by bad players.
7. "mixing it up" with raises of marginal hands, bluffs, etc has only a neutral impact on your monetary results. It just FEELS like you're doing something. But in the end your cards were better than his - even if he folded. "mixing it up" makes little difference in this environment.
8. Ultimately Standard Play, even though successful is too slow and tilt prone for most long-term quality players. That leaves "non-standard play" which for most good players manifests itslef as "feel play" - a combination of experienced observations and caluclated risk. In some instances this is superior to standard play. In others it is inferior. But in the end it is inconsistent and requires skills (feel) that mot players don't have consistently over th long term - including self-professed "feel" players.

Discussion:
There is another "non-standard" way to increase ROI in this situation - COUNTER-PLAY. Counter-play is a form of tight/passive play that exploits the tendencies of both strong shark players and weak fish players. The only risk of counter-play is being labelled a ROCK and getting less action with your good ahnds. However, most players will either learn that less the hard way - by paying you off repeatedly - or they will naturally be drawn to "banging their head against the rock" repeatedly.

Counter play play reduces your mathematical odds in some situations - by giving opponents drawing odds. However, both shark "feel" players and fill will take poor drawing odds to "crack you" which results in limits to your ability to have consistently large results - either by losing large pots or by tilting out (or both).

One major monetary advantage of counter-play is the "twitchy fish response" - which will be explained later. The other major advantage is that you become a "stealth pallyer". Both of these overcome mathematical weaknesses with psychological advantages.

Psychological Advantages and Terms:

1. Twitchy Fish Response - There are fishing lures that mimic sick and dying fish movements. These lures can often cause a fish to strike even when it isn't hungry. It's a natural, biological, evolutionary response to eliminate weakness on spec. Calling bets is a weak action. Repeatedly calling is a very weak action. Very regularly agressive players will instinctively attack this weak, passive display - The Twitchy Fish.

2. Stealth Play - In electronic warfare there are two ways to feel out your opponent. Passively or actively. When you actively ping your opponent with Radar/Sonar, etc. you get information, but you give vital info as well. When you bet or raise at a poker table you're actively pinging your opponents and giving away vital information. When you check or call, however, you're giving away the least information possible about your hand. Even a fold gives more info than a check or even a call. These are passive plays that leave your opponents to fill in the blanks. And often it triggers the twitchy fish response.

Stealth play also conserves your resources and information "display" until you reach terminal stage. Like a cruise missle that uses passive GPS or terrain recognition technology to approach a target and only turns on active radar once in the kill zone. Counter-play uses this same philosophy, once you have your victim in the kill zone, after he has given all his information and can only guess at yours. Once you know your hand is the best - not potentially the best - then you turn on your active radar with a big raise that puts him to the test. Is it a bluff? Why did he only call where standard play dictates a raise? Would he really slowplay with a flush draw on the board? Is he stupid or weak? He's weak! (twitchy fish). The additionaly benefit of stealth play is an enhanced ability to steal pots on the river once you show that you're willing to slowplay monster hands.

3. Tilt Buffer - The first two psychological factors of counter-play affect your opponents. The third affects you. Tilt caused by having big hands cracked - if not the first time then repeatedly - is real and costs real money as long as the player is on tilt. Counter-play doesn't overvalue hole cards from a "payback" expectation standpoint. "Slow Playing" heightens your risk of being cracked by also reduces your losses when it happens AND reduces your expectations to always have big pocket pairs hold up. The net difference is very low in real money but the psychological differences regarding tilt are huge.

COUNTER-PLAY TACTICS

The overall tactic is playing tight, positional poker with the same considerations as TAG poker Except you play very passively until the turn or river. That means yo ucheck/call the same hands you would normally bet/raise preflop - with one or two exceptions. In exceptional circumstance you will call/RERAISE preflop. But generally you ar eslowplaying or passively playing 95% of the hands you are involved in - still using tight/positional preflop considerations. These tactics are designed for tables that have a mix of "ace crackers" and fish where a standard 3-5xBB raise will NOT reduce your competion to 1 or 2 max players, and for tables wehre your competition will make calls that defy drawing odds with their drawing hands.

BASIC LOGIC

Teh basic logic of this type play is as follows:
- "if you're going to call anythign to seeif YOU make your draw, then I'm going to see TOO before I take control of this hand. Until I know i'm good I will check or check/call.
- "if you are going to only make small bets until you get 2 pair or better, then i'm just going to call your bets untili I get TOP 2 pair or better.
- "if you are willing to risk a significant amount of chips to delare you just made a great hand I'm going to believe you unless I have the nuts, then I'll put you all in for your trouble.
- "you want to improve your hand - SO DO I. So let's see who improves more. Or I already have the nuts, so I hope you improve anyway!

Postflop you are taking favorable pot odds to improve if you have position and your improvement doesn't improve the other guy to a nut hand - for instance where the card you need to trip your pocket pair makes a straight, your 2 of your open ended straight outs complete a flush draw. Calculate your "dead outs" as a factor of your post-flop play. If someone is going to underbet their nut hand throughout the hand and beats you, so be it. It didn't cost much. Don't raise or bet on the river if the only call you'll get is a better hand or if your opponent makes "nut repping" raises on the river. Just check and show or check and call a reasonable bet. On the river the rules is only to raise if you're prepared to commite all your remaining chips to the hand. Otherwise call, or check and take the hand down.

TURN BET - If you have a great hand like trips and there's one player drawing to the flush or straight then take the hand RIGHT THERE by putting him all in to call you or betting so much that it will hurt when he pee's to call it.

RIVER BET - On the river in early position - BET YOUR HAND. Remember however, that anyone could have made 2 pair or the hidden tset on the river. So make the pot-sized bet and if someone raises you significantly take them seriously. If all you have is tptk, then you may want to check/call to reduce your investment. At this point the only people who will call or raise will be people who think they have you beat. Do they? If it's a reasonable expectation, then play carefully.

RIVER RASIE - If you have "the hand" with a bet in front then either push or raise significantly (pot or greater). If they fold, they fold. However you've shown weakness - not strength - to this point. So all they have to work with are their own prejudices and self-talk. Not information you gave them. And, the less often you show, the better. Keep making the huge bet or raise on the river and it'll be called. One pot sized or greater call makes up for the 2-3 "value bets" you might have made.

BLUFFING - Once your rock reputation is establish at the table, you can make the river bluff. This a based on your reads and a willingness to make a 1-2x pot sized bluff or larger. Weak bluffs don't work. You've been taking pots with strong bets or raises on the river, you have to do the same thing now. In 1/2NL for instance with a $25 pot and $25 bet heads up where you think he has an underpair and you want to rep pairing the flop A - they you raise to $75. That's a pot sized raise, and if he doesn't have the A, he will lay his pocket underpair down.

SITUATIONAL PLAY:

AA/KK - With AA or KK.
Early or mid pos - call and Hope someone raises behind you. If noone raises you have to look at it as a drawing hand and hop for trips. Call TPTK bettor down, but don't go slinging chips with multiple players in the hand post flop. You hand value decreases dramatically.

If someone raises behind you preflop, then re-raise so much it hurts when they pee. Example $1/2NL, you call 2 as do others, someone late puts out a $10 raise to a $8 pot (the pot is now $18 with potential callers behind), RERAISE TO $50. Now the preflop callers are looking at calling an additional $48. It will steeply reduce your competition and the first raiser will probably call.

THAT'S IT. - there is no other situational preflop raises.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.

Making the huge overbet or over-raise on the river and getting folds is OK. Eventually someone will look you up and the times you're "looked up" will more than compensate for having numerous small calls. The goal is to show nut hands as infrequently as possible. Never show your cards when you don't have to. Be a male prostitute - "you have to pay alot to see my nuts!!"

ACTUAL RESULTS FROM ABOUT 32 HOURS OF MONITORED/RECORDED PLAY AT 1/2 (50 HANDS PER HOUR) OVER 8 SESSIONS.

Net $958 in wins over $18 in losses. For a net of $940 over 1600 hands at $1/2.

(note that these are actual results that include typical mistakes where someone might vary from optimal Counter-Play, such as bluffing at the wrong time, making a river raise when you shouldn't and calling that 'near nut' hand that you can't lay down. Examples of that for the results above include:
- Making a $30 raise on the river into a $15 bet (with top 2 pair) only to be reraised $120. I laid it down and he showed the trips he flopped.
- Doing the same as above but just getting called - and again he showed the trips against my top 2 pair.
- Making a raise steal attempt into a 3 way pot (from middle position), first player bets $18 into a $100 pot, I raise it to $58, and last position reraises to $215. So I folded a hand that I probably should have folded when the first guy bet $18.
- And Calling a $18 river bet (3 players) in middle position with A high straight when a back door flush hit. Based on the betting I lowered the value of the back door flush. Last position raises to $135 (all in) for a $108 pot. I called with A high straight, he showed that he flopped tp with open ended straight draw, turned the baby straight, and rivered the Straight Flush. Bad call.

(So with the above INCLUDED in the results, they stand at 1.15 NET EARNED buy in's per 8 hours of Table Play).


Notes:

1. If you don't know what tight/positional starting hands are then get a book.
2. If you can't calculate drawing odds then get a book - basically you want better than 4 to 1 for open ended straight and nut flush draws, and about 10 to one to draw with a pocket pair hoping to make trips.