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Nit up spiral of death

foldeliniof
foldelinio
in General Poker Questions

So I noticed a specific pattern of mine when I play against a table of LAGs, especially when I have a good LAG to my right.

When loose guys play a lot of hands, I tighten up to crush their preflop range, take them to the flop and float the cbet. Passive guys give up here and I can bluff the turn.

With agressive players though, I don't really know where I'm at in the hand and as soon as they double barrel, I'm totally lost (bc I don't know how to defend against it).

So I tighten up more, fold to cbets or raise 3x and at this point it seems I become predictable and they run me over. They fold when I have it and force me out of the pot when I don't.

So I wonder how to adjust to this. Here are my thoughts:

  • Uber tight EP and any2 when I have position.
  • stop floating and min raise instead.
  • play more speculative hands in position and slowplay them to the showdown
  • stop cbetting half to 2/3 of the pot.

I mean, I play quite loose (25-30VPIP/20-28PFR in 6Max), too, but I know when I have to hit the brakes and I have to adjust my bet sizes to the downside.

However, I fail to understand, where those LAG's (30+VPIP) have their leaks and where the spots are to exploit them. I mean, you cannot play any2, cbet 2/3 every flop and not fold to a float and still make money, right?
Something about their frequencies just dont feel right, but I don't know where I can put the lever in..but playing tighter seems not the right solution.

Thanks for the input

Comments

  • highfive
    highfive
    Post has been up too long without a response. I'll give it a shot.
    You didn't mention the level. The questions are generalized so I can only respond generally.
    Their weakness/leak is in the name. Loose as in weak ranges.

    LAGs beat you with initiative and betting pressure rather than card strength.

    You beat them by nullfying those.
    Put pressure on them and taking the initiative away. How?

    Focus on fundamental poker. Play position, good ranges, and be prepared to raise/3bet as opportunity arises. Floating is done against weaker type players who will give up iniative and allow Hero to bet and push them off the hand. Min-raises just sweeten the pot for villiain lags to continue. Incorrect adjustments IMO.

    Design good opening ranges.
    Design good 3bet ranges.
    Both should have strong holdings and light holdings.

    Personally against LAGs, i implement a mostly 3bet or fold strat in position. Strong opens OOP. I do not want to play a hand where they have the initiative. Hero's strong holdings can withstand their pressure OOP. Cant be afraid to " climb the ladder " against them. Meaning if they 3bet, bring a healthy 4bet.

    Their weak ranges are not fit for big pots. Expect variance/stack volatility bc sometimes their junk makes a hand.
    There is mostly one reason they fold when you have it. It's bc you haven't established a bluffy enough identity or table image.
    I deal with this everytime I sit bc I look tight. I get sterotyped. Knowing this i say, " i never make money until I get caught bluffing.
    Cally type poker should be minimized against LAGs. That's who they're looking to play hands with. Possibly just call on the button or closing the action in the big blind.
    My2C
    Highfive
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