"Hit me with your best shot"

A strategy I've been using quite a bit lately is calling down aggressive players rather than trying to protect my hand. If I think I have best hand, I let them keep firing and then just continue to call to the river. I'll also often call down with middle/bottom pair or ace high. I figure whether I win or lose, I've shown I'm willing to call down light and this can slow them down in the future.

The reasoning is:
- keeping the pot small and relative to your hand strength.
- if I think I have best hand on the flop, they're unlikely to improve on the turn/river.
- I'm comfortable in post flop play.
- betting doesn't define their hand as their range is any two cards.
- it frustrates the hell out of them.

I think the key to the LAG's strategy is that they build big pots and force people into situations where they overplay hands they typically wouldn't. This seems to be an effective counter strategy.

In hand #1 I have no idea what the villain has as he's hyper aggressive and winning most pots at the table. I plan to call just about any bet on the river. As it was, the small bet was designed to get under his skin a little.

In hand #2, I figure I have the usual outs in any heart, Q or J, but its also possible Q high is good. This hand occurred straight after hand #1.

Of course, it doesn't always work. In hand #3 I thought I had best hand until the river. I had planned to call on the river but the final bet just felt like the right amount if the villain actually wanted a call. Anything less I snap call, anything more feels a bit weak.




Hand#1:
Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/08/20 - 09:28:04 (ET)
Table 'Klytia' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Forrest Gump ($32 in chips)
Seat 2: Kid Duck85 ($8 in chips)
Seat 3: Higgins71 ($3.95 in chips)
Seat 4: mkvnet ($25 in chips)
Seat 5: NuRoN1 ($57.45 in chips)
Seat 6: J_BLACK2008 ($49.95 in chips)
Seat 7: BabyNuke ($6.40 in chips)
Seat 8: omalleyno1 ($30.95 in chips)
Seat 9: koko2585 ($5.05 in chips)
NuRoN1: posts small blind $0.10
J_BLACK2008: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Forrest Gump [As Jd]
BabyNuke: folds
omalleyno1: folds
koko2585: folds
Forrest Gump: raises $0.75 to $1
Kid Duck85: folds
Higgins71: folds
mkvnet: folds
NuRoN1: folds
J_BLACK2008: calls $0.75
*** FLOP *** [Ah Kd Ks]
J_BLACK2008: bets $1.50
Forrest Gump: calls $1.50
*** TURN *** [Ah Kd Ks] [2d]
J_BLACK2008: bets $2
Forrest Gump: calls $2
*** RIVER *** [Ah Kd Ks 2d] [9h]
J_BLACK2008: checks
Forrest Gump: bets $0.50
J_BLACK2008: calls $0.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Forrest Gump: shows [As Jd] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
J_BLACK2008: mucks hand
Forrest Gump collected $9.65 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.10 | Rake $0.45
Board [Ah Kd Ks 2d 9h]
Seat 1: Forrest Gump showed [As Jd] and won ($9.65) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 2: Kid Duck85 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Higgins71 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: mkvnet (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: NuRoN1 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: J_BLACK2008 (big blind) mucked [8d Ac]
Seat 7: BabyNuke folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: omalleyno1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: koko2585 folded before Flop (didn't bet)


Hand #2
Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/08/20 - 09:29:29 (ET)
Table 'Klytia' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Forrest Gump ($36.65 in chips)
Seat 2: Kid Duck85 ($8 in chips)
Seat 3: Higgins71 ($3.95 in chips)
Seat 4: mkvnet ($25 in chips)
Seat 5: NuRoN1 ($57.35 in chips)
Seat 6: J_BLACK2008 ($44.95 in chips)
Seat 7: BabyNuke ($6.40 in chips)
Seat 8: omalleyno1 ($30.95 in chips)
Seat 9: koko2585 ($5.05 in chips)
J_BLACK2008: posts small blind $0.10
BabyNuke: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Forrest Gump [Qh Jh]
omalleyno1: folds
koko2585: folds
Forrest Gump: calls $0.25
Kid Duck85: folds
Higgins71: folds
mkvnet: folds
NuRoN1: folds
J_BLACK2008: calls $0.15
BabyNuke: checks
*** FLOP *** [4h As 7h]
J_BLACK2008: bets $0.75
BabyNuke: folds
Forrest Gump: calls $0.75
*** TURN *** [4h As 7h] [9c]
J_BLACK2008: checks
Forrest Gump: checks
*** RIVER *** [4h As 7h 9c] [Jc]
J_BLACK2008: bets $0.75
Forrest Gump: calls $0.75
*** SHOW DOWN ***
J_BLACK2008: shows [3s 4s] (a pair of Fours)
Forrest Gump: shows [Qh Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
Forrest Gump collected $3.60 from pot
Forrest Gump said, ";)"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3.75 | Rake $0.15
Board [4h As 7h 9c Jc]
Seat 1: Forrest Gump showed [Qh Jh] and won ($3.60) with a pair of Jacks
Seat 2: Kid Duck85 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Higgins71 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: mkvnet folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: NuRoN1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: J_BLACK2008 (small blind) showed [3s 4s] and lost with a pair of Fours
Seat 7: BabyNuke (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: omalleyno1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: koko2585 folded before Flop (didn't bet)



Hand #3
Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/08/20 - 09:23:21 (ET)
Table 'Sylvia IV' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Forrest Gump ($24.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Degering ($13.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Crotine ($24.60 in chips)
Seat 4: mattias2211 ($18.35 in chips)
Seat 5: marcel222 ($6.05 in chips)
Seat 6: skilljoy ($14.65 in chips)
Seat 7: kast295 ($36.45 in chips)
Seat 8: Tw3ntyThree ($4.30 in chips)
Seat 9: Sitgarth ($15 in chips)
kast295: posts small blind $0.10
Tw3ntyThree: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Forrest Gump [Ts Tc]
Sitgarth: folds
Sitgarth leaves the table
Forrest Gump: calls $0.25
Degering: calls $0.25
Crotine: folds
mattias2211: raises $0.75 to $1
marcel222: folds
skilljoy: folds
kast295: folds
Tw3ntyThree: folds
K2Pro joins the table at seat #9
Forrest Gump: calls $0.75
Degering: folds
*** FLOP *** [7c 7s Js]
Forrest Gump: checks
mattias2211: bets $1
Forrest Gump: calls $1
*** TURN *** [7c 7s Js] [4d]
Forrest Gump: checks
mattias2211: bets $1.50
Forrest Gump: calls $1.50
*** RIVER *** [7c 7s Js 4d] [Kc]
Forrest Gump: checks
mattias2211: bets $5
Forrest Gump: folds
Uncalled bet ($5) returned to mattias2211
mattias2211 collected $7.25 from pot
mattias2211: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.60 | Rake $0.35
Board [7c 7s Js 4d Kc]
Seat 1: Forrest Gump folded on the River
Seat 2: Degering folded before Flop
Seat 3: Crotine folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: mattias2211 collected ($7.25)
Seat 5: marcel222 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: skilljoy (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: kast295 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Tw3ntyThree (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Sitgarth folded before Flop (didn't bet)