How Do You React to an Aggressive Player at the Table? 🔥😅

Pitonealal

Pitonealal

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Hi everyone!

We've all been through this: you sit down at a table, get ready to play big, and then this guy shows up. Whoever raises every hand is 3-beta, as if it's no longer fashionable, and barrelits on the turn and river like chips grow on trees 😂. This is very unsettling at first. But over time, I've learned that aggressive players are both the most annoying and the most profitable opponents... if you adapt correctly.


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Step 1: Don't take it personally 🙃

The first reaction of each of us is: “This maniac doesn't respect me, I'll show it to him!” But that's the trap. If you let your ego control your reaction, you'll start giving too weak grades or getting involved in others' affairs. Aggression works because it makes us emotional. So rule number one: breathe, be patient, and remember — this is just a strategy, not personal.


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Step 2: Tighten up and catch

Against a player who constantly raises and contbets, the best adjustment is to narrow down your opening range and wait for strong hands. When the monster finally comes across, don't scare him away — just let him hang himself.

👉 Example: you have QQ on the big blind, the maniac opens the button, you make a 3-bet, and he calls. The flop comes with low cards. Instead of replaying, sometimes just check in and give him three streets. You'd be shocked how often they bluff the whole stack.


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Step 3: Don't roll up too much 🚫

At the same time, you can't just fold every time. Aggressive players know that people are afraid and make money from folds. Add some heroic calls to good bluff catchers, like a top couple with a good kicker. Even one right call can slow them down. It's like sending a signal: “I'm not your victim” . 😎


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Step 4: Use your position to your advantage 📍

This is very important. Playing without a position against maniacs is hell. If you can, sit to their left. This is how you'll act after them, see what they're doing, and control the size of the bank. This may not always be possible in live games, but it makes a huge difference online.


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Step 5: Remember they're exposing themselves 💥

The beauty of hyperaggressive players is that they take it too far sooner or later. They'll be all-in with the bottom pair, a triple barrel without air, or knock out stacks simply because they can't stop pressing buttons. You don't need to “beat” them with force — you just need to let them self-destruct.


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My personal trick 🧠

When I feel like I'm in tilt, I remind myself, “This guy gives me free chips, I just have to wait for delivery.” Suddenly my annoyance gives way to excitement. Instead of thinking, “Oh, but not again,” I start thinking, “Please raise my bet again.” This mental push really helps.


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sandy358

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Against a player who constantly raises and contbets, the best adjustment is to narrow down your opening range and wait for strong hands. When the monster finally comes across, don't scare him away — just let him hang himself.
Heavily depends on their postflop bet sizing. You generally want to tighten-up and reduce your 3-bet frequency against maniacs who tend to overbet (as bet-size adjustments are much heavier than general range adjustments), in other cases you can generally play looser, call down 100% of the time even with a strong middle pair (if your opponent barrels every hand) and generate EV in the long run, as their ranges are generally very weak.

Tightening up heavily and slowplaying will be a mistake against maniacs who bet smaller, as you are missing on profits with the weaker hands in question, while not extracting enough value with the nuts.
 
Newzooozooo

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Aggressive play can yield good results, but aggressive play requires experience and skill. If one of these components is missing, then the aggressive player plays aggressively but not for long :)
These are my favourite opponents, they bring in the profits :)
 
Mig32

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Against an aggressive player, I try not to get frustrated or start fighting back with weak hands. Instead, I tighten up a bit and wait for strong holdings to let them hang themselves by overbetting. Sometimes I’ll also flat-call more instead of raising, keeping their bluffs in the pot. The key for me is patience—letting their aggression work in my favor rather than trying to out-bluff them.

I also make sure to call only with strong hands and avoid bluffing too much, since overly aggressive players are often willing to pay and test you down to the river. That way, I maximize value when I’m ahead and save chips when I’m not.
 
LUKADONCICMVP

LUKADONCICMVP

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be more aggressive easy game!!
 
Mauricio Perrotta

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You just have to wait until you have good cards and try to catch him
 
hardongear

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For cash games....
Hyper aggressively. Time to pump up those 3-bet numbers to isolate him while being able to keep a huge range advantage and still be starting with the best hand majority of the time. Now the why? Because if we don't get his money in less then 30-45 mins(if it takes him that long to lose it) someone else will most likely have it by then. And a maniac's money is the easiest to make. It's way harder and longer process/work getting money outta of a nit who always seeing monsters under the bed and folding.
The trick is avoiding losing a big hand to the other decent to good players at the table who will adjust the same way you do to the maniac. It's kinda like this quote from Rounders...

For MTT's.....
Way more conservative as one mistake can bust you out of the MTT. Here I take a more tighten up and slow play a monster approach. Donkey loves to pull the cart up the hill so let him. It's easier then me pushing the cart and having him potentially fold.

Cheers!!!
 
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steve01991

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i try to chat them up, throw them off their game a bit, you would be surprised how many times this actually works, they start thinking of an answer to your chat, then once that happens you have the upper hand.
 
recerveau

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Step 4: Use your position to your advantage

Without a doubt.
 
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