Poker: Your strategy can depend on opponent’s style

By Steve Rosenbloom


Tribune Media Services

The style of opponent you're facing can have a big effect on the types of hands you elect to play.

Passive opponents, for instance, allow you to play a wider range of holdings. Aggressive opponents, meanwhile, require stronger starting hands, but the payoff can be bigger. At the 2008 World Series of Poker $10,000-buy-in main event at Las Vegas' Rio Hotel, aggressive pro Vanessa Rousso limped on the button with ace-10 of hearts after a player in late position limped ahead of her.

With blinds at $100-$200, the player in the small blind raised to $1,700.

"That's a pretty big raise," said Rousso, runner-up in the 2007 Ultimate Poker Challenge main event. "This player has been playing super-tight-aggressive, which means he was pretty selective about his starting hands, but when he elects to raise before the flop, he raises a lot. And then he tends to make a large continuation bet on the flop.

"It's good to play against an opponent who makes those large continuation bets because if you hit your flop, you're going to get a lot of extra chips when he bets into you and you can raise him. The other player calls, so now I have to call for value with the nut flush and I'm in position."

The flop came 2-4-6, two hearts, giving Rousso the nut-flush draw.

"The raiser leads out for $5,000," Rousso said. "Like I told you, he makes the big bets. Now, he can also have a hand here. Even if he has kings or queens, I'm 50-50 to win with the nut-flush draw. I have nine flush outs and the three other aces in the deck."

The first limper folded. Rousso faced leaving herself with a short stack if she only called, so she moved all in for about $15,000.

"He could have something like pocket 9s, where I'm actually a favorite with a 10, an ace or a heart," Rousso said. "He might fold pocket 10s or pocket jacks. You could tell he was more of a beginner, and beginners don't want to get eliminated from the main event early on. Whereas with me, I'm willing to gamble.

"He thinks for a little bit. He almost folds, but he calls with queens."

The turn blanked, but the river came an ace. Rousso doubled up.

News Added: 14 November, 2008

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