7
I’m Learning to Hate this Guy
So you’ve read the literature and you’ve learned the basics of tournament strategy. You’re raising with, oh, say, A-K, A-Q, and pairs above 8s. Tight-aggressive, according to anyone and everyone — that’s the way to win.
Then, as you sit down in the $2,500 no-limit event today, you notice a familiar face. It’s Erick Lindgren, and he’s in the 2 seat. “Not good,” is the first thing to cross your mind. It’s not long before you realize things are much worse than that.
Everyone else at the table seems to be behaving – raising rarely, but to a predictable amount, usually three times the big blind. It’s easy to know what they’re representing – they have, you know, big cards, big pairs – and you can respect and respond to that. But not Erick. Apparently he hasn’t read the book. He limps, he min raises, he flat calls under-the-gun open-raises.
He seems to be putting money in about forty percent of the pots. I mean, what the hell is this guy thinking? He’s playing way too many hands for most of them to be any good. It’s gets really hard to know where’s at.
Then there’s the other nasty thing – his betting. He makes these small bets into a good portion of the pots. And if he’s not betting, he calling. God forbid it’s checked around the flop. A bet is almost inevitable on the turn. Even if you raise in early position and follow up on the flop, he’s likely to call. And what are you supposed to do about that? You can’t really continue with Ace-King at that point. And for all you know, he picked up some sort of draw or hit two-pair on that T-7-5 flop.
Sure, it’s hard to dislike the guy. He’s amiable. He smiles and chats with the other players, especially in the middle of a hand. But that seems a little fishy, like he wants them to chat and give something away.
As you watch, Erick’s stack seems to grow steadily. Before long he’s got everyone at the table more than covered, which seems to fuel his relentlessness. You’ve got to figure out a way to slow this guy down. Maybe a couple of re-rasies will do it – put him in line.
But when someone makes a big re-raise, he dumps the hand without seeming to lose anything. Somehow, his stack seems exactly the same. Then the next hand he’s at it again, limping or raising and picking up all these damn pots.
Maybe they’ll break the table soon. If not, maybe you’ll pick up some cards. Or maybe he’ll be moved to another table. Then a thought occurs to you: “Maybe I should learn to play more hands. Looks fun to be that active, and it sure as hell can be effective.”
You think, “Maybe I need to find another book.”
