Constant Pusher -- Defense?

Huggie · #1 01-25-2006, 12:32 AM

Someone at the table is constantly pushing all-in, and he's the chip leader at the table. What can you do? You don't know what he has. I could call with an optimal hand, but it'd suck to lose to him catching with crappy cards, especially since I'm in second place at the table. No one else is calling, and when they do, he catches against them, building his stack even higher! What do you do in this situation?

Huggie · #2 01-25-2006, 12:40 AM

Well, I raised in MP with 99, and said "bring it"...he pushed with Q7s and didn't catch. I won t8000+ at 25/50 blinds. It felt great. He was crippled after that (about 3 BB's left), and lost on the next hand. :

ats back::

slambert · #3 01-25-2006, 12:43 AM

This depends on a ton of factors: what kind of cards has he shown down? where at the table is he relative to you? what stage of tourney, etc...

In short, pick him off with a monster

Huggie · #4 01-25-2006, 12:56 AM

[ QUOTE ]
This depends on a ton of factors: what kind of cards has he shown down? where at the table is he relative to you? what stage of tourney, etc...

In short, pick him off with a monster

[/ QUOTE ]
He's been showing off random suited cards, some pocket pairs...monsters didn't help, as someone with KK got him all in, and the guy flopped 2 pair. KK didn't improve. At least I was able to be the one to take his chips (even if it wasn't a monster per se).

snelgrave · #5 01-25-2006, 01:03 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This depends on a ton of factors: what kind of cards has he shown down? where at the table is he relative to you? what stage of tourney, etc...

In short, pick him off with a monster

[/ QUOTE ]
He's been showing off random suited cards, some pocket pairs...monsters didn't help, as someone with KK got him all in, and the guy flopped 2 pair. KK didn't improve. At least I was able to be the one to take his chips (even if it wasn't a monster per se).

[/ QUOTE ]

Then you somehow did it right. All you can do is get the cards in as the favorite. KK gets cracked all the time, but I'd rather be the guy getting it all in against the maniac then someone else. You don't need to wait for QQ+, just take what's better than his range.

Huggie · #6 01-25-2006, 01:05 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Then you somehow did it right. All you can do is get the cards in as the favorite. KK gets cracked all the time, but I'd rather be the guy getting it all in against the maniac then someone else. You don't need to wait for QQ+, just take what's better than his range.

[/ QUOTE ]
I also didn't want to go against him with less than a high PP, AK, AQ, or something similar since I would have busted out of the tourney against him if he caught against me. I hate when people lack skill and have to rely on opponents' fear (or whatever you want to call it) alone. On the plus side, it can work out to be easy chips if things work out...fortunately I was on the receiving side [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

mornelth · #7 01-25-2006, 07:35 AM

Was in a similar situation recently - a guy showed a tendency to pull Stop-n-go move several times. So I limped with K9s, flop was Qh 7s 2s - gave me an overcard and a flush draw, he was first to act and pushed again and I called (figuring my flush was good, Kings were outs and possibly 9s were outs too!). He actually had top pair on the flop (Q's), but I caught my flush on the turn and got rid of the guy. Optimal play? Not necesarily, but aginst a constant pusher you'll just have to take a stand at some point, and the more he pushes - the less of a hand you need to do it.

JMHO

AlmightyJay · #8 01-25-2006, 07:48 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This depends on a ton of factors: what kind of cards has he shown down? where at the table is he relative to you? what stage of tourney, etc...

In short, pick him off with a monster

[/ QUOTE ]
He's been showing off random suited cards, some pocket pairs...monsters didn't help, as someone with KK got him all in, and the guy flopped 2 pair. KK didn't improve. At least I was able to be the one to take his chips (even if it wasn't a monster per se).

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't be results-oriented. If this guy is pushing every hand, monsters have an extremely large equity edge. He's not going to catch every single time you call with KK or AA, just because he did once.

Rocco · #9 01-25-2006, 08:21 AM

Had a similar situation yesterday when we were one place from final table. Big stack kept pushing and no one dared to call him as everyone seemed to aim for the FT. I was 2nd stack and finally got KK. Called his all-in of course, and won. So it was me going to final table as chipleader instead of him. Think he busted on 7th or 6th...