Optimally countering deliberate spite calls

[jukofyork]

OK, so I've come across a couple of regulars who are in almost every game I play and they have decided to spite call me to the stage where I could be pushing 100% of my hands into them and their calls are still -EV for them (and me). I have mined hands with them in and they won't call the average player anything like as much, so either they are (wrongly) attempting to adjust their calling ranges vs my pushes or else they are deliberately spite calling me hoping that in the long run I will stop pushing so much from the SB and the EV they are giving up now will pay off in the end.

In 6max limit I came across a very similar problem when attempting to design a preflop strategy which accounted for the huge rake at the low levels: Basically, if the BB folded (correctly) any hands which were -EV for him to play vs your steal-raises then you could steal-raise with a much larger set of hands than if he decided to play a wider range against you (ie: to "spite" you by forcing you both to pay more rake...).

I eventually just opted to play the strategy which assumed they would always spite me by calling a wider range and overall this didn't make much difference, but in SNGs (where the margins are thinner) having players in every game who have decided to spite call me could be costing me several % points of ROI... My choices now are to simply give in and let them win the "spite call war" by forcing me to push less (knowing full well they will spite call me) or else find another strategy to play against them.

I don't know if anybody is familiar with the iterated prisoner's dilemma and it's best known solution "tit-for-tat"? The basic idea is that if they defect (ie: do something nasty to you) then you also defect (ie: do something nasty back to them) and if they cooperate you also cooperate back (ie: act symbiotically), and it is this strategy I'm going to adopt to deal with regulars who appear to be deliberately spite calling me from now on... In the context of the "spite call war" this can be accomplished by spite calling them back in such a way as to give up as much EV as they give up in their own spite calls.

Does anybody else use a similar strategy? Can anybody think of anything better - perhaps just plain old typing in the chat "you spite me I spite you" or something similar?

Juk [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

PS: I also have a similar problem with players who try to deliberately sit to my immediate right so as to take advantage of the fact I will correctly fold my hands vs their SB/BTN/CO pushes, but overall having another pushbot to your right is --EV because of their steals vs you and the steals they deny you by pushing before you have acted... From now on if they try to deliberately sit to my right, then I will start waiting for them to sit and do the same back to them even if it distracts me from the rest of my tables (ie: "tit-for-tat").