my toughest opponent - passive opponent NL

[BarryLyndon]

As opposed to HUSNGS, where this kind of play is a nightmare, in cash games, I think (hope) it's easier. Basically, I like to small ball them to [censored] death and try to whittle them down. I bluff, but only at small pots; HARDLY ever at raised pots. Eventually, I feel they are going to confuse on of their traps for one of mine. I throw in a few checks with made hands on the flop to throw him off. Trying to "build" pots against them by leading the flop is messy because of their tendency to fold or shy away from a double barrel when they feel they can't trap.

Basically, if you start mimicing his game (giving the appearance of, that is), chances are he will crack. The biggest weapon these players have, IMO, is that they can induce boredom and angst. So, I try not to create big pots against them and make large, boredom fueled mistakes. I tighten up my raising range, but if he's going to let me limp in position 9/9 times, I'm gonna take it and then bet 1/2 the pot a ton. Maybe I lose a few BBs, but when I start getting hands and mix my raising with my limping, it usually works out OK.

Now, things get more complicated, and this is where I [censored] lose my [censored] so badly, when this happens:

Hero limps on button, Villain raises 2xBB.
Hero raises on button, Villain minraises.

On the flop:

Check, Hero bets 2nd pair, Villain minraises.

Or, when in position:

Villain bets 2 BB into 9BB pot, action on Hero?

And it doesn't end. You have to mix playing back at the minraises with air/draws with playing back at them with made hands because, if you don't, you lose a whole bunch against the minraises but only gain your one minraise back when you have a hand, since a lot of times, villain will shut down. It blows.

Barry

[KakiTee]

i hate these guys sooooo much, i tend to open 4X V them.