Defense against continuation bet??

[tyboy74]

In my regular home game. There is a player who like to raise preflop with high pocket pairs (Pair 10 and higher) and two cards higher then a 8. And on the flop no matter what comes he will fire out a continuation bet if it is check to him. So my question to all is how should I go about playing him when he makes this kind of play? What can I do preflop? Should I reraise him preflop if I have a hand like AQ, Ak or Pocket Queens and higher? Should I try to call his continuation bet on the flop and try to take the pot away from him on the turn with a raise? Any advice will be helpful. Thanks!!!

[kmoneyk]

it sounds like this opponent is playing too far above the rim and may revolutionize NLHE. fold preflop

[Moose747]

There are a number of ways to take money away from this opponent. The safest is to just play tight aggressive, where you fold bad cards and raise good ones. Absolutely feel free to raise AQ+ preflop if this guy's betting 30% of hands. Postflop you're going to want to check raise made hands. There's no sense betting top pair if opponent's going to bet if for you.

Now the real question I'd be asking here is whether your opponent's actually any good. That is, will he lay down some of these bluffs he's clearly making to a strong raise. If so, you may want to occasionally raise and check-raise as bluffs. This is a risky play, but likely a profitable one.

[You're No Daisy]

If in fact you have this dead-nuts read on your buddy, you need to consider what your hole cards are. From what you're telling us, he plays "Broadway Cards." If you have AA-QQ you might want to think about re-raising him preflop. I would call with AK but there are some here who might re-raise with that as well. I just ran some stats on Poker Stove of Broadway hands plus 99, T9-A9 vs. AA-QQ, AQ (suited/unsuited), and AK (suited/unsuited). If you only play those hands against him you'll have 68% equity. Since you know this guy plays loose, you need to tighten up your starting hand requirements and make sure you have position on him with your drawing hands. For example, he'll play any two cards higher than an 8, right? You will never know exactly what he's holding, but let's put him on a range of say K9-KQ, A9-AK (yes he could have AA-QQ too...but work with me here). He's in early position and raises. You get to act after him holding JT suited. If you call his raise with this hand and the flop comes out 8, 9, 4 with two cards in your suit you're in pretty good shape with an OESD and 4 cards to a flush. You say he'll automatically put out a continuation bet if he completely misses the flop (if he's holding A9 or K9 it's a value bet since he got a piece of the flop). With this knowledge I'd put in a re-raise to see where I stand. If he folds, great! If he calls, it might get him to check the Turn which is great for you if you don't hit your straight or flush on the turn. This will get you a free card on the River and with all those outs you have a decent chance of making your hand. If he re-raises you then you're probably beat and like I said before, at least you know where you stand and you can get away from the hand. This has worked for me in the past but I don't use this tactic all the time especially out of position (I would check and not raise). If he's holding AA-QQ in this particular situation (especially QQ), we hope a Queen hits on the Turn or River giving him a set of Queens and you a straight (or flush if it matches your suit). I hope this helps.

[Moose747]

[ QUOTE ]
He's in early position and raises. You get to act after him holding JT suited. If you call his raise with this hand and the flop comes out 8, 9, 4 with two cards in your suit you're in pretty good shape with an OESD and 4 cards to a flush. You say he'll automatically put out a continuation bet if he completely misses the flop (if he's holding A9 or K9 it's a value bet since he got a piece of the flop). With this knowledge I'd put in a re-raise because my hand is a monster and there's no way I ever fold this.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Gorby]

What happens if you bet first after the flop? Does he re-raise everytime, or slow down?

[tyboy74]

Since I have an image of a tight player in his mind, I think if I bet out he will probably fold if he completely miss the flop, but will not hesitate to call if he have any kind of draw or even bottom pair.

[cts]

[ QUOTE ]
I would call with AK but there are some here who might re-raise with that as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol. You suck at poker fyi.

[alwaysburied]

I know it's a home game, but could you perhaps get position on him in someway? If not, I'd just play a tight-aggressive game against him. Don't try to get too fancy, play your straightforward game. I don't like trying to take pots away from these guys with nothing. If he continues betting when you've got A high, he'll continue betting next time when you've got A high flush, right? Be patient, and strike with fury!
-md
www.myspace.com/iambabyd

[B1ight]

I didn't read any of the responses but the best defense against a c-bet or semi-bluff imho is a Reraise if you have the ability to improve your hand and getting correct odds, etc.