Poker rooms are made up of many different types of players -- especially bullies.
Everyone I know has been confronted by a bully at one time or another in his or her life. In my case it happened when I was attending a public school in Blythedale, PA. We lived in a coal mining community and my brothers and I carried out lunches to school.
We were almost always confronted by roving gangs of bullies who would outnumber us. They would stop us on the road, go through our brown bags, take what they wanted and let us keep the rest. It got so bad that I decided to fight back. It was a painful solution but it worked and the bullying stopped.
The same thing happens at a poker table. There are bullies who will try to intimidate you into giving up the pot. As long as they can get away with their bullying tactics, they will continue doing it and make your life miserable while taking your chips.
I have a confession to make: I would much rather be the bully than the victim of one and that is one of my goals when I sit down at a poker table.
The first thing I do is to determine who the bully is. If there is more than one at my table, no problem. I know how to handle them. I set a trap.
Bullies strike hard and often and they don't always have the cards to back their raises and re-raises. Knowing this to be a fact, I simply wait until I get a really good hand. Then when the bully raises or re-raises the pot, I am in a strong position to handle him.
Believe me when I say it gives me great pleasure to cut a bully down to size.
I wait until I get a hand like pocket aces along with a deuce and three. If they are double suited, so much the better. If I get a favorable flop, I stand to make a lot of money on the bully's aggressive play.
After winning a few hands, you would be surprised at how respectful the bully acts toward you. It's almost like he becomes your friend.
That is when you should be applying the pressure and becoming the table bully. But don't make those raises on poor hands. Wait until your cards are above average and then fire in those extra chips.
The raise and re-raise remain two of the most powerful weapons in poker. Bullies misuse them and that is why they can be beaten. But you have to be ready to battle in order to make it happen.
Doyle Brunson put it this way to me in an interview. He said, 'I often play against aggressive players who hammer away at me, raising almost every pot. I put up with it for a while until I get tired of it, then I fire back. Nobody is going to beat up on me forever.'
Believe it or not, you can make friends of bullies once you gain their respect. I have made a couple of friends of such players at Talking Stick Casino and they become good friends because they understand you.
I don't care how mild-mannered you are, whether you are female, male, young or old. Stand up to the bullies. You will be protecting your bankroll as well as your self respect and that, my friend, is what poker is all about.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
