How to deal with Table Bullies!!

How do you deal with these table bullies - especially like in a fixed ticket game where you are in the bubble - but since they have larger chip stake - they purposely keep on shoving in to steal your blinds - and give you no chance to get in that money - and the worst part is - it's not like he is going to get an extra prize - everyone is getting the same ticket.... And you can't fight back coz half the time you are dealt with bad hands - and even if you get a decent hand - you know that 90 percent of the time - the bully will still get away coz of variance...

didi58xx said:

How do you deal with these table bullies - especially like in a fixed ticket game where you are in the bubble - but since they have larger chip stake - they purposely keep on shoving in to steal your blinds - and give you no chance to get in that money - and the worst part is - it's not like he is going to get an extra prize - everyone is getting the same ticket.... And you can't fight back coz half the time you are dealt with bad hands - and even if you get a decent hand - you know that 90 percent of the time - the bully will still get away coz of variance...

Click to expand...

I would avoid trying to fight the bully just for the sake of fighting. After all, you are not playing to win pots in a ticket bubble, but to survive.
So if he is constantly bullying, I would just tighten up a bit, let him steal some blinds, and wait for a proper spot to call. And when you do have a stack worth betting, you have to accept variance, that is, luck, and not overrate your hand.
The funny thing is, that if you have the same amount of tickets, the bully has to risk a lot to gain a small reward. Sometimes patience is the best weapon against such a player.
♠️

If you cant make it into the money by folding, then you will need to call, when your hand is strong enough to do so.

I think the key is not trying to beat the bully every time. If everyone gets the same ticket, surviving the bubble is more important than winning every blind. I'd tighten my calling range and wait for a genuinely strong spot to push back.

In this bubble situation, knowing the villain is shoving with any two cards, I would play 10-10+, AQs, AKo, and AKs—sticking to just those hands, especially if my stack is 30 big blinds or more.

It's all part of the game.

In the situation you list it's easy to deal with table bullies. You already have enough chips too get the ticket. Easy fold till the bubble busts. Hell once I'm that close with a huge stack unless the target MTT is next up very soon I'm not even sitting there watching anymore once I know I have a stack big enough to get to the ticket. I'm sitting out and moving on with life doing something else more productive.

If I still need to double up to get the ticket I simply stay patient and pick a good hand to play all-in against the bully.

Cheers!!!

Like everyone says, there really is only one way to deal with the big stack bully, and that is to be patient and call when strong.

However, there are some other signs to look for. What is his pre-flop opening frequency (and for that matter is he 3-betting anyone?), what are his sizings and does he prefer late position or not?

a) If his frequency is high (60%, 80% more ...) then he is being a bit reckless. He is obviously wide and we don't necessarily need a prime hand to catch him.
b) If his sizings are large (like 3x 4x, etc) then he is being reckless. When we are near the bubble, 2x will get a good number of folds, especially from short stacks.
c) If he opens equally from any seat, he is being very careless.

On the other hand if his frequency is more like 40-50%, and leans more heavily to late position, and folds more UtG and MP, and his sizings stay reasonable 2x to 2.5x bb then he is being a pretty smart bully.

We would rather tangle with Careless Bully than Smart Bully.

Careless Bully is betting too often, to wide, too large and he is going to get caught, if not by us, by someone else - and if someone else gets him, that's great for us. If he loses half of his stack, he likely could stop bullying.

If we do want to call him, obviously we will need a strong hand. With Careless Bully though we can widen. ATo for instance will be well ahead of most of his range. Of course making this more difficult is the fact that if we lose, we bubble out. We've come this far and we just want our ticket, so it is a really sweaty situation. This is why if done right, bullying is a very good strategy.

Relative position is big here. If he is on our left, we will be opening into him unless we are on the BB (and we should not be limping with a crazy bully at the table unless maybe we trap him with AA). If he is on our right, we can let him open and decide if we want to call.

Also, any time that we are in a situation (bully or not) where we have a significant chance of stacking off, isolation will be a big deal. We don't want to be in a multi pot if we can help it. We know that Bully on the HJ is wide but if we call from the BT and the BB joins in, BB will NOT be wide. This will be bad. Even if we have AA KK we'd probably prefer to not see that. Although isolation might not be too difficult if Bully is making everybody fold 80-90%.

And finally, this is another huge factor. What are the stack sizes? Just how big is our stack and just how much bigger is his stack? If he has us outstacked 6 to 1 or 8 to 1 or more, assume that he WILL be putting us all-in at some point in the hand. If he's smart, sooner rather than later. Even at 4 to 1 he might, depending on his hand strength and how crazy he is.

didi58xx said:

How do you deal with these table bullies - especially like in a fixed ticket game where you are in the bubble - but since they have larger chip stake - they purposely keep on shoving in to steal your blinds - and give you no chance to get in that money - and the worst part is - it's not like he is going to get an extra prize - everyone is getting the same ticket.... And you can't fight back coz half the time you are dealt with bad hands - and even if you get a decent hand - you know that 90 percent of the time - the bully will still get away coz of variance...

Click to expand...

There’s not much we can do except wait for the right opportunity. If someone has a much bigger stack and keeps shoving, trying to fight them with bad hands is usually just going to make things worse. I think the hardest part is accepting that sometimes you simply have to let them steal a few blinds. It’s frustrating, but losing a couple of blinds is better than risking your whole tournament with a weak hand just because you want to fight back. When a decent hand finally comes, then you have to be ready to play it. Until then, I’d rather stay patient, protect my stack, and wait. The bully can’t keep applying pressure forever, and eventually we’ll get a hand or a situation where we can fight back. In these ticket games, especially when everyone gets the same prize, I think survival is even more important. There’s no reason to take a huge risk just to prove a point. Sometimes the best strategy is simply to keep your head down, wait for the right moment, and let the other player make the mistake.

ICM-wise you gotta tighten up really bad anyway. Remember it's poker so even if you wait for a huge hand, you may still lose a preflop all in. Sometimes it helps to just 3-bet all in once, so the "bully" is less likely to go after your blinds.

It’s often frustrating to play against this type of player, but it can be a good opportunity to take their chips. I usually wait a few rounds, and when I get a good hand, I call their all-in.

didi58xx said:

How do you deal with these table bullies - especially like in a fixed ticket game where you are in the bubble - but since they have larger chip stake - they purposely keep on shoving in to steal your blinds - and give you no chance to get in that money - and the worst part is - it's not like he is going to get an extra prize - everyone is getting the same ticket.... And you can't fight back coz half the time you are dealt with bad hands - and even if you get a decent hand - you know that 90 percent of the time - the bully will still get away coz of variance...

Click to expand...

I wouldn’t try to fight the bully every hand. If it’s a satellite where everyone gets the same ticket, survival and stack preservation are extremely important. I’d wait for a decent hand and a good position, then let him make the mistake. Also, don’t forget that variance works both ways — sometimes the bully runs into your AA and suddenly becomes very quiet.

attack with good hands, wait for the moment when you know they will donate chips due to theiraggressiveplay

Ignore them, and show them a bluff when you bluff them, slow roll them with your winning hands, that's the only revenge that makes sense

Mazembe said:

Ignore them, and show them a bluff when you bluff them, slow roll them with your winning hands, that's the only revenge that makes sense

Click to expand...

I'd rather just let them bet into my trap and take their money.

Ignore the big stack bully near the bubble. He is having fun stealing our blinds. Your best bet is to just fold and fold and fold until you are in the money.

that's just a pot-stealing tactic, just stay calm and wait for a good hand

Is your goal to beat them? If so, wait for a strong hand and call them all-in; if not, just aim to get into the prize zone and the game won't be as intense after that.

I wouldn't try to defend every big blind. In a fixed payout bubble, the player with the most chips has an enormous advantage and can intimidate players with medium and small chips.

The key is to wait for good opportunities, bet hard when you have a chance of retiring, and avoid overstepping just to “hold your position”. And don't get obsessed with variance: if the decision is correct based on the ranks and the ICM, losing your hand doesn't mean you played poorly.

Bullying generally make mind unstable
To always focus on game
Always give your response by playing Good game
That's will slap for him