.jpg "Identifying and Exploiting Weak Tight Poker Players")
In poker, it’s easy to spot recreational players because they usually play way too many hands.
But just because someone seems to play a reasonable number of hands preflop, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good player.
While tight players usually won’t make as many mistakes as their fishy counterparts, you can still beat them fairly easily if you know what to look for.
In this article, you will learn how to easily spot and crush weak and tight players in your game.
The best part about these strategies is that you don’t even need to have a strong hand to pull them off, so you can rely on them even if the cards don’t seem to fall your way.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Steal Weak Tight Player's Blinds More Often
Tight players will usually have a hard time playing hands out of position.
This means you can get an immediate edge over them by stealing their blinds with a wider range.
To blind steal means to open-raise in late table positions (cutoff, button, and the small blind) with the intention of making the blinds fold and taking down the pot preflop.
Example:
You have K♥️J♠️ on the button and there are weak tight players in the blinds.
You should raise.
A lot of players at the lower stakes will usually make two distinct mistakes when it comes to playing in the blinds.
They will either play too many hands from the blinds, or they will not defend their blinds enough.
Players who play too many hands out of the blinds are usually recreational players who can be easily beat by a simple tight and aggressive strategy.
Overly tight players, on the other hand, will usually refrain from playing in the blinds because they don’t want to play the hand with a positional disadvantage.
When you’re playing in the blinds, you will always play out of position post flop.
The only exception is when you’re playing in the big blind against the small blind.
So tight players will usually overfold to blind stealing attempts, which means you can basically print money against them by just playing a wider range.
The beauty of this strategy is that your hand strength is often totally irrelevant.
For example, if your opponent is folding 8 or 9 out of 10 times to blind stealing attempts, you can blind steal with just about any 2 random cards.
Of course, it’s better to blind steal with hands that have at least some playability post flop in case you get called.
But even then, you will often have a positional advantage post flop, so you can keep applying the pressure on your opponents.
You should do most of your blind stealing from the button, because you will always play in position post flop in this seat.
If you have a very tight player on your immediate left, blind stealing becomes even more profitable.
A tight player is less likely to 3-bet you preflop, meaning they’re less likely to punish your rampant blind stealing.
To 3-bet means to raise against another player's open-raise.
Also, a tight player on your left allows you to open-raise with a wider range in the cutoff (the seat before the button).
Again, this is because tight players are less likely to get involved in the pot with you, either by flat calling or 3-betting you on the button.
So which hands are best to blind steal with?
If your hand has any sort of playability post flop, chances are you can open-raise it on the button.
This can be as much as 40%, or even 50% of all starting hands in no-limit hold’em.
Of course, this is with the assumption that you have very passive players left to act in the blinds.
Here are a few example hands you can blind steal with:
A♥4♣
J♦6♦
K♠3♠
T♦9♠
While hands like these can put you in a lot of trouble if you play them from early table positions or the blinds, they are perfectly fine to blind steal with on the button.
And if you get called, these hands are not totally unplayable, so you can either keep applying the pressure post flop, either by bluffing or by actually making a strong hand.
I actually discuss this more in my recent 5 under-rated poker strategies you should know video.
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2. Three-Bet Bluff Against Stealing Attempts From Weak Tight Players
Most tight and passive players will still play a wider range from late table positions (the cutoff and the button).
The positional advantage allows you to open-raise wider ranges, so even weaker players will usually loosen up in late positions.
However, they will still have a hard time reacting to aggressive lines, and will usually give up unless they have a very strong hand.
This is where light 3-betting comes into play.
To light 3-bet (aka bluff 3-bet) means to raise against another player’s open-raise with the intention of taking down the pot preflop.
Example:
Weak Tight player raises from the button and you re-raise with 9♥️7♥️ from the big blind.
If another player raises against your 3-bet, this is called a 4-bet, then a 5-bet and so on.
Light 3-betting is an extremely effective tactic against weaker players for a few reasons.
Weaker players are likely to only 3-bet very strong hands, like Aces, Kings, Ace-King and so on.
So when they see you 3-betting, they will assume that you’re also doing so with a very strong range.
This means they will usually give you the benefit of the doubt and just “let you have it this time”.
Also, when you 3-bet against late position open-raises, you are attacking very wide and weak ranges.
And most hands in that range simply can’t stand the pressure of a 3-bet, so again, your opponents will often just let you have it.
Finally, the third reason you should add a light 3-bet in your arsenal has to do with the meta-game.
If you keep pestering your opponents with light 3-bets, not only will this irritate them, but may compel them to start fighting back against you.
This can really work in your favour once you actually do wake up with a monster hand.
Now your pocket Aces are much more likely to get action, because your opponents will stop giving your 3-bets so much credit.
In other words, you will always keep your opponents guessing, which makes them more likely to make mistakes when playing against you.
As for which hands you should light 3-bet with, the same principle applies as with blind stealing.
If your opponent overfolds to 3-bet, your hand strength is often not as important, but you’re still better off 3-bet bluffing with hands that are not totally unplayable.
But by far the best 3-bet bluffing hands are small suited Aces (A5s through A2s). The "s" by the way means that both cards are the same suit.
Example:
A♦️3♦️
These hands have great nut potential, with the ability to make both straights and nut flushes.
They also have blocker power, which makes them ideal for light 3-betting.
A blocker is a card in your hand that reduces the number of strong combos from your opponent’s range.
For example, an Ace in your hand makes it less likely for your opponent to have strong combos like pocket Aces, Ace-King, Ace-Queen and so on.
Exploit Weak Tight Players Example Hand #1
Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt A♥2♥ in the SB (small blind). A tight and passive player open-raises to 2.5 BB from the CO (cutoff).
You: ???
You should light 3-bet to 10 BB.
This is a good spot to attack your opponent’s weak open-raising range and try to take down the pot right away.
Calling here can lead to a lot of awkward spots, because you will play the pot out of position, without the initiative, and with an easily dominated hand.
Worse yet, the big blind can go for a 3-bet squeeze and make it harder for you to win the hand.
You can check out my article on how to use the advanced 3-bet squeeze play to pick up a lot of dead money preflop.
If you 3-bet here, you will often win the pot right away, because your opponent will have a hard time reacting to your aggression.
And even if you get called, you have a great hand that can flop a lot of strong combinations post flop.
This means you have more than one way to win the hand: you can either make your opponent fold, or you can flop a strong combination and keep betting for value.
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3. Float the Flop With a Wider Range
Most players at the lower stakes will make a standard continuation bet on the flop, but won’t keep barreling on the turn unless they happen to have a very strong hand.
In other words, a lot of weaker players will play the turn very straightforwardly.
Against these players, floating the flop can be a very effective strategy.
To float the flop means to call the flop continuation bet with the intention of taking down the pot on future streets, usually with a bluff.
To float the flop, you simply call c-bets with a wider range than usual, then try to take down the pot with a simple half pot bet when your opponent checks to you.
This is why it’s important to float the flop when you’re playing in position.
This is why it’s important to float the flop when you’re playing in position.
While you can technically float out of position as well, floating in position is going to be a lot more profitable.
That’s because you get to see what your opponent does first on future streets.
For example, when your opponent fails to make a turn c-bet, it’s usually a sign of weakness.
That’s because most players at the lower stakes are just going to keep barreling if they have a strong hand.
They will usually be pretty bad at protecting their checking ranges.
To protect your checking range means to occasionally check with your strong hands so your overall checking range doesn’t become too weak.
If you always bet with your strong hands, but always check with your weak hands, you’re going to become fairly predictable to players who pay attention to your betting patterns.
But again, most players at the lower stakes don’t really think in these terms, so their betting patterns will usually be quite predictable.
Like with some other strategies on this list, your hand strength is often irrelevant when it comes to floating the flop.
That’s because you’re aiming to take down the pot before getting to showdown, and not by making the best hand.
Of course, it’s better to float with hands that have at least some chance of improvement on future streets, so you’re not drawing completely dead.
But what matters more than your hand strength is the playing tendencies of your opponents.
If you’ve already figured out your opponent is weak and passive, chances are you can totally dominate them with this strategy.
Exploit Weak Tight Players Example Hand #2
Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt 3♦3♥ on the BU (button). A tight and passive player open-raises to 2.5 BB from the CO (cutoff). You call.
Flop: T♥6♠2♣
Pot: 6.5 BB
Villain bets 2.5 BB.
You: ???
You should call.
Even though you missed a set in this spot, it doesn’t mean you should give up the hand altogether.
The flop is very dry here, so your opponent is just as likely to have missed the flop as you did.
So if they check on the turn, it’s usually a good indicator they are ready to give up the hand.
When they check the turn, you can take a stab at the pot with a simple half pot bet, almost regardless of the actual turn card.
Also, there’s a slight chance you can spike a set on future streets, so you can sometimes win a massive pot if your opponent has some sort of an overpair, like pocket Aces, pocket Kings and so on.
If your opponent keeps barreling on the turn and you miss your set again, you can just get away from the hand without much of a loss.
These days, it's not enough to wait around for the nuts to be a profitable long term winner.
You also need to look for edges in less than ideal circumstances, like when you miss the flop and you don't have the initiative.
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4. Double Barrel on Scare Cards
Double barreling is tightly correlated with the previous strategy about floating the flop, except this time the roles are reversed.
To double barrel means to bet the turn after you’ve made a continuation bet on the flop.
The pattern should be familiar by now: most weaker players at the lower stakes will have a hard time dealing with incessant aggression.
Just like most players will play the turn straightforwardly as the preflop aggressors, so too will they play when they are the preflop caller.
To put in another way, most players will give up their hand on the turn unless they have a very strong hand (which is usually not the case).
So what do you do on the turn after your opponent calls your flop c-bet?
The answer is: when in doubt, keep barreling!
Take this with a grain of salt, of course.
If you’re playing against a calling station, you’re better off not pulling any big bluffs.
But when playing against weak and passive opponents, this is exactly what you should be doing.
Most players will call the flop with a fairly wide range, but won’t have the fortitude to keep calling you down with marginal holdings on future streets.
So how do you know if it’s profitable to keep betting the turn as a bluff?
This depends on many factors, namely how likely your opponent is to fold to a double barrel.
Some other factors to keep in mind is how the turn card influences the board runout and both your and your opponent’s range.
For example, high cards like Aces and Kings will favour the preflop aggressor’s range, because they will naturally have more Ax and Kx hands in their range than the preflop caller.
Consider double barreling on these “scare cards”, because your opponent will have a harder time calling you down.
You should also consider double barreling when you pick up some equity, like some sort of a draw.
This way, you’re essentially semi-bluffing; you can either win the pot right away by making your opponent fold, or you can make a strong hand on the river and potentially take down an even bigger pot.
Exploit Weak Tight Players Example Hand #3
You are dealt A♦Q♦ in the MP (middle position). You open-raise to 3 BB. A tight and passive player calls in the BB (big blind).
Pot: 6.5 BB
Flop: J♣6♥3♠
Villain checks. You bet 3 BB. Villain calls.
Pot: 12.5 BB
Turn: K♦
Villain checks.
You: ???
You should bet 7 BB (double barrel).
This is a good spot for a double barrel for a few reasons.
First of all, you picked up some equity on the turn with a nut straight draw.
The turn is also a scare card, meaning your opponent will have a hard time calling you down if they have some Jx hand like QJ, JT, J9, or some pocket pair like pocket Tens, pocket Nines and so on.
On the other hand, the King is a great card for your range, because you naturally have a lot of Kx hands in your range, like AK, KQ, KJ and so on.
This means you can credibly represent a strong hand and put a lot of pressure on your opponent.
Identifying and Exploiting Weak Tight Players - Summary
Tight players will usually make fewer mistakes than loose recreational players, but you don’t necessarily need to learn a lot of advanced poker strategy to beat them.
These players will usually play very straightforwardly, so you can absolutely crush them if you apply enough pressure at the right times.
To sum up, here’s how you can easily beat tight and passive opponents with a few simple adjustments to your game.
1. Steal their blinds more often
Tight players will often refrain from playing out of position, so they won’t defend their blinds as much as they should.
To steal their blinds, simply open-raise a wider range from late table positions (the cutoff, the button, and the small blind).
You should do most of your blind stealing from the button, because you will always play in position post flop in case you get called.
2. 3-bet bluff against late position open-raises
Most tight players will give 3-bets a lot of credit, and they will overfold to 3-bets.
To exploit this, try 3-bet bluffing with a wider range, especially against late position open-raises.
3. Float the flop with a wider range
Most players know by now that they should make a continuation bet on the flop most of the time.
However, this is where their aggression usually stops unless they have a very strong hand.
Against these “turn honest” players, simply call the flop with a wider range, then take a stab at the pot every time they check the turn to you.
4. Double barrel on scare cards
Firing a second shell on the turn puts a lot of pressure on many medium strength hands in your opponent’s range.
This means you can often make them fold on the turn, or put them in an awkward spot where they have to bluff catch with marginal holdings.
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This article was written by Fran Ferlan
Poker player, writer and coach
Specializing in live and online cash games
For coaching enquiries, contact Fran at fran.redline@gmail.com
Or apply directly for poker coaching with Fran, right here
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