There is a secret to winning pots that all successful poker players know. It’s about sensing weakness and recognising spots where your cards don’t matter. In this series of articles I’m going to examine when it’s most likely that your opponent is weak and explore some techniques for attacking weakness in cash games. In this article, I’ ll focus on small-stakes no-limit hold’em.

Small-stakes hold’em can be very frustrating because players don’t always fold despite everything telling them they should. With this information in mind, recognising spots where you can attack weakness can be a daunting task.

It’s far easier to attack weakness when playing against no more than three opponents. If you’re at a table full of calling stations and constantly playing multi-way pots with more than three opponents, I wouldn’t even bother trying to attack weakness – just sit and patiently wait for a hand. However, there is one exception to that rule and if the situation is right, it’s a play I love to use.

THE SUPER SQUEEZE

You’re in a $1/$2 game where most of your opponents are quite predictable. There’s one player who’s constantly raising as a ‘pot sweetener’. Almost every hand he makes it $6 to go for no good reason. The rest of the players at the table, the lambs, call most of the time. They’ll re-raise if they have a premium hand, but they aren’t looking to ‘trap’ anyone.

The action comes around to you. This is a great spot to attack weakness. The original raiser probably doesn’t have a great hand. The lambs probably don’t have much either, as they would have re-raised if they had. So what do you do? This is where I’ll put in a big over-bet and try to take the hand down pre-flop.

I might try this with 7-6 or A-A. If I do it with 7-6 and don’t get called, I might show to set a trap for later on. This is kind of an advanced ‘squeeze play’ as it follows the same pattern of one player raising and a few players calling. You then put a big re-raise in and take down the pot pre-flop.

This move is based on a particular table dynamic where there is a loose-passive pre-flop raiser and some other fairly straightforward players. This is more common than you would think, but be careful as one aggressive-creative player can spoil your party. Another caveat: if the under-the-gun player limps in then beware. Players love to limp in under the gun with pocket Aces hoping for a raise.

CONTINUATION BETS

Most players have learned that after they raise pre-flop, they should almost always bet on the flop. As this practice is so widespread it’s a good plan to devise a counter-strategy. As your opponent will only hit the flop about one out of three times, there is definitely an opportunity here that you can take advantage of.

If you notice an opponent making continuation bets all the time (most tracking software will give you the exact percentages of this) you can occasionally check-raise when you think he might be weak. He can’t have a hand every time. Since you don’t want to blindly check- raise and just hope you’re right, you must pay attention to his patterns of play.

Some players will raise different amounts pre-flop based on what they have. Be aware of this and keep track of the hands he has and how much he’s raising. For example, some players will raise more with pocket tens to ‘protect them’ (awful play by the way). You can use this information to help determine if your opponent liked the flop or not. If he didn’t, go ahead and check-raise.

FORWARD THINKING

Another play is to pre-empt your foe. What I mean by this is to bet into your opponent when you’re out of position. Take his position away from him. Say you are in a $1/$2 game and have noticed that one opponent never raises from the blinds unless he has a high pocket pair. He is a bit tight and doesn’t like to play from out of position unless he’s got the goods. A player in early position raises to $6 and two players call. You decide to call with 5♥-4♥ on the button.

Mr Predictable peels back his cards and reaches for his chips. He re-raises, making it $26. Everyone knows what he has and they fold, but this is exactly why you should call. There are two reasons for a speculative call here:

1. IF YOU GET LUCKY ENOUGH TO FLOP A MONSTER, HE’S PROBABLY GOING TO PAY YOU OFF WITH AN OVERPAIR

2. IF THE FLOP CONTAINS A HIGH CARD OR TWO, YOU CAN TAKE THE POT AWAY FROM HIM IF HE SHOWS WEAKNESS

The flop is A-9-4 and your opponent puts in a smallish continuation bet of $25. I’m not buying it. Remember, you know he raised with a high pocket pair. He could have Aces, but his weak bet is a signal that he doesn’t like the Ace and you’re in position to take advantage. You raise him, making it $70 straight. He seems disgusted and shakes his head before mucking his pocket Jacks.

Be very careful. If your opponent checks in this situation, he might have flopped a set. Also, make sure that he has enough chips left to fold. If you have no fold equity, don’t bluff. You could be right, but he will still feel compelled to call because he has too much invested.

ATTACKING WEAK BETS

How many times have you played at a low-stakes table and seen one of your opponents throw in some garbage small bet? Generally it screams weakness and begs for us to attack it. Occasionally it can be indicative of strength, but usually it’s weak. Try to figure this out before you commit too many chips.

Here is an example from a hand I played in an online $0.50/$1 cash game. I was in the big blind with Q-2 and nobody raised, so obviously I saw the flop along with six other players. The flop came 10♥-6♣-3♦ and I checked, as did everyone else. The turn paired the 10. Again, everyone checked to the button, but this time the button put a donkish $3 bet into the $7 pot. I found this hard to believe. What was he trying to sell me? He flopped top pair on the button and checked, but now he wants to bet?

I didn’t think he had much and for that matter, I didn’t think anyone else had much of anything either. I decided to test my theory and I raised. I made it $10 straight and one by one the players all folded. The donk on the button thought for a while and then folded. The weak bet didn’t match up to any kind of hand that could withstand some pressure.

The key to this tactic, as ever, is to pay attention to your opponents. Watch how they play and how they bet and trust your instincts. If your gut says your opponent is weak, he probably is. Have the conviction to attack that weakness. The ability to exploit such situations is the difference between being a winning player or not.