Many times I have played a hand of poker, which I would agree is questionable, for example you have two running cards 10 jack for example, and the guy who you are playing against goes in betting, you call him and the flop comes down in your favour and you go on to win the hand, when the cards are revealed you get “what the hell!” “I raised why did you go in with nothing!” my instant response is usually, “well it won didn’t it” but this just inflames them even more. It’s clear that these people expect you to respect them whether you knew it or not, so how do you deal with the table bully?
Well I don’t advise taking my approach of aggravating them even more as this can end in tears as you usually are the focus of the bully, and he/she will make it their mission to take you out. I suppose the best approach is the same with any other form of bully, you get them everywhere so the idea would be to try and play no differently to how you would, and if you get questioned by the bully, or intimidated in any way, don’t rise to the challenge. They can’t do anything if you made what they would describe as a dodgy call, all they can do is try and get their money back. But the reaction the player has can give you some confidence if you allow me to explain.
If the player did genuinely have a good hand, pocket pair for example, then you can take note of how they bet and how they react with a good hand. Also you can take the chance to take the dominant position and bluff your way through similar hands, just play as you did when you beat them, and they will think twice, that’s not to say they will not call you however so be carefully.
So my evaluation of the table bullies. They usually go in aggressive to gain a big chip stack, and they usually go on with that aggression using a good chip position to bully people off hands they may otherwise of played. But they are beatable with their strength being their weakness in a very hidden tiger type of way. Big bets before them and re raises can sometimes put them in their place, or if you play only the strongest hands, and play them in an all or nothing type of way then you have a great chance of beating the table bully. Of course if you beat them they leave, and you can get on with your game, with the respect of the other players now playing in your favour.
