Hello everyone, I am writing this because I just read in a forum about a guy (sorry forgot your name) that got AK and didn't raise because he was playing against two calling stations and thought it would be a waste of $ to raise because they would call anyway. He didn't want to pf raise because they would call and probably hit and beat his AK os. Which it turned out one caller got 3 of a kind and the other hit the flush on the river if I remember right. So what I am getting at here is we have all come across people like this that won't fold and will hang around to the river for the win. I hope this guy reads this in the forum and we can generate some helpful input for him and others as well. So if you wouldn't mind posting your tactics to take these callers down and make them pay you off it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks BRM members and good luck at the tables!
I would personally pf raise and play it out depending on the flop. If it was in my favour make them call all the way down and pay to move on. If it looked better for them try checking it out or fold if they come to life because most calling stations don't bluff. But I still feel u should pf raise just to build the pot up to get there money even if they fold along the way.
Joined: Dec '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 41 (M)
Posts: 256
yeah i mean if i have calling stations im raising bigger PF and then prob pot bet post flop the only issue i have sometimes you really dont know where you are at with AK
Joined: Nov '07
Location: Belgium
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 1289
Calling stations = Ofc they call AK = Raise PF, see what the flop brings, if it hits U big, do some potbuilding , they probably call U with midpair, don't push untill u have a lock on ur hand ( like three of a kind, flush, str8 or full)
Theyare all POW's in the long run, but I always play it semi aggro against Calling stations.
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 6786
Why are they named calling stations? Surprisingly, because they call to much. So the best way to beat them is to value bet, if one has a hand, and keep the flop small, if one doesn't.
It is easy. You can'not stop them from calling because they are what they are. So bet them as much as possible when you are sure that you have a winning hand. And check or fold when you are not confident about the hand you are holding. Of course you must be prepared for some bad beats.
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 54 (M)
Posts: 342
It's fairly easy to deal with a calling station.
Bet you good hands for value - don't bluff - cut down on c-bets - fold if they start betting.
With a good hand pre flop always raise against them you need to start getting money in the pot.
Value bet thin - Top pair top kick is nearly always good enough for 3 large( ish ) value bets except on scary boards. Remember they won't fold any top pair!
You won't win every pot against them but getting max value for any top pair or better hand is usually fairly easy.
I seen the hand on the other thread the OP talks about and I would have lost more money in the hand than the hero did in that particular hand but there are many more times when he would have only won a small pot and I would have been collecting the villains' stack.
I believe it is the bad beats that make everyone so mad at these calling stations. Sometimes they won't folled even if you are way ahead and they have a shot at hitting a gut shot. In most cases it feels like they seem to hit against me quite a bit = bad beat...lol.
Joined: Mar '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 6714
A lot of the time they are not actuall bad beats, the biggest trap most ppl fall in to is thinking that calling stations are bad poker players, and think by betting bigger it will get them off a hand, dont forget they play this way for a reason and know when to abuse it, you need to bet your odds and the best thing here is you get to take controll of the pot but dont try and bluff, its worse than being a calling station, so value bet and dont bluff in short.
