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Peoples' opinions on playing tricky/trappy

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  1. dat333 dat333 is offline

    Christchurch
    New Zealand

    Posts: 118
    Joined: Oct 07

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 4:43am)

    I know we hear a lot about 'TAG' and 'LAG' playing styles but what about tricky/trappy??? There are a lot of players out there that play very tricky and are very hard to play against. I was just wondering whether people think a trappy style of play can be effective and if so when, and in what situations???
  2. Dyzalot Dyzalot is online now

    Candia, NH
    United States

    Posts: 14,473
    Joined: May 05

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 4:59am) in reply to dat333

    I'd like to think there are times where I am employing tricky/trappy strategies. I'm not sure that just because you can call someone 'TAG' or 'LAG' doesn't mean that they aren't also tricky to play against.
     3
  3. AllYourChips AllYourChips is offline

    Scottsdale, AZ
    United States

    Posts: 2,186
    Joined: Mar 06

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 5:17am) in reply to dat333

    Yeah, IMO your style can't be tricky or trappy or whatever you call it. You can be LAG or TAG or whatever, but there are only a certain amount of hands/scenarios that you can trap in. IMO, trapping is just a play you have to have in your arsenal, and knowing when to do so is what can seperate a great slowplay from a horrific one.

    I think one of the best examples of this is flatting with a hand that you would normally re-raise with, because you know your opponent will fold to a re-raise, but will probably bluff off his chips if you make him think you're weak. I've limped UTG with AA with the obv intention of re-raising, but the action has played out so strangely that I've waited til past the flop to get aggressive.

    One of the most vivid examples of this that I've seen is a hand where good2cu you raises to like 175 in a 25/50 game. I think Andrew Black makes it 650 or so and g2cu flats oop with QQ. He then gets Black to put in 5k on the turn drawing dead, flipping some random suited connector that he can't win with.

    Also knowing when to abort a trap is perhaps an even stronger element. Look back on last year's HSP where Wasicka limps UTG with AA and 6 or 7 people ended up seeing the flop. He mucked almost immediately on a ten high flop. A lot of players will blow-up in this spot and end up stacking off. FWIW, I think Greenstein flopped a set of 4's in this hand and Todd Brunson turned a flush.

    It's a risky play, but when executed, can be incredibly profitable and the risk is far > than the reward. However, few players understand the game well enough to know when and who they can trap, and when to give up on one.

    I can't think of a player though whose style I would describe as tricky or trappy though, although I'm sure that there will be some examples of said players brought up.
  4. dat333 dat333 is offline

    Christchurch
    New Zealand

    Posts: 118
    Joined: Oct 07

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 5:33am) in reply to AllYourChips

    Cheers for the input. I was just wondering what people thought of trapping and what in general people thought it was. But yeah I often trap with a big pair in a cash game by flat calling if I've got position. Of course the downside to this is if you are trapping vs low pockets the player will either hit the set or fold in which case you don't extract any value and a 3 raise pre works well in getting them out of the way. I know from watching Hellmuth on youtube he's always talking about trapping this and trap that and a lot of his game seems to revolve around some sort of meta that induces a false move into one of his traps. This is probably why he plays so unorthodox at times. Whether that style is good or not I don't know.

    I reckon it's a lot harder to trap with shorter stacks whereas in deep stack play/cash games I've found it more useful and is a great tool for outplaying opponents post. Would like to hear others' thoughts on ways to trap and when to trap??
    Thread Starter
  5. LirvA LirvA is offline

    Edmond, OK
    United States

    Posts: 533
    Joined: Sep 07

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 7:22am) in reply to dat333

    This is from the book Texas Holdem for advanced players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth...

    "Slowplaying:

    Slowplaying basically means to play a hand weakly on one round of betting in order to lure people in for later bets. Hands that are correct to slowplay don't come up very often. For a slowplay to be correct the following criteria must be met:

    1. Your hand must be very strong

    2. You probably will chase everyone out by betting, but you have a good chance of winning a large pot if you check.

    3. The free card that you are giving has good possibilities of making second best hands.

    4. This free card has little chance of making a better hand for someone or even of giving him a draw to a better hand with sufficiant odds to call.

    5. The pot must not yet be very large."

    Keep in mind this book was written with limit holdem in mind.

    Also, Sklansky is like a theory nut. If you ask Hellmuth, he'll tell you to trap with a pair of fours on a flop of A Q 2. He's the trickiest trapper out there. I heard he even trapped his wife into marrying him. Apperantly he got her to think he was hung like a race horse. After their wedding he of course called her

    DONKEY
  6. Ballistik Ballistik is offline

    Riverview, MI
    United States

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    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 9:28am) in reply to LirvA

    slo playing normally bites me in the ass, unless im being slo played, then it works 99% of the time.... 1% donk suckout factor
  7. threebanger threebanger is offline

    United States

    Posts: 5,094
    Joined: Sep 07

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 10:34am) in reply to dat333

    I'm a low-level sng grinder, and believe me there are many down in the poker gutters who use trappy play as almost their entire playing style, not just a weapon in their arsenal. There are tons of them in the under $10 range.

    Frankly they just amuse me (they don't change it up, always check a monster, bet with nothing), but once you identify them, you realize their checks are usually just as obvious as a weak-tight player's huge value bets are. Small ball is very effective against players like this, a style I don't play often but will employ once I'm in a game with one of these. Make a note on them and drive on.
  8. blackstar74 blackstar74 is offline

    Cheyenne, WY
    United States

    Posts: 978
    Joined: Jul 07

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 11:17am) in reply to LirvA

    lol @ "Iheard he even trapped his wife..." thats some funny shit right there
  9. pantsonfire pantsonfire is offline

    Ottawa
    Canada

    Posts: 18
    Joined: Dec 07

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 11:28am) in reply to dat333

    Trapping a lot like bluffing. It's usually better to do against only opponent and against an opponent that is capable of folding and in small pots. It also depends a lot on your table image. If you are LAG and bluff a lot, then there is no point in trapping, just bet like you nomrally do.

    I do most of my trapping heads up against aggressive opponents. In multiway pots, sometimes there are lots of aggressive players so I may smothcall a bet if I am certain a raise is coming from behind.

    The other thing to remember is if you pull off a beautiful trap, the other players will notice this. Now you are in a position to do some bullying (switch to TAG here). Sometimes this is even more profitable than the trap itself.
  10. cardplayer52 cardplayer52 is offline

    Woburn, MA
    United States

    Posts: 161
    Joined: Aug 06

    Dec 24th, 2007 (12/24/2007 6:52pm) in reply to dat333

    if your up against a L/Ag that will always bet if checked to i will check medium strength hands then call there bet then maybe check raise on the turn if the board starts looking scary.i find these players usually run from a raise or bet after taking a lot of time to think then they fold they just dont ever want a show down because that will expose them for playing trash.so i check call against a maniac.L/A i play T/P.
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