Advantages to Playing Like a Nit in Cash Games

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Many poker books will often advise against playing like a nit at the poker tables. While this often holds true in tournament poker, sometimes there are advantages to playing like a nit in cash games.

More Respect for Your Raises

When you are clearly playing a tight style or viewed as a nit, chances are that you’re going to get more respect for your raises. The phrase “you aren’t usually in unless you have it” will be one you will hear a great deal.

Getting more respect can be used in a couple of different ways. First, you may force out some players that like to chase with a lot of hands. They know they are playing against a stronger hand and will not chase nearly as often.

Next, sometimes this will help you take down pots before showdown in spots you need to avoid getting outdrawn on. Also, this will help you when you are drawing if you have the capability to raise on a draw. They will likely put you on a made hand and may even try to bluff you when what they think is a scare card for you completes your flush.

Neutralizing Maniacs

Going hand in hand with getting more respect for raises, your image as a nit can help you to neutralize the maniacs. For example, I was in a game with two semi-pros that brought $400 each to a $2-$4 game. I decided to play because they literally capped every street in a normal hand. I sat back and they deemed me a nit.

After taking down a nice sized pot against the two of them, they played a bit more sensibly when I was in the pot. A couple of times, I came in with speculative hands in late position knowing how they were playing any two cards. They slowed down enough to price me in for a draw that hit.

Bluffs Tend to Work More Often

When you are a nit, you are going to get away with your bluffs more often when you do actually try to run them. For example, you may come in with a medium pair and an ace hits the board. You could try to run a bluff here representing the ace, and chances are players will believe you due to your image.

A great rule of thumb is that if your bluffs are working all the time, you are not bluffing enough. Nits don’t bluff that often, so odds are their bluffs will work.

Players Will Sometimes Bet for You

One of the best things about playing like a nit is that there are players that will practically bet for you. Often, they think they are going to push you out of most pots and they bet aggressively to do so. You can use this to your advantage.

Let’s say you come into a hand with a medium pair in late position. A middle position LAG raises you. You call and flop a set. Since you called pre-flop, these players may try and bet you out the pot, especially if they connect with the board. Players will continue to try and bet you out until they realize they are in trouble. Sometimes they do so too late and you stack them.

Granted, the biggest disadvantage to being a nit is that you will not score as huge of a win as many of the loose-aggressive players at your table. However, more often than not you will win and win consistently.

Also, lower-stakes poker games, especially limit games will also benefit a nitty player over NL games. Players tend to be so bad there that nits can regularly win. In either event, you can keep some of the above tips in your head if you are ever faced with playing or want to experiment playing a little more nitty.