You love to play poker. You especially love playing no limit Texas Hold Em. You’re not exactly new to the game, but you’re surely no pro. You’ve been playing for a few years now, though primarily in low stakes affairs against folks who don’t really know what they’re doing. You’re ready to step up your game to the next level.

There are lots of instructions that you’ve read over the years that have helped you become a better player. “Play tightly and aggressively” is one; “Be observant of your opponents” is another. The beginner and introductory instructions have helped, to be sure, but you’re looking for something that’s a bit more specific and geared toward beating better players.

So here’s a nugget of advice, something that is concrete and valuable that you can pull out of your pocket during a game and actually use. It works against all levels of player, from the beginner to the season veteran. I call it the “Over-the-Top Pop”.

OK, so I haven’t invented the cleverest title. But the move itself is as effective as Hell. Here’s how it works. You’re in a no limit game – for the sake of this example imagine that it’s one with a $5 small blind and a $10 large blind with a $500 minimum buy-in (though this would work in any no limit game). You’ve been observant, noticing the general style of the players at your table. The player in the 5 seat has especially attracted your attention. He’s in most hands, and he’s usually in for a raise. He’s clearly the table bully, pushing people around with his raises while talking up a storm. He rarely shows down a hand, since the other guys at the table tend to concede to him.

He is the object of the Over-the-top Pop.

Let’s spend a minute on your image in the mind of your opponent. It’s a critical piece to no limit poker, and it’s especially important here. You are seen, by those who are aware, as a relatively tight player. You don’t mess around with junk. You play your strong hands strongly and your weak hands not at all. You’re not particularly flamboyant. In fact most players may not even notice you at all, since you’re not in a lot of hands. You’re what would be called a “quiet” and “solid” player. Nothing more or less. Armed with that image, here’s what you do against a guy like the Seat 5 Bully. The next time he’s in a hand for a raise, and he succeeds in knocking out all of the players who are in between him and you, you re-raise. That’s it. You re-raise his raise.

It’s important that you make this a legitimate raise – not just doubling his bet. If, for example, he raises the Big Blind to $25 you make it $75. You are, in essence, fighting fire with fire. Expect the bully to fold.

What you’re doing is using the bully’s speed against him. Since he is playing so many hands pre-flop you know that most of the hands are not high quality starting hands. He’s pushing all sorts of hands to take advantage of his opponents’ timidity. And it’s working. But if he’s anything but completely nuts, he’s also going to have to respect anyone who actually demonstrates they have a legitimate hand by responding with aggression. He knows that from time to time, sooner or later, someone after him will have a hand like KK or AA. So he’s likely to fold when people play back at him.

Recognize that you’re not just calling him down. You don’t want to take the chance that he will catch a legitimate hand on the Flop. You want to act as if you have a monster yourself – something that has given you the courage to stand up to this poker tyrant. Now if he plays back at you then you’re in trouble, since he would probably only do that in one of those rare instances when he actually had the goods when he raised. But since he’s by nature a very aggressive player and frequently wins the pot uncontested, he might well slowplay those monster hands anyway – actually wanting action for a change. So when he throws in his conventional $25 bet, there’s only a very small chance that he’s on a truly strong hand.

If he concedes and you win the hand, resist the temptation to flash your hand and show him that you got him to back down when you had junk. No need to play that game. You don’t want him to be wise to your trickery. This isn’t about ego. It’s strictly about money.

At the same time, you need to be aware that if you do this a few times – especially a few times in quick succession – that your image in your opponents’ minds may change. You may become thought of as being tougher, looser, wilder, and less likely to be pushed around by the bully. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; there are ways to use it to your advantage as well (you may discourage this guy from raising in front of you with garbage hands for one). But you may be less able to use your old image to your advantage, since some of the more observant opponents might wonder whether you really have the hand you’re representing after a few Over-the-Top Pops.

My suggestion is that you use this move sparingly, ideally when you have some kind of a hand, even if it’s not the strong hand you might normally need to put in a re-raise. By waiting for a hand that has something going for it, as opposed to just a completely random hand, you’ll also be making sure that you don’t get carried away with your own power, preserving your image as a tight-aggressive player. You’ll also have a hand that might become the best hand on the Flop even in the unlikely event that the pre-flop bully calls down your raise. This gives you two ways to win.

Ashley Adams has been playing poker since 1961 when he learned it literally at his grandfather's knee. He started playing seriously in 1993 when Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut opened their poker room. He can usually be found there at the $20/40 stud or the $2/5 no limit hold 'em table.

Ashley also runs charity poker tournaments, teaches poker privately and at the Boston Center for Adult Education, is a frequent guest on radio and television programs (having appeared on WBZ-AM, WHDH Channel 7 TV, WGBH-TV, NECN-TV), and has a regular radio show that can be heard 24/7 on www.houseofcardsradio.com.