A lot of the new young guys who play in the low limit No Limit Hold Em games these days see themselves as gunslingers. I love these guys (most of them are guys anyway). They are filled with this whole macho thing. They come to the poker table to do battle. They have a little bit of the swagger to them. You’ve seen them. They snap their chips in. They stare you in the eye, daring you to call or raise them back. They’re tough. They don’t back down from a fight.

I love them as opponents. They haven’t learned to unlearn their habitual response to being challenged. They are an easy mark. You see, in poker, especially in No Limit Hold Em, it’s vitally important that you not get caught up in the poker-as-battle paradigm. Sure, a poker game is a contest, but not in the sense that most competitive sports are. If you follow the adage that winners never quit and quitters never win then you’ll eventually go broke.

Here’s an example. You have Kh Qh. You are in late position. Three people in front of you call the $2 big blind in this $1/2blind No Limit Hold Em game. You raise to $10, exploiting your position and their apparent weakness. You get two callers – two of the people who called the Big Blind. The flop is Ah Ks 8s. The first player checks. The second player checks. You’re looking pretty good. You figure an Ace would have bet out. You have about $100 in chips and throw in $30 hoping to win the pot right there but also prepared to see the Turn if you get called. Your first opponent, with about $500 in chips folds. Your second opponent, with $220 or so raises you all-in. Do you fold or do you call?

The macho man in you responds almost reflexively “Call this jerk – raising YOU all in. What a bluffer. He thinks YOU’LL fold to his raise. Fat chance! CALL!!!” We don’t want to back down after we’ve taken the lead. It seems so wimpy, so weak, so pathetic. What, we just crawl away and say, “never mind” and fold? What a wuss we’d be to do that.

Our brain, however, tells us that this is exactly what we MUST do that. He most probably has an Ace – maybe even an Ace Queen. Those are both highly possible hands for him to play in the way he played them in that position. Sure, he may be bluffing. But the chances are too small to be worth our entire stack to find out. Fold is clearly the right play unless we know our opponent to be a chronic bluffer. And even then it’s probably a bad call. Backing down is the right play. These situations happen all the time in no limit hold em. The good players resist the urge to call the challenger. If we can’t resist that urge then we’ll often end up mumbling to ourselves about our bad luck. But if we’re smart, we should go out of our way to turn the tables on guys who can’t inhibit this habitual response to take the bait and fight to the finish.

Here’s another situation that shows you how to exploit your tough guy opponents (who aren’t good players). We have the same hand, the same position, and the same chips, as do our opponents. The action before the flop is also the same. You raise before the flop and get two callers. But the flop in this hand is Ah Jd 10d. The first opponent checks. The second opponent bets $30. What do you do?

You’re tempted to slow play. Maybe you can snooker the first guy into calling. Maybe you won’t get drawn out on by a guy with a four flush who hits his flush on the Turn or on the River. Maybe, with the right opponents that’s the right play. But I’ll tell you this. With most low limit no limit players I’m up against these days, an excellent move is to try to fake a bluff by doing some acting at the table. Challenge their manhood. Look them in the eye, sneer a bit or laugh at them and say, a bit loudly, “ALL IN” while shoving in your chips dramatically. Some of the young guns that play this game may very well take the bait. If they have that Ace, and especially if they have that Ace Queen, they won’t be able to resist your throwing down the gauntlet. And they’ll call – and then cry later about the bad beat they took when you caught the miracle flop. Give them a good excuse to make this call.

Let them have their story. You’ll have their chips.

A postscript: This is a cheap trick that will not work on good players or even bad players after a while. But if you pick your spots and take your shot against a guy who can’t back down from a fight, well then you’ll double up. Believe me – I’ve done it many times.

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.