Opponent Profiles: The Rock
Introduction
In this article
- Rocks are harmless when they don't have a hand. They simply like to fold.
- Position is not too important against them.
- If they defend themselves, you should respect it.
In stark contrast to the hectic playing style of maniacs and the unrelenting call downs of calling stations, the rock stands firm in the game. As long as he doesn't have a premium hand, he prefers to stay away both from the pot and the action.
However, when he does enter the pot and bets and raises, you will see him release all his power. Weak kickers, low sets, idiot-end-straights or second nut flushes would do well to get out of the way, whenever a rock starts to rage - or else they will get crushed by his force.
However, his playing style lacks imagination and flexibility. Due to the rigidity of his game, the rock becomes an easy victim to exploitation. The right tipps and tricks will turn him into a tamed kitten. But keep in mind: Just as there are different types of rocks in nature, there are different kind of rocks in poker. Read on to learn how to deal with them.
What is a rock and how do you recognise him?
A rock is an extremely tight player. A rock does not play marginal hands before the flop. His VP$IP score at shorthanded tables will usually vary between 5% and 12%. Due to this extreme starting hand selection, you will only ever see the rock play very strong premium starting hands.
This player type only plays very good hands preflop. Consequently, he will very often hold at least a strong top pair after the flop.
Different types of rocks can differ extremely with regard to their level of aggression. Rocks include rather passive as well as rather aggressive players. Some rocks play their decent hands very passively, i.e. they check and call more frequently than an aggressive player would and bet them less frequently. While you should play good made hands, such as top pair, for value and for protection, he will play them in a passive manner. In particular, he will play his draws a lot more passively than other players would. You will never - or at least hardly ever - see him make use of semi-bluffs or pure bluffs.
And then there are the rocks that are hard to stop once they start rolling. Due to their starting hand selection, they will bet every flop und play their decent hands aggressively on the flop. Sometimes, however, you will see them become more passive again on the turn.
The level of preflop aggression also varies. Some rocks have a PFR of 0% - 7%, others raise all the hands that they decided to play the pot with. At shorthanded (SH) tables, you will hardly ever see a rock make steal raises or light 3-bets.
There is one thing that all rocks have in common though: they will play their monster hands very aggressively and very straightforwardly. You can therefore assume that a rock who shows aggression on the turn does have a very strong hand.
At FR tables, you will find somewhat lower VP$IP and PFR stats. Keep in mind here that particularly the "Postflop Aggression" and the "Went To Showdown" stats require a rather large sample size in order to give you an accurate picture of someone's playing style.
If you don't have this information, you can draw your conclusions from his big draws (straight draw + flush draw, pair + flushdraw, as well as naked flush draw or OESD). If your opponent plays his flush draw or straight draw aggressively on the turn, you can be certain that you are not playing a pure rock. If he doesn't bet his combo draw, you can categorise him as a passive player. The same goes for top pairs and overpairs.
A small buy-in might be a further indication that you are dealing with a rock. On the other hand, casual chatter and small talk mean that your opponent is most likely not a rock - according to poker psychology, rocks are usually more quiet and reserved.
What are the weaknesses of this style?
Many rocks are winning players in the low limit, and maybe even mid limit games, because they play many of their hands better than their opponents play theirs. They fold often enough before the flop and have the best hand in most situations with a big pot.
That's why a rock won't make any overly expensive mistakes postflop. Most players in the lower limits do not adjust to the passive play of the rock and therefore pay him for his strong hands. They don't pay him any respect although he does deserve it.
A rock will lose money (even if not much) against strong players, however. He does not protect enough, gives out too many free cards, does not steal enough pots and blinds, and can be bluffed and read easily. Due to his passivity, he also wastes a lot of value with many winning hands. His non-showdown-winnings are his big flaw. He loses too many pots that he could have won through a more aggressive playing style.
How should you play against a rock?
In general, you won't get a rock to play any metagames with you. He basically only pays attention to his own starting hand selection and tries to win the few hands that he actually plays in a showdown. That's why you will hardly ever see him adjust to the dynamics of the table. Even if the table is very tight, he will continue folding his relatively bad hands and only play his premium hands.
What you have to pay attention to is how a rock reacts to bad beats. Some players allow them to affect them and will react by tilting. But when a rock tilts, this reaction can actually turn out very well for him. He usually has a very tight and respectable image and is known for making very straightforward bets and raises. If he starts tilting, he will deviate from his straightforward game plan and therefore become more unpredictable.
He therefore gets rid of his biggest weakness. This is why he can become a huge threat to you because you might no longer be able to make correct estimates about his hand ranges anymore. To prevent the rock from tilting, you can use the online chat to your advantage and emphatically agree with your opponent's decision; tell him that he made the correct decisions while everyone else just got extremely lucky.
You should not try to insult the rock or provoke him. He will either improve his game by chance or even leave the table. This would mean you've lost a potentially worse opponent.
First off, you should try to sit to the right of the rock (especially in SH games). This brings numerous advantages for your entire game against a rock. As the rock plays extremely tight, you can always play against his blind from late position and make a loose steal. He will hardly ever actively defend himself against this. If he gives you action, you will know that you are up against a rather strong hand range and that you can play somewhat marginal hands postflop when you are in position.
If you are his immediate right neighbour, you have another advantage. Now you will often get to be on the BU twice. If you open raise from the CO, the rock will fold in almost all cases. You technically buy the BU position with your open raise.
You won't be able to do this against a good player, but you can against a rock. A good TAG will defend his hand against your numerous CO open raises by calling and 3-betting. He will not allow you to constantly steal the best position at the table in the respective hand. The rock won't let all this affect him which is why you should make sure to take advantage of the siutuation.
If you find yourself in the situation of having to play against a rock out of position postflop, you should try to play a straightforward game yourself. Sometimes you won't be able to bluff your opponent off his top pair hands. The only situation in which you should fire off a 2nd barrel against a rock without a made hand, is when you have a good draw on the turn. With a 2nd barrel you block bet on the one hand and build the pot on the other, which is good in case you hit your draw.
If you sit left of the rock, you will have position on him in most hands. At first glance, this is not of major importance, because the rock will hardly play any hands and you will not get to make use of your position advantage. When the rock does decide to play a hand though, you should not automatically click the auto-fold button, just because you think the opponent's hand range is extremely tight and you can't play against it profitably.
There are some important adjustment strategies which you need to internalise.
Preflop 3-bets don't make much sense against a rock because you won't be able to create enough fold equity. Cold calls, however, will become all the more valuable in this situation. You can create a very profitable situation by making a cold call preflop as you'll get the opportunity to play against an easy-to-read opponent in position after the flop. Now you just have to ask yourself which hands you should call against a rock when you're in position.
Broadway high card hands
Hands like KQ, KJ or AJ are very bad hands for calling the open raise of a rock in position. These hands have a good potential for hitting top pairs. Against the tight hand range of your opponent, however, these top pairs won't help you much because the opponent has dominated you in many situations. That's why you are playing with reverse implied odds here, which is a very bad thing - you should always want to play with good implied odds.
Medium and small suited connectors
These are hands which you want to play in position against a very tight hand range postflop. You can make very good estimates about the opponent's range and will hardly ever be dominated. That's why you will be able to take a very huge part of the rock's stack with a hand like 75s, if you hit two pair and your opponent holds an overpair.
Similar guidelines apply if you hit a draw. As you are in position, you are in the best situation to control the pot size and get free cards whenever you need them. As a rock will sometimes not defend his top pair hands sufficiently, you can draw out against him very well.
Another possibility to win against a rock postflop in position is to semibluff or float good board textures. Due to the tight hand selection you know exactly which board textures the rock will hit with his hand and can therefore semibluff or float very well on the boards which he is likely to miss.
Respect the preflop raises of a rock! He will not make them with a mediocre hand. You should be aware that you will play against a super tight hand, in particular when a rock 3-bets or 4-bets (on average: AK, KK+). Therefore, you should not play your QQ or AK for a complete stack to go broke preflop.
Your equity will not be sufficient for that. It's a different story if your rock plays with a stack that is smaller than 50BB. With this stack size you can also go broke preflop with QQ and AK before the flop. The more passive the rock plays preflop however, the more you have to lower this stack size limit.
How do you play against a rock in a multiway pot?
In most cases, the game of a rock is so one dimensional, that they don't notice that the hand strenghts in a multiway pot undergo a considerable shift. Rocks will still consider their two pairs or top pairs quite good hands. You have to take advantage of this when playing against a rock. His starting hands will tend to make a two pair or a top pair, which the rock will overestimate in a multiway pot.
If you bet in a 5 way pot, a rock will raise you with the same hand range as he would in a heads up pot. He doesn't see that betting into 4 opponents shows a lot more strength than betting into a single opponent. It is crucial for you to be aware of this.
Straights and flushes are not very likely. However, if the board is 3-suited, and you have a small to middle flush, be aware that the rock probably has a nut flush, if he gives you action. It is therefore not a mistake to fold these hands when the opponent gives you action.
As the rock hasn't understood the concept of protection in a multi way pot and doesn't worry about reducing the number of his opponents, you should not have any trouble to see more cheap cards with drawing hands.
Just like with the other players in the hand, it is important to evaluate the rock and to adjust to his playing style. In many cases, players play rather weak-passive when a rock is involved in the hand. This is another plus for you and your potential draw.
Examples
0.50/1.00 No Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
Hero $100.00
BU $100.00
Preflop: Hero is UTG with K
K
Hero raises to $4.00, 2 folds, BU calls $4.00, 2 folds
Flop: Q
8 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $8.00, BU raises to $22.00, Hero ?
Against an absolute Maniac or TAG, you won't have any trouble to 3-bet on the flop. In this spot, the opponent's ranges are rather wide and contain both weaker made hands and drawing hands. Against this hand range you have enough equity on the flop to 3-bet right on the flop.
Against a rock, however, the hand range changes extremely. The range in this situation will most likely only comprise AA, QQ, 88 and 44, against which you will only have an equity of 8,4%. That's why it is possible in this situation to directly fold the flop against a rock.
The play of a rock is very straighforward, which is why you will often be able to read their hands. You should follow your read and fold your worse hand. If a rock calls a bet on a drawheavy board and then bets himself as soon as the draw has arrived, he will almost always have hit his flush or his straight. Then you should give up your own strong hand more often.
0.50/1.00 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
Hero $100.00
BU $100.00
Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q Q
Hero raises to $4.00, 4 folds, BB calls $3.00
Flop: 8 5 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $8.00, BB calls $8.00.
Turn: J (2 players)
BB bets $22.00, Hero ?
You have an over pair, but the sudden aggression of your opponent should give you reason to stop and think. The range of a rock will at this point only contain made flushes. He won't bet an overpair and he will probably only check/call sets on the turn due to the threat of flushes.
You yourself have a flush draw on the turn, but you will probably draw dead because a rock usually only plays high cards and very often holds A or K here. You should follow your read and fold your hand.
0.50/1.00 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks
Hero $100.00
UTG $100.00
Preflop: Hero is BU with 8
7
UTG raises to $4.00, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.00, 2folds
Flop: Q87
UTG bets $7, Hero calls $7.
Turn: 2
UTG checks, Hero bets $18, UTG calls $18.
River: J
UTG checks, Hero bets $45. UTG calls $45.
UTG shows AA
You hit a very good flop here and your flop call convinced the opponent that your hand is not too strong. The rock probably only saw his overpair and just couldn't give up his premium hand.
This is an important thing to remember. A rock only plays few hands and will often find it very hard to abandon his overpairs, which looked so strong preflop. However, he also lacks the courage to play them aggressively and often plays them passively instead.
Your preflop call had great implied odds due to the tight hand range of your opponent, which is why you can play this hand profitably. If you don't hit an ideal flop, your postflop decisions should be simple.
0.50/1.00 No Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Stacks & Stats
UTG $100
Hero $100
SB $100
BB $100
Preflop: Hero is BU with 87
UTG raises to $4.00, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.00, SB calls $3.50, BB calls $3.00.
Flop: K65
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks.
Turn: 3
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks.
River: 8
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks.
UTG shows AQ
SB shows 22
BB shows 77
Thanks to your position, you were able to keep checking-behind and see free cards. The most important factor which allowed you to do so was the presence of the rock, who had to act directly before you. Due to the rock being in the hand, the SB and the BB played very passively, because they are always worried about a strong pocket pair from the rock and therefore don't want to bet into him.
This gave you the opportunity to draw for free and allowed you to take down the pot with a simple pair.
This hand illustrated very well how the playing style of the other players changes as soon as a rock is involved in the hand.
Summary
When playing against a rock, you have to adjust your game considerably: You always have to pay attention to the hand range of your opponent and keep in mind that your opponent plays very straightforwardly. The following points sum it up:
- Your relative position is not so important when playing against a rock. You can adjust to your opponent very well, no matter if you are to act before or after him.
- You can fold weaker hands against a rock relatively often.
- You can play draws more aggressively when you are out of position.
- Pure bluffs and semi-bluffs create much fold equity against a rock, but they could also be a donation to an unexpectedly strong hand.
- Slowplaying after the flop is almost never an option because the rock plays too passively. If the rock bets, you can slowplay the nuts. You should fold everything else.
- When the rock suffers a bad beat, observe him carefully to find out if his style has changed to TAG or towards that of a maniac.
- The playing style of your opponents in a multiway pot changes with the presence of a rock.
- Against a rock, you can often profitably play drawing hands with great implied odds when you are in position.
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