How to Exploit Nits: Tips from Reddit Users
User BushoDragon asks for advice on strategy against nit players:
“Against nits, I widen my opening range, but rarely 3-bet (exception: super premium hands). I often steal blinds and make a c-bet on the flop, especially if there are no high cards on the board. I’ve found that nits don’t know how to fold top pair. I almost always fold to all their raises — nits never bluff. When a nit wins a ‘huge’ $7 pot with pocket aces, I always say ‘Nice Hand’. How else can I exploit these players?”
Here are the responses from Reddit users:
PeterParker123454321: Don’t trap with the strongest hands. If you have AA, 4-bet, 5-bet — inflate the pot because nits don’t bluff in their range.
The same goes for post-flop. If you have the nuts, bet or raise — nits don’t know how to fold strong hands.
It’s better to overfold to actions from a nit.
thats_no_good: You should play with maximum stack depths against nits. Opponents play perfectly against nits. For example, on boards like AT9 or 984ss, a nit with AK will play bet-bet-bet. On dry boards, nits adapt better (but not through bluffing). In low SPR pots, just go all-in with good hands.
If you play with very deep stacks against nits, they will occasionally gift you their stack. They’ll think they’ve hit a cooler (even though these spots are ones where they’d simply never get called by worse hands).
And of course, with deep stacks, you have more bluffing opportunities.
wfp9: If you have a hand, bet. If you don’t, and your opponent bets, fold.
CFO_of_SOXL: Play loosely-aggressively in position.
Thelettaq: If a nit is on the BB, and you’re on the BTN or SB, your open-raise should be close to 100%.
Constantly make small bets on the flop against most nits. Often, they play “fit or fold”. So you’ll often take down the pot with just a small bet.
If a nit opens pre-flop and checks on the flop, they’re super capped. So bet and fold out all hands that didn’t hit the board.
If a nit shows aggression, usually just fold unless you have a very strong made hand or a hand that can improve to the nuts. There’s no point in sticking around to showdown with just one pair or some hand without potential to improve.
If a nit bets and you have the nuts, don’t slow play. The nit has a strong hand and is ready to commit — just let them do it.
I like defending the BB against a nit, considering the implied odds. Nits open with strong hands. So often a nit will be willing to pay off our hands if we hit the nuts.
JohnEBest: Agree to alternate between rounds of Hold’em and Omaha.
Bird_Songs: Straddle, get them out of their comfort zone.
tfwnowahhabistwaifu: If a nit is sitting to your left, open up your range. Fold more often to their opens. Steal their blinds — nits rarely use 3-bets, but when they do — it’s better to fold. Your 3-bet range against their open should be polarized: only very strong hands from the value range (because nits will continue only with strong hands) and a few bluff hands. If a nit is very tight, use a linear 3-bet. In this case, your 3-bet range should still remain very narrow.
Rags2Rickius: It’s very easy to play against nits. You don’t even need to think too hard about the hand. Nits don’t think about what hand you have. They just look at their cards and don’t even consider catching you bluffing. Nits either have a hand or they don’t. That’s why hands with potential to hit the nuts become especially important.
HypeOrFuckYou: It depends on the type of nit.
Versus nit with a really tight range — only play 3-bets for value.
If nit almost never calls a 3-bet — play through 3-bets, then play check/fold (unless you’ve hit a monster).
If he makes a c-bet only when they have a strong hand — either never call pre-flop, or call very wide to outplay them post-flop.
leaveitintherearview: The discussion author in the first post wrote that he rarely 3-bets. This is a big mistake. You should 3-bet nits more often, with a very polarized range because nits fold too often to 3-bets.
Make sure you have the “right” nit in front of you. Do they aggressively defend against 3-bets? Or do they fold too often pre-flop and overfold post-flop because they’re afraid of playing for stacks without the nuts? This is the only way to get paid off by a nit without hitting a cooler.
kirill_ylide: I have an opponent in a private game who only 3-bets AA, KK, QQ, and AK. Knowing this makes it easier to beat him. One piece of advice: play against him with stacks of 150-200 BBs.
Nits don’t care about the board and whether it favors you or not. Just make two pairs against them and suck the soul out of them or fold your cards. Nits will complain about how they got crushed on a board like 567, even though they should’ve easily folded their AA and KK.
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