The Online Poker Player Resource

“Action” Dan Harrington discussed this basic maneuver in his Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play. This move is based on your read of players and is used on aggressive players.

Once in a while, especially in large tournaments, you will see someone in the table that plays very aggressively and is wild with their bets. These players tend to use their aggressive personalities to bull other players around. This is where the Hammer maneuver can work its magic best. The idea is simple, wait for top cards, and bet in a way to isolate the aggressive player where you are in a heads up situation with the aggressive player. Majority of the time, due to the wild nature and the different type of cards the aggressive player is willing to open up with, you will have him dominated.

Please note, that no maneuver is perfect and players can still get lucky and get a bad beat on you. However, do not worry for in the long run, you will get more pay outs than those who rely solely on luck.